AAE

@Pepere, thank you for your input! Very helpful!

Hi all! I was listening to Cory talk about his and Dean's efforts to measure PAR in a systematic way with different size aquariums. He talked about the pattern of greater and lesser amounts of light energy in the tank from light source (e.g., corners, height of the tank). I believe he said a black background can diminish the light energy (if that is the right term) by up to 20%. He also discussed using 2 lights in parallel to aid filming (I believe he said he tunes the lights to a low level). I am planning a 60 inch long, 20 inch high and 24 inch deep medium light planted tank (with a black background). His talk got me thinking about the following as I consider how to plant the tank: 1. I assume that a 48 inch long light on a 60 inch long tank would result in less light on the sides of the tank. I am thinking it could be reasonable to plant low light plants along the side and medium light plants below the light fixture. I know I could use two 30 inch lights side by side to get more light into the side. However, perhaps having darker sides would allow more variation in plants used? 2. Since the black background should diminish the light energy the plants will use (I presume at the back of the tank), I am wondering if it would be good to have 2 light fixtures (set to a low level) in parallel to spread the light energy more evenly through the tank (back to front), for the purpose of plant growth and health. I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Thanks!

@nabokovfan87, thanks so much for your response! Grateful! I will have babies in my tank so looks like I need to search for a different HOB.

@nabokovfan87, I am considering the Tidal 110. Would you mind sharing how you sealed the skimmer? What do you think of the filter now?

@Zenzo, thanks! The extra insurance is a great idea!

@IanB, I appreciate your thoughts. I have considered stacking the sponge filters 2 high, to raise the height of the Powerhead, unless I get a high enough intake tube. Hopefully a polishing filter media in a HOB will help with water clarity - this media seems to work well with my approximate 50 gallon Clear-for-Life Uniquarium. Of course, the benefit of the poly pad in polishing water is pure supposition. I probably have no real knowledge about why things are working. The path like quality of the aquarium mini-contained-environments is one of the big things that keeps me going and enthusiastic.

@Galabar, I am excited to do this! I am thinking of starting with guppies and platies and adding some mollies later.

@Galabar, thanks for the clarification - got it! Makes sense to consider inner diameter. Duh (on my part). It will be 1/2 inch thick. @johnnyxxl, sounds like a good plan to start with air. I was also considering how loud the Coop powerhead is. I was just watching a video on the Tidal HOB 110 (reportedly pumps 450 gph or around there. That might be a nice addition with the coarse foam filter and the polishing poly pad on top. Haven't had a HOB for decades - sounds fun to try.

@Galabar, thanks for your comments - I will think about adding a HOB. I had previously thought about an HOB in part to have a media to polish the water. Would you mind letting me know why the glass thickness matters? Thanks in advance!

@MattyM, thanks for your response. I thought that if the sponge filter/powerhead combo did not work well enough, I would have already placed the tank in a way that I could add a HOB. A canister filter would be the next option, though I do not love this type of filter, from experience (bit of a hassle to maintain for me, though I have not used one for years and maybe they are easier now). The powerheads each generate 211 gph per the Aquarium Coop website, so I think the flow would be good. I have been in touch with Clear Fabrications (from Cory buys his larger tanks) - they have a competitively priced plexiglass tank and I am leaning toward that because of the reasonable possibility of earthquakes. It is fun to plan in my mind how to proceed! I appreciate your thoughts.

@johnnyxxl, I hope my memory works well enough to post how it goes - the tank won't arrive for 11 weeks or so, so .... I am wondering if air pumps would do the job, or maybe having a powerhead on one and an air pump on the other filter would work. If you don't mind, I would love to know how your setup works.

@mynameisnobody, sadly, the image did not come thru. Thanks for giving it a shot and if you feel like doing it again, I would be grateful. My plan is to increase my tank bioload with babies I hope will grow up. Here's hoping!

I will be putting together a 60 inch long, 18 inch deep, 24 inch high tank (listed as 125 gallons by some mfc's and 105 gallons by Custom Aquarium). This will a livebearer tank with lots of fish (eventually) and heavily planted. I would like to go with two large Aquarium Coop sponge filters driven by their power heads. Would you mind giving your opinions about how you think this filtration setup would work? Thanks!

@xXInkedPhoenixX, thanks for the happy message about Custom Aquarium! Much appreciated!

@mynameisnobody, if you have a picture of your Daffodils, and you feel like sharing, I would love to see it!