Just can't help myself. I like toys. I guess in a lot of ways you never really grow up, and in some ways as you start to get older, you begin to revert back to your childhood. Luckily I don't need diapers... yet. :-)

Before I get started, we did get one Angelfish yesterday. My wife really wanted one. Normally you wouldn't have an Angelfish in a community tank as they can be aggressive, but introducing a small one in an established tank is fine. They will end up growing up peaceful like the rest of the fish. 

Still waiting on my CO2 system to arrive. The company called where I had ordered the 10 lb filled bottle of CO2 and said it was going to be a little late... but that's ok, the CO2 system is on backorder until the 11th. UPS considers a bottle of CO2 hazardous material, so it's more difficult and expensive to ship. Once I get it, I can have it refilled locally as needed. In the mean time, to give the plants the CO2 they need, I'm doing daily doses of Seachem's Flourish Excel. 

I wasn't really happy with the lighting system that came with the tank, but I wasn't unhappy with it either. It's about a 10" long LED system, and while it's bright and has good color, I wanted to make sure the plants had enough of the "correct" kind of light to utilize all of the newly added CO2 once I get it hooked up. Plus, being 10" long, it left noticeably darker areas at both ends of the tank.  

Today I ordered a lighting system from a company called Current, and they call this system a Satellite +Pro. I purchased this from Amazon for $170 with free shipping. The +Pro is designed for freshwater aquariums and the color spectrum needed for aquatic life, and particularly plants. I've looked at a lot of different lighting systems, and this one sees to be the most suitable for my needs. Many lighting panels or bars are ugly and require some hideous mounting schemes for most aquariums. 

The model I ordered fits a 24"-36" wide tank. The bar mounts on the edge of the lip of the tank with adjustable legs. I have a similar light on my smaller aquarium that mounts the same way. It's attractive and unobtrusive, and "the only way it was going in the living room" said the wife. :-) The newer light is about 22" long so it should eliminate, or at least help to eliminate, the darker areas in the 30" wide tank. I should still end up with ~50 PAR on the sides, which is considered bright lighting by most people. 

The light comes with 20-6500K/9-RGBW LED's for a total of 29 LED's and 30 watts of light. Compare that to the old lights: 42 White/3 Blue .11W LEDs - Watts- 4.62 LUX - 990 Lumens - 310 @12". 

Most reputable lighting manufacturers will also include a rating called a PAR. PAR, or Photosynthetically Active Radiation, designates a spectral range of light that photosynthetic organisms utilize during photosynthesis. It's important to consider this rating when choosing lights for a planted or reef tank. Also know that the PAR rating changes with depth, so as your tank gets deeper, the stronger the light needs to be to achieve the same light intensity. Some lighting systems penetrate better than others, and this is where the PAR ratings come in to play. Here's how the +pro stacks up. My depth is roughly 16".

Now here's the cool part. This light can be custom configured for color and intensity, dynamic modes like lightning and clouds, as well as timed on/off and ramp up/ramp off (sunrise/sunset). Here are some of the features:

Pretty cool stuff. The fish are less stressed when the lights gradually go on and off, and did you know that some fish only breed when there are thunderstorms? Watch the video of the lightning effects! :-) .

So I'm pretty excited! In order for the new light to go on the aquarium, I'll also be replacing the "hood" that came with the tank with a glass top cover. This cover is a two piece design that is hinged in the middle for easy opening. It also has a 2" strip in the back that is open for water and air lines as well as other things that may need to hang off the back of the aquarium. 

Still moving the Baby's Tears around... and so are the fish. The Cory likes to "clean" food and stuff out of there and that tends to tear it loose, so I have Baby's Tears floating around the top of the tank right now. I've slowly been trimming leaves off of the Amazon Sword plant (tall plant on the right) as most of those were pretty old. That plant came over from the last aquarium where it had completely taken over the tank. I split the excellent root system of the plant into two parts when I planted it in the new tank, and some of the leaves started to melt. But all is well as many new leaves are coming out, so the plant appears to be healthy. Right now I'm using Seachem Flourish Excel for the plants in order to give them CO2, but my CO2 injector system should be here in a couple of weeks, so the plants should do even better once it gets installed. 

Just a few pictures of the new aquarium. The grey rock is used to hold down the Baby's Tears for now... need to get a different rock. :-)