Advice appreciated ...Large Planted Aquarium
 

I have (successfully) had planted aquariums for several years now and
consider myself to be reasonably knowledgeable about them in general.

The largest tank I have had however is only 30 gallons. I know very little
about larger tanks.

I am now in a position to acquire and set up a larger tank. I will pretty
much be starting from scratch (except for the CO2 system which I already
have, and even here I will probably get a new reactor).

What I would like to know is: What would people with larger tanks out there
recommend ?

1) I am thinking of either a 75 gal (48"x18"x20"), a 90 gal (48"x18"x24") or
a 120 gal (48"x24"x24") tank. Does anybody have a preference for any of
these? Is a 24" deep tank going to require much more light than a 20" deep
tank?

2) I have used and like Emperor Power Filters on my smaller tanks. Is there
any reason not to use one on my new larger tank? What do people with larger
tanks recommend for filters.

3) Lights. I am thinking that I will use power compacts. Any comments?

4) I plan to use gravel over a Sea-chem Flourite substraight. I have had
very good results in the past with this.

I would really appreciate any comments/recommendations on anything above, or
on any other aspects of setting up a large planted aquarium.

Thanks !!

Henry

Actually, CO2 tanks don't "blow up". CO2 tanks have a burst disk that
acts as an intentional weak point if the tank pressure goes above the rated
pressure for the tank. When a burst disk blows, it makes one hell of lot
of noise that is quite scary, but there is no explosion of any kind. The
biggest danger from a ruptured burst disk on a CO2 tank is that all the CO2
escapes at once, and CO2 is asphyxiating at high concentrations. So, if
the tank blows in a confined space (such as a car), you could suffocate.
But it is extremely rare for this to happen. For CO2, just make sure that
your tank doesn't get warmer than around 88F. If you do that, there is no
chance of the burst disk giving way.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com