Hi all, I have gotten my new 60 gallon long aquarium set up and heavily planted. I am running a large canister filter per Mac Z's suggestion, and have the output flow spread across a long spray bar to minimize current. Right now the only inhabitants are 7 rummynose and a mystery snail. I'm in no rush, but my longer term goal is to introduce some apistos, perhaps Borelli (Ben R.'s suggestion as I will be working with our local tap water, meaning my pH will be just under 7 with hardness in the 100-200 range). I'm trying to understand the tradeoffs between plant and fish care, with respect to lighting level and nitrates. Questions:
1) What is an acceptable nitrate level for Borelli and would addition of a complete fertilizer life Thrive affect this significantly (current level is 5 ppm, 4 days after first dose of thrive). Fish heath first, but would love to get good plant growth as well.
2) I know apistos like dimmer lighting. I made a mistake and bought an aqueon LED light where you can either adjust intensity OR set a schedule (who thought this up???). This means that the only sustainable option right now is full blast lighting. I could get a different light potentially, but I am wondering if it is feasible to just get a lot of plant growth (floating and stem plants) before introducing the apistos to create significant pockets of shade?
Thanks for any advice!
Best,
Andrew
1) What is an acceptable nitrate level for Borelli and would addition of a complete fertilizer life Thrive affect this significantly (current level is 5 ppm, 4 days after first dose of thrive). Fish heath first, but would love to get good plant growth as well.
2) I know apistos like dimmer lighting. I made a mistake and bought an aqueon LED light where you can either adjust intensity OR set a schedule (who thought this up???). This means that the only sustainable option right now is full blast lighting. I could get a different light potentially, but I am wondering if it is feasible to just get a lot of plant growth (floating and stem plants) before introducing the apistos to create significant pockets of shade?
Thanks for any advice!
Best,
Andrew