Two questions :)

[schaadrak]

28 watts is a little high unless you're dosing CO2. You could just get some floating plants to block some of the light if your not ready for CO2.

Substrate goes by thickness, not weight. You want to stay between 2" and 3". Less than 2" and you're plants might not root properly, more than 3" and you could run into some anaerobic issues.

 

[Deaths Sting]

28 watts is a little high unless you're dosing CO2. You could just get some floating plants to block some of the light if your not ready for CO2.

Substrate goes by thickness, not weight. You want to stay between 2" and 3". Less than 2" and you're plants might not root properly, more than 3" and you could run into some anaerobic issues.

2.8watts/g is a little high i agree.. i have 4.3 watts/g on my tank; i use DIY co2 and Excel - never had a single bit of algae.

substrate is usually sold by weight or volume, he needs to know how much to buy, that's why i gave him the sand bed calculator.

http://www.garf.org/calculators/SandBedCalculator.asp

i also agree with ur thickness recommendations

 

[Freezekougra]

thanks for all the help everyone
i was actually planning on getting some plants for the top, lights do look really bright at night(rhymes xD). i made my DIY c02 last week for fun(u can see the bottle in one of the pics), but I only put 1 cup of sugar since the bottle was too small

how often should i leave the lights on? can the plants have too much light? :O

edit:16 lbs for 2", 20 lbs for 2.5"

 

[Deaths Sting]

thanks for all the help everyone
i was actually planning on getting some plants for the top, lights do look really bright at night(rhymes xD). i made my DIY c02 last week for fun(u can see the bottle in one of the pics), but I only put 1 cup of sugar since the bottle was too small

how often should i leave the lights on? can the plants have too much light? :O

edit:16 lbs for 2", 20 lbs for 2.5"

you should really use a 2L bottle for the DIY Co2

ur gonna have to experiment with ur light.

i run my lights 12 hours a day - got great results and never had algae

 

[Freezekougra]

you should really use a 2L bottle for the DIY Co2

ur gonna have to experiment with ur light.

i run my lights 12 hours a day - got great results and never had algae

yea im guna need a bigger bottle

how do u plant ur plants? do u use tweezers?

 

[Deaths Sting]

yea im guna need a bigger bottle

how do u plant ur plants? do u use tweezers?

some plants need to be plants with tweezers/chopsticks..

most of the time u can just poke a deep hole in the substrate, throw the plant in, cover it and pull it up slightly so the roots are exposed just a bit. some plants can be anchored to wood or rock using thread or fishing line - i.e. java fern/moss and anubis.