My 55 gallon planted setup

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

I have my 55 gallon tank set up as a planted tank, but I'd like to know if anyone has any ideas that may help!!!

Tank - 55 gallon 48"x13"x20"

Substrate - 1" Miracle-Gro Organic potting soil, mixed with FloraMax planted substrate. Going to be changing to Flourish Flourite/FloraMax/Eco-Complete, capped with 1/2" sand.

Lighting - Coralife Aqua-Series Freshwater Deluxe 4x65w 2x 6,700k bulbs and 2x 10,000k bulbs

Heating - 300w Hydor Theo submersible

Filtration - Jebao 912 4-stage canister filter, and Magnum 350 canister filter

co2 System - 10lb Cylinder, Azoo Regulator (drfostersmith.com), and glass diffuser. 2BPS


Yes I know it's a cheap co2 system, but I'm going to get a better co2 system later this summer. I'd like your thoughts on the lighting, and the substrate I'm going to be switching to later this month.

I plan on making a DIY external inline co2 reactor to run with the Magnum 350 canister filter, I also plan on making a DIY spray bar for the 350 as well. I plan on having the spray bar on the side of the tank, so it flows through the tank dispersing the co2 to the entire tank. Now my question is this, is having a external co2 reactor good or bad?!?! My DIY reactor would resemble the AquaMedic 1000, so it would connect to the Magnum 350 filter hose.

Everything is hooked up to a digital timer and gets 12hrs. on - 12hrs. off, should I reset the timer to give the tank a longer "on" time, say 14 hours?!?!

The only fish in the tank right now are 2 Clown Loach's, and 1 Yo-Yo Loach as a clean up crew for any snails that may have transferred over from my 75 gallon tank to the 55 gallon. What I would like to stock the tank with

2 - German Blue Ram Cichlids
2 - Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlids (apisto's)
8 - Panda Cory Catfish
2 - Siamese Algae Eaters (true SAE's)
30 - Neon Tetras

So again just looking for other people thoughts and input on this setup.

 

[WyldFya]

The lighting you have is dated. They are expensive to run, expensive to replace and do not put out a lot of light. The big problem with your post, is that you did not list the types of plants you will be keeping. Your lighting period is far too long. Drop it to 10 hours or even 8.

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

Here's a list of the plants I currently have in the tank

1 - Large Amazon Sword
4 - Bleheri Swords
1 - Ozelot Sword
6 - Sagittaria Narrow Leafs
6 - Sagittaria Broad Leafs
6 - Italian Vals
6 - Corkscrew Vals
2 - Crypto Wendtii red's
2 - Crypto Wendtii green's
1 - Stock of 5 Cabomba greens
1 - Anubias Nana in driftwood
1 - Banana Plant
and some java moss

 

[WyldFya]

With those plants, your lighting is more than adequate. Just make sure you utilize fertilizers, and root tabs.

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

I add some Flourish to the tank once a week, and added in some api pure laterite to the spots where the plants are.