Some basic questions for my new freshwater tank

[BucNastyHater]

Currently I have a 10 gallon tank. I have a black bubble eye in there now, along with some other fish which i just got from a friend. I've had fishtanks all my life but they've all been simple goldfish tanks. I really want a much bigger tank and a little more advanced so ive decided on a 38 Gallon freshwater. I'm doing the research now but I have some questions and I need help.

1. The 38 Gal. is 36" long. Does it matter where I place the filter? I was going to put in on the right side, but should I place it in the center to get more water movement?

I will be using a Hagen Aquaclear Powerfilter 200 (50) btw. Aquarium Filters: Hagen AquaClear Powerfilters

2. Im using freshwater but can I still use sand as a substrate? My dream tank is a salt water tank with white sand and a blue light. I'd like to use white sand on this but will I have problems with the filter? Should I just stick to colored gravel?

3. I would like to use live plants. What exactly do I need to know to use them besides the lighting (2-5 Watts for FOWLP)? And how difficult are live plants to maintain? Would I be better off using fake ones since I am kind of a beginner?

4. Another problem is the lighting. I really wanna do a bright, tropical tank as opposed to dark, amazon river type tank. I know that I could use Standard fluorescent, T-5 HO, VHO, Power Compact, or Metal Halide/HQI for a FOWLP tank, but what is the meaning of the Kelvin Ratings on the Bulbs? IE: 44,000*K

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Welcome to the forum! You can put your filter anywhere really. Sand is fine to use i, I use playsand for all my freshwater tanks. Power Compact lighting will be a good light to use. Kelvin is a measure of heat, i believe. Its easy to do planted tanks, it just depends if you want high light plants or low light or both.

 

[Kissyboots]

To answer some of your questions:

1. My 20g is about 24 in. long and I have my pump in the middle. Probably better than having it in a corner.

2. I have gravel in mine but I've heard people using sand too. I don't know how they clean it but it seems to work for them.

3. When I started, the first plant I had was real. The fake ones don't look so great imo. Just remember not to uproot them too often. I did that with my corkscrews and wondered why they died. The fish like live plants though and they contribute to the oxygen levels I believe.

4. Can't help you on the lighting.

Stick around for more people to leave posts. The more the better. Search the forums too. Maybe you'll find more. Good luck!

 

[brian1973]

not sure if this will help but heres a couple links that might help you understand what Kelvin rating is.
Light Box Full Spectrum Controversy : Apollo Health
Color Temperature

 

[TabMorte]

Welcome to the forum! And good on you for doing research first (so many of us have gone the other path and that's how we've wound up here).

You might want to decide what plants and fish you're planning on getting before you decide on light and substrate. Some fish have special substrate needs (cory cats need rounded gravel to avoid damage to thier mouths for example, frogs you want it big enough so they don't put it in their mouths, some fish like to dig though so you want it light for that), and plants have specific lighting needs.
You might want to match your fish to your plants too. Bottom feeders like stuff they can hide in during the day (especially if the tank is really bright), some fish that blow bubble nests like plants that have leaves on the surface or float so, shrimp seem to like tall grassy things they can climb on.
For a high light tropical sort of planted tank you'd want fish that can handle a warmer tank too.

 

[alter40]

If you want to do a planted tank sand wouldn't be your best option. You would be better off with flourite or Eco-complete which are made for planted tanks. Sand won't give you a real good base for the plants to anchor on to. However if you do end up going the sand route you will want to let the sand settle after you fill the tank before you do start up the filter so it isn't sucking sand into it. Just wait till the water clears up and you will be fine there.

You can do live plants as long as you make sure to keep up on your tank and take care of the plants properly. Do the research on what plants you want and what will work for the lighting in the tank. There are plenty of plants that are available that are easy to grow and don't require too much work.

As far as the K on the lighting goes, that is the temperature range of the lighting spectrum. For a planted tank you want lights that are somewhere between 6500K-1100K (I believe).

Hopefully this helps but like kissyboots said just see what others have to say and I'm sure you will get lots of great information.

 

[BucNastyHater]

Thanks everyone! My concern with using sand is that it will get cloudy when i stir it up and do water changes. Im not to picky with what fish im going to get so I might look for fish based on what substrate im going to use. Ill probably just look for bright tropical freshwater fish that like/need sand as a substrate.

Those lighting articles were very helpful too. Thanks brian1973.

 

[sweetpickles7]

When using sand the wastes sit on top so its easy to suck up. You shouldnt be sucking up/stirring any sand when u do this. Sand is perfectly fine IMO, for a planted tank, i have a planted tank and sand is the substrate. But eco complete is better.But it will cost alot more.

 

[brian1973]

found this article..based on salt water but goes pretty indepth into lighting systems and helped me understand how the kelvin rating and wpg work together
Saltwater Aquarium Lighting - Chapter 2 - Page 1 - Introduction - The Fundamentals of Fluorescent Tubes

 

[BucNastyHater]

Thanks sweetpickles7. Does anyone have any idea what kind of plants would look good for a tropical theme? I dont want to use big leafed green/brown plants, i'd rather use something bright and colorful. I also thought earlier that I could maybe use some rocks too. Not live rock, but some kind of rocks to make a mountain or hill underwater. Im going for the fake reef look.

 

[BucNastyHater]

Actually I just found this Imitation Corals by LivingColor - Interactive Plug&Play Synthetic Coral Reef System but any other input would be great.

 

[pwrmacG4]

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[BucNastyHater]

Hahaha nice! Someone got it.

 

[pwrmacG4]

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