im a beginner

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
It is the same bulb and ballast but the 30" spreads the light into the tank better because the reflector is full length. On the 24", the solid ends will keep the light more concentrated in the middle but will create more dark areas in the top left and right of the aquarium where the light doesn't cover. Many light mounts only attach to the sides of the aquarium top so if you are planning on having them on legs, you might want to think about it. Also, I think the 30" looks better on the aquarium and it dissipates heat better because there is more surface area. I had thought about getting the 24" at first myself, but when I considered these factors and the price difference of only $9 at my LFS, I went with the 30". To each his own I guess.
 
The 30" fixture is mostly aesthetic. I have both, the the 30 does no more for a tank than a 24".
 
okay so i went out and purchased the light and substrate. How should i use the substrate? ive seen substrate on the bottom and gravel on top and a the substrate and gravel mixed. which on is better??
 
Rinse the life out of the substrate.....use straight substrate.........plant tall plants in the back,and any grasses/mosses/micro's put in the front.....Enjoy
 
i havent quite gotten any plants yet but i was just wondering how to use ferts? i really have no clue.. what kinds/types are good? tabs or liquids? how often do you need to use it?

thanks for the help
 
Greg Watson Ferts are very good. Seachem flourish is decent. As to a fertilizer regime, that is dependent on the fish stocking, the inverts, plants, and water source.
 
i just got my Red Sea CO2 Bio-Generator. so i finally got everything i needed. i read on the CO2 box that it shouldnt be on at night. do i need to turn the light and the CO2 off and on at the same time? it also has a rating thing on the difusser from low to high. what should i put it on?

thanks
 
I didn't know you could turn one of those off but I don't think you'll want to anyway. I think by "turn off" they probably mean turning off the powerhead so essentially you just aren't diffusing any CO2 into the tank over night. I leave the co2 on in both my planted tanks all night. I think you'll probably want to do the same thing. This will generally keep your tank more stable and make it easier to maintain the CO2 levels you want in the water. They recommend turning it off at night because of plants' natural respiration at night when they use O2 and give off CO2. The dangers are that oxygen will get too low for your fish over night or your pH will drop significantly. If you have very low carbonate hardness in your tank, you may want to be careful, but if you're at or above 3 degrees I really don't think you'll have a problem with a yeast style CO2 generator at all. To be safe, you could test your pH at different times in the day to see how much of a swing you will have once you are adding CO2. You can then leave it on longer and longer based on your readings but I highly doubt you'll have a problem with it on constantly anyway. Also, if you have a decent amount of plants, there should be plenty of O2 in the water through the night to sustain the fish and plants. You could always add an air bubbler at night to be safe but this will generally just gas off your CO2. Just experiment and see what will work best for you and at the same time be safe for the fish. I'm not sure what the diffusor rating thing you are talking about is in terms of "low to high" because I've never had one of those. Does it change the powerhead speed or what is it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom