Planning a 29 gallon walstad... need help with supplies

Hello all, I am planning to build a 29 gallon Walstad tank to replace my 15 gallon. So far the plan is to buy most of the supplies from my local Petsmart which just opened... I know evil but I'm not buying fish there and I need supplies as cheap as possible. I found 2 29 gallon tank types I could buy.. both are Aqueon with the black trim which I like. One is just the tank and the hood and costs 95 dollars and the other is the full kit with a filter, heater, light, tank, net, and then the common samples they give you of food and such. That one costs 115 dollars. I don't know which one to get since I already have a 150 gph aquaclear that I could use on the 29 along with the help of another old petco filter that probably does 100 or 150 gph as well. I have a 50 watt heater... would that be enough for a 29 gallon tank or should I buy the kit and use that 100 watt heater? Other than that I will get an Aqueon T5 dual lamp fixture (the 24 inch version) which is 53.99 at that Petsmart. Then I will buy the bulbs (sunlight) which are 16.99 each. The last thing I figure I'll need is a glass canopy which I found a 30 inch one on fosters and smith for 20 dollars which isn't bad. Any reviews for these products or ideas? Am I missing anything? Thanks

 

you should probably go w/ the full kit because 1. it saves you money because buying the hood and light for the non-full kit makes it more expensive (175 dollars including the tank vs 115 dollars for the same stuff) 2.depending on what type of fish you want, they probably need the 100 watt heater because it is more powerful and the extra filter will not do harm because the more fish you have, the more filter power you need. for stocking/temp./filter power info, search aquadvisor and click on the first one (or the one that looks right). sorry I couldnt give you the link; once I did and it linked to the wrong website! don't forget to cycle your tank!

im

 

Thanks. For cycling I will just use my 15 gallon's aquaclear since that has been set up for like 2 years and I will be using that filter permanantly in the 29. I think I'll get the full kit then which leaves me with the question about the Aqueon T5 fixture. Is that a good light or should I get a different brand? Also I have heard that is the best relatively cheap light for plant growth if you get the sunlight bulb... is that true?

 

Paying $10 more for the filter and heater sounds good. Extra supplies are good to have on hand. Plus you can sell the new hood online since you're replacing it. I personally don't use hoods w/ my planted tanks. I prefer glass so I can customize my lighting.

 

Yeah... I was planning on selling the filter too since I have another older filter that may or may not be nicer than the one in the kit. I'll have to see about that part. Have you every used the Aqueon T5 lights though? They looked pretty good for a planted tank from what I saw in PetSmart.

 

Yeah... I was planning on selling the filter too since I have another older filter that may or may not be nicer than the one in the kit. I'll have to see about that part. Have you every used the Aqueon T5 lights though? They looked pretty good for a planted tank from what I saw in PetSmart.

Not me.