Hi everyone, my name is Alex, and I'm from Santa Cruz, a little beach city on the central west coast. Like many others here, I've kept aquariums since I was very young - among them one planted tank and a large marine tank. I fell hard for the idea of aquascaping after seeing all of those gorgeous AGA Competition photos, and lately I've been feeling the itch to start a new tank. I don't have the time or space to put together something really spectacular, but I'm looking forward to trying my hand at something in the range of 5-6 gallons. I've been really impressed by the level of work I've seen on this forum, and I'm excited to join such a knowledgeable and friendly community. Cheers, A
a warm welcome to you Alex to ASW! would love to see pix of your existing setup's.. Enjoy your stay here..any issues/challenges faced you can post this forum this has extended user based globally, experts can easily jump in for advice..!
Hey abhradip, thank you. I actually don't have any tanks set up right now, but I'm looking at buying a nano kit - maybe an EcoPico or one of the new 21-LED Fluval Edges. I like the open top on the Eco, but I prefer the landscape layout of the Edge...so I'm still on the fence about it. Any recommendations?
Eco Pico is way too small to be honest for my taste, fluval edge again has a very small opening with restricted light displacement inside the tank. How about a custom made 1feet cube...that's give good space+it'll give you an option to play around with lights.. but yes if custom make is an issue Edge should be fine.. One question though - are you in the look out for a pressurized CO2 system as a part of the setup as well or just want to keep it low-tech?
Hey Alex! Welcome to ASW and enjoy! I would prefer the seize of the edge ( or even bigger), but the Edge is difficult to work on or to maintain (Sorry 4 my lack of language). I think "nearly breaking my bones" for access is not my idea of fun. Only my opinion... cheers Eva
Hey Eva, nice to (online) meet you. Overall, total weight and budget are my main concerns, which make the nano packages attractive. My landlady is concerned about having a tank more than 75lbs in the converted attic where my room is (I've tried to reason with her, really). I'm also looking to not spend much more than $400 to start with, though I can definitely continue to upgrade pieces over the next few months (across paychecks). I am leaning towards buying a full CO2 system - not DIY. It's a little beyond my budget right now, but it just seems like the best option for the kind of tank I'd like to put together. I've heard about the lighting and access problems on the Edge, and the Pico is way small, but it seems like both would be cheaper than building a tank from separate parts, which would allow me to do more in terms of buying a good CO2 package and good substrate. It's a balancing act right now, but ultimately I'd rather have better gear & spend more time waiting to be able to put it all together than to go in cheap all at once and have it fail in some significant way. Any ideas?
Well fluval/Insta have the disposable cartridge Co2 systems readily available which is quite cheap in comparison to a big setup, you can get your hands in one of those! plus they are best suited for a nano tank..
If you cannot get a larger tank, then go gold standard on a smaller one. Nice filters, nice hardscape, nice light and nice CO2. The SFBAAPS group is not that far, many times we have meets in the SJ area. Just over the hill.
Hey plantbrain, I will definitely look in to joining, thank you for the tip on that. So if I were to go with abhradip's advice and get a cube, what brand would you recommend?
Our sponsor green leaf has very affordable tanks and he's extremely knowledgeable so won't stir you wrong. $400 dollars would get you an awful lot of tank and some good equipment too I suspect if you don't go way overboard on the lights. Best to avoid the edge, they look nice but my LFS has had nothing but trouble with them.
Hmm I really like the look of the GL 36-L. It has the shape I was looking for. For CO2, does a nano system like the one he's selling offer any specific advantage other than weight over say a Milwaukee sol/reg + 2.5 gal. tank system? It seems to me like the latter would actually be less expensive in the long run because of the cost of cartridges.
Can't help you with American regulators I'm afraid but I would always avoid the small disposable cartridges because they're extortionately expensive and very wasteful. Much better to get a regulator and a large 2kg tank and run the co2 for months and months rather than having to switch out tiny bottles every few weeks.
Yeah, the idea of tossing all of those canisters away seemed really wasteful to me. Could I get some recommendations for lighting and filtration as well? I've read threads all over the forums, and everyone seems to have a different take on it...
I recommend at least 10x turnover as the goal for the filter, that's manufacturers stated turnover, not actual turnover and for lighting it sort of depends on the size of the tank, some sizes are really hard to find lighting for that looks nice or doesn't need some element of DIY, that aside a single pll tube is normally sufficient for most nano's and on bigger tanks 2 tubes with reflectors is usually well inside the highlight region, especially if the tubes are t5's.
That sounds good, I've been looking at the Archaea Slim-Pro 36cm from the ADA site as an option...maybe a 2211 filter? Or would that be too much? I also saw a really tempting craigslist ad about a 6 gallon planted aquarium for $120, but I'm always a little hesitant with used gear. I tried that once before with a reef tank thinking it would save me money, and it ended up costing more overall in upgrades. It seems too good to be true (the tank alone would be $80+, no?), which makes me wary.
2213's are easier to get hold of and run long term, plus the extra power and standard diameter tubing means inline equipment doesn't have that much of a detrimental effect on flow. ADA themselves use 2213's on most of their nanos.
Hey Alex! Garuf covers my opinion pretty much, so just follow his advice... ( + he 's much better in english) cheers Eva
Being English helps, Gamma... Ps. that link does seem a bit too good to be true but it's a winner if it's fo'real.
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