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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #78

>
>My plans for the tank are to have it planted pretty densely and have 2-6 =
>black angelfish, 2-4 kribs, 6 or so assorted small (1-2") fish and maybe =
>1-2 bristlenose plecos or SAE if I can find some.  Would someone be kind =
>enough to explain the advantages/disadvantages of these brands/types of =
>filters?  Do any of them make it easier to inject CO2 into them (or =
>maybe that is bad to do anyway)?  Oh, the tank already has 2 holes =
>drilled/cut in the back of it for filtering.


I don't like canisters that much except for the Eheim with the quick
disconnects.  Unless you have those, it's a pain in the **#( to clean :)

>Substrate questions:
>I planned on having 2-3" of Jim Kelly type substrate (sand and =
>vermiculite (sp?)) with 1" or so of "gravel" on top.  Or would I be =
>better off with just 3" of gravel with some laterite mixed in?
>I already bought the gravel (200 pounds worth) from a sandblasting =
>company. 

I think both methods would work out fine.  I'm using earthworm castings
mixed with 1 lb laterite for my "soil" but any soil mixed with vermiculite
would work.  Laterite alone will work fine.  It really depends on the plants
you want to keep and whether you want to take a Dutch root-feeding
philosophy vs a Dupla root and leaf feeding philosophy.

  I did some pH testing (1 cup gravel 2 cups water) on it and it =
>did raise the pH of water out of my water conditioner .5 (from 7.5 to =
>8.0).  I'm testing again with a mixture of "soft" water with "tap" water =
>since that is how I normally fill my tanks.  Is this bad?

What is your soft water?  Is it distilled, RO, water-softener, etc?

  I'm thinking =
>of doing CO2 injection so I figure I could get the pH back to 7.0 or =
>7.5.

This depends on your KH and the amount of CO2 dissolved in the water.

>Other hardware I'm planning for the tank are:
>4 40 watt tubes for lighting (if this is too much I'll go down to 3 or 2 =
>tubes running.

Definitely not too much.

>Some heater (maybe in the filter).

I don't think you can put a heater in the filter but I could be wrong.  Buy
Ebo-Jagers if you haven't already bought your heaters.  The best cheap
heaters on the market.

>I hope that the cabinet for it will be finished this week or early next =
>week and so I'd like to order the filter in the next few days.
>Sorry for the rambling on.

Tell us how everything turns out.

-Roni