Hi,

Having been much inspired by Takashi Amano's beautiful aquascapes, I'm
planning to set up a fully planted tank,. I've pretty much given up
trying to find a full aquarium kit with most of what I need I have
decided to put it all together myself. I'm going for a 2ft glass tank
(60 litres), with a flourite substrate and fluval 2 internal filter.

I've been trying to work out how best to light and heat the tank.
Originally lighting-wise, I was thinking of an over tank luminaire
running T8 or T5 daylight lamps putting out about 60 Watts. But then I
wondered if I could safely put together a lighting rig which will do
the same thing myself. Has anyone here had experience of doing
something like this? Any pointers you can give would be really
helpful.

The other thing I am trying to figure out is whether I would be able to
rig up some under-gravel heating. The reading I've been doing about
planted tanks recommends this and shows some nice easy picture of
installation but I don't know how difficult it might be in reality and
what the risks are - it seems a bit scary to me to make something
myself which will run electrical current under water. Again, your
guidance would be very much appreciated.


Thanks,

Sal Fox

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