just a suggestion, maybe can add in the medication for fish that treats for fin rotting? blue colour type? I think that works wonders.... even though this is for the rocks etc...

do remember to make regular water changes too.

divaio :

is ur tank 2ft?

how far is the light away from the water surface? usually it should be about 5-6" away for maximum light penetration.

mine 4ft with 100w led floodlights..... too much light edi... growing bba.. haha
i am waiting for a few parts to change them down to 2 x 20w led because nowadays growing anubias / ferns only. no big demand plants...

i would think that yours should be a bit on the lower end. any chance to add on some cfl to boost the light? maybe can put a 20w cfl at one end to see the effect...

fall3n: i am with sniper on his thinking. yellowing of water is likely the tannin... it will take a few weeks to months depending on the wood size. my 2 pcs of medium size wood took 2 months to clear. fishes doesn't seem bothered with it. if its already in the tank, leave it as it is an keep your water change schedule once a week until its cleared.

unless ur fishes are showing signs of sickness, i wouldn't do anything more to the naturally occurring things.

danny: you need to know why we clean or soak the rocks in the first place. cleaning is to get rid of any foreign items that may pollute your tank.
soaking is to determine if the rock is suitable underwater. some rocks reacts to bleach. this means the rock will make your water with high GH/KH (very hard water) which is not so good for some plants/fishes. personally, my java ferns are growing better after i took out some rocks which are making water very hard (and throwing off my ph reading). with hard water, the leaves are smaller as i observed. i could be wrong because i did a few other things like light change to led etc.

hope above helps. cheers.

cloudy stuff the beneficial bacteria in your substrate. it is normal when you disturb the substrate. your cheery shrimps are very sensitive to its conditions. try not to disturb the substrate or your tank

before you add new plants, make sure its free from pesticides or chlorine water. add anti chlorine and soak for a few hours to overnight best. make sure its washed nicely to remove any pests and also danger when you buy from the LFS.

no worries. but just to let you know the cherry shrimps comments are based on wat i read on the net. i kept mostly hardy fishes like angelfish and swordtails and probably some ghost shrimps.

happy aqua scaping.

danny, my tank also has amazonia inside mixed with normal soil. so far no change of ph levels. the problem with some rocks that reacts to water that it will slowly increase your ph. thats the reason why some ppl drop a few drops of bleach to see if it sizzles. if it reacts/sizzles, then it will change your water ph in the long run (maybe a few days depends on the amount of rocks).

i found out my lfs has those light yellow gravel which i cover on top of amazonia that changed my water ph. at first i thought it was the rocks that i brought back from seaside. after doing the bleach test only i found the culprit.

if your amazonia is less than 6 months old, no ferts required. usually after 6 mths only it will used up most of it nutrients. this is based on my own findings when i first started.

this is general guideline, it will also depend on the plants and amount of soil you have put in.

luqee : i like ur statement. algae booster... whahaha... exactly wat i'm going through now...

although i'm on 2 x 50w led spotlight la.. mostly anubias / java and amazon swords...

well said luqee. cfl most convenient. just replace and go. no need to bother about the ballast etc.

i wanted to do it but my led housing will all go to waste.

so instead, i am now waiting to go 20w red blue led grow light from 50W 6500k white. waiting for the driver to come in.. hehe...

bro luqee, i very shy type. i made the wrong mistake to mix 24v(growlight) and 36v (spotlight) leds.. hahahaha so end up got 2 units of 30w led which i'm thinking wat to do with it...

anyway, will update what happens next.

for now, my tank is fishes... only ghost shrimps to clear up the bba...taking a long long long time...

me me me me me me

I would suggest u post your idea and we will see how to help out.

woah.. u must be engineering guy.. haha.. to get that 3d drawing not too easy...

anyway, i believe you are looking at ADA type of lights. if so, ur best bet material will be acrylic. this clear plastic will be good look alike but will be expensive to build from scratch.

next will be glass 10mmT or 15mmT and ask the shop to cut for you. this will be somewhat expensive depending on the skill and also the workmanship costs.

last but not least, wood will be able to DIY if you have the tools and time. for me, I would advise the easy way to buy old spoilt housing and then DIY the bulbs to led etc...

cant turn off 1 of the led strip?

bro bartbarb, good things no cheap and cheap things no good.

best u go acrylic..it will be very nice and fitting to your project. try and find some shops to check pricing first... who know u might find a gem around your area!

Eternal C : best bet is anubias ver nana series.

hi kizwan, i will offer some help. the sump should have a few segments separated for the purpose of mech filter and bio filters.

the white and green mech filters are usually put at the water inlet at the sump. this where the raw water comes from the tank into the sump. all the dirt will be filtered here.

next segment should be the bio filters or the bio rings housing the beneficial bacterias.

as for the charcoal filter, i wouldn't bother putting it because its only beneficial for 2 weeks max then u need to remove it. furthermore its use is mainly more medical rather than helping filtration. if u r worried about water clarity, it can be achieved by regular water changes.

hope above helps.

hi kizwan, yes you are right. but just to make sure... you are using hanging sump (above tank) or sump below the tank?

kizwan, if hanging sump, u need to put in the bio rings at the bottom then mech filters at the top. reason is that the biorings always needed to be submerged in water or else the beneficial bacteria will not survive.

hanging sumps are not to favoured due to their limited bioring volume but most of all, the water splashing down could dislodge some plants.

your ikan puyu should like some plants in the water no probs but whether it will redesign it is another matter anyway, i read that this fish is able to survive outside of water if its kept moist. so its a mud type fish too! u shld put in some driftwood or branches so that i can perched on it.

all the best bro!