High Tech Tank regarding a few questions

I plan on setting up a 55 with dirt around 30 to 40 Lbs of dirt. Then add Co2 with an aquaticlife t5 HO 48" light strip. possibly adding an additional one. I will be doing injected Co2 with a regulator attached to a inline reactor which will be attached to my out take like of my 305 canister.

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-11 Congo Tetras

-4 Corey catfish

-1 or 2 Siamese algae eater.

-(maybe) two decent size angelfish two silver zebra's

My Questions:

- What would be the best substrate to grow normal baby tears not the dwarf baby tears. The normal ones.

-What fertilizers should I be using with co2?

Where should I get it from?

-Should I run an air stone at night while my co2 is off?

- T5 bulbs what are the best ones?

I plan on using 2 6K or 67K with two rose bulbs. Only running the lights for 7 hours a day.

-How can I introduce pressurized co2 to my dirted tank without causing a massive algae bloom?

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Comment by Peter on April 11, 2013 at 1:45am: 1. only put down 1" to 1 1/2 " layer of dirt. dont go by weight

2. if u want to grow baby tears they do best in sand or small grain substrate

3. if ur using dirt u dont need to use ferts.

3a. if u do want to dose get dry ferts and look up "ei dosing"

4. Dont run an airstone at night if u have enough plants.

5. not sure whats the best

6. if ur afraid of algae start at like 1 bps (bubble per sec) then every day raise the rate of co2 up till u get the co2 u want

Comment by LED on April 11, 2013 at 10:20pm: possibly after 6 months to a year you may need to start using ferts. With the increased rate of nutrient uptake via co2 injection and high lights, the nutrients in the substrate are not being added fast enough via fish mulm. This is symptomatic of most dirted high tech tanks. Read Diana Walstad book

Ecology of the Planted Aquarium Third Edition by Diana Walstad

to get that information.

If you want to use good lights I suggest Aquaticlife bulbs.

If you want to help alleviate algae problems you can start with higher rate of co2 injection and also add Glutaraldehyde (the active ingredient in Seachem Exel, or API CO2 booster, etc). The Glutaraldehyde acts as an algaecide. If you wish to get another alternative that Jetajock suggests then here is the link to his youtube video about his alternative; click here

Comment by GSP on April 13, 2013 at 2:42pm

Don't bother dirting a high tech tank. focus on Substrate with High CEC (cation exchange capacity) and daily or bi-daily dosing of ferts into the water column.

Answers:

Anything thats ~1-4mm granules. Eco complete is excellent for example.
Dry powder ferts. from your local hydroponics shop, or online. Read about Estimative Index Fertilising.
sure. or not.
Quality brands ideally; in 6500K, 6700K, and Roseate Full specs. Learn to read the spectrograph on the bulb packaging. How can you say you'll be running the lights for a certain time before youve even setup the tank... doesnt make sense
don't dirt. adding co2 doesnt increase algae except when you allow the co2 to wildly fluctuate.

Comment by Fry on April 15, 2013 at 2:40pm: If your going to be running CO2 in a tank that size you are going to run into the issue of getting enough co2 into the water I would get a bubble counter and a co2 diffuser, get one that is rated for large tanks the smaller diffusers just can't get enough into the water get a drop checker checker also, run dirt I had a high tech with everything but dirt and plants never would get really green, set up a 10 with no c02 and dirt plants look much healthier. bleach any plants you put in also BBA is not fun