# what's a good flow rate for the planted tank?



## Geoffrey.Richard (Feb 1, 2012)

Right now I have a 20 gallon unspectacular tank with some driftwood, rocks a couple of low light plants and 3 fish. I am planning on upgrading my tank to a 54 gallon and I'm looking at the filtration needs of a planted tank (I want to make sure as I buy my set up that I don't set myself up for failure)

so far I have found the tank I want at 36x18x20 with a glass canopy
T5HO 4x 6700k 156w total light
fluval 305 canister filter.
Fluval E-series heater

going to get a fluval pressurized co2 system
proper substrate either fluorite or eco complete


in my 305 filter I was pretty much going to just use biological such as seachem matrix and of course the foam and polishing floss.

I found a good price on a fluval C4 hang on the back filter system and it looked cool, but cool won't cut it if it will be detrimental to having healthy plants etc. 

one fellow on yahoo suggested a flow rate of 10-11x the volume of the tank to which both filters would be, but would the surface agitation of the c4 cause way too much gas exchange (thinking too since I will be having a glass canopy which would minimize some)

thanks


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## Tenor1 (Jan 15, 2012)

You are going to have SO much fun with your tank. The filtration needs in a plant tank is much less than a regular fish tank since they are usually under stocked. Also the plants do a little type of filtering by absorbing Nitrates form the fish. The equation is LOTS of plants, hardly any fish, lol.

I'm just going to share a couple of things I've done on my 30" tank (36-gallon bow) that works for me.

There are two canisters running on it, one is strictly mechanical and the other strictly biological. One spraybar is horizontal and the other is perpendicular. The canisters in conjunction with weekly water changes and under stocking the tank seems to work for me.

But you really don't need two canisters. Consider putting 2 or 3 little powerheads in the tank for circulation. I think having the flexibility of moving them is better than 2 spraybars. As plants grown they hinder good circulation. 

I'm not familiar with the canister you plan to get, but I'd say get as big as you can. Don't worry about too great a flow from the spraybar. You can aim it slightly at the back glass, downward or place it a little lower and aim it slightly upward. This would eliminate the slim buildup. 

Fluval has a surface skimmer that people really like. Check to see if they offer a "Y" connector and you can connect two syphons to the canister. The surface skimmer on one side of the tank and a regular one on the other. I know Eheim offered the adapter and I did it on a 5' long tank. That's when a larger and stronger canister motor would be better. 

Don't worry so much about the 10-11x water flow since you're getting a big canister. It's the circulation and water changes that are important, IMO. Look into little powerheads. 

Good luck and have FUN!


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## Tenor1 (Jan 15, 2012)

Check if you can order the tank made of sapphire glass. That's what the Amano tanks are made from and many brands offer it as an upgrade. It's not that much more, at least it wasn't 10 years ago. 

Everybody kept saying how beautiful Amano glass is and I needed to see it for myself. Well last week I went to Nature Aquarium in Santa Monica and not only did I see it, I asked what type of glass he uses. It's the same sapphire glass we were always able to get. Amano doesn't have exclusive rights to any new type of glass. A tank about your size costs $1,000 with "Amano glass." It might be worth $100 to upgrade yours if you can.

One thing good I will say about the Amano tanks is the fine workmanship on the glued edges. The shop sells 3 different qualities. The Japanese made the neatest and the Chinese the least neat when it comes to the glue line. My American-made tank in sapphire is the same quality as Amano. It just doesn't say ADA on the front. I'm getting out my label machine right now, lol.

Another suggestion for you is to look at Lilly pipes. They are clear glass and look much nicer in the tank. I've never seen them until now and I can appreciate what Amano is trying to accomplish with less visual distractions in the tank. His glass diffuser is beautiful. But I sort of fixated on how nice those things look and missed the point of them being less noticeable. I don't notice the spraybars or syphons in my tanks any more, but I might be tempted to get the very cool looking glass alternatives.


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## smracer31 (Sep 8, 2011)

You ideas are good, but you can do it for a lot less i think.

Filter - I would look into aquatop filters, you can get two cf-300 canisters if you want that much filtration. Im currently setting up a 50 gallon, going to use one cf-400 filter with a powerhead. 

Light- that lighting seems to high to me, unless you do a schedule with 2 lights on, and 2 lights on a noon burst. you can probably get away with a 2x54 watt. Alternativly, catalinaquariums offers a 3x54 watt t5ho

c02 - The long term cost of the fluval c02 will be very expensive, those little fluval cartridges dont last long on a 55 gallon. ive had good luck with aquatek's regulator with solenoid, its $80 and you can use it on a timer, if you use their paintball adapter with a 20 o.z tank it should last 2 months depending on how efficient you diffuse the c02, it should only be $2 at most to re-fill a paintball tank. 

substrate- i like eco-complete with dry dosing.


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