Well I finally got my rimless 75 gallon from Glasscages.com all set-up with plants! I have had this tank for too long without any plants. I got a 4x54 watt TEK lamp with two midday GE bulbs and 2 ocean white from aquamedic (10K). The middle two bulbs are on for 8 hours while the outside bulbs are on for a two hour noon burst. Can anyone comment on this photoperiod....whether its too much or not enough? I got my temporary CO2 system set-up on the left side of the tank. I'm trying to figure out a way to hide all the equipment inside the stand. I thought about not using the inline reactor and just running the CO2 into the filter line before the iwaki pump and ocean clear filter. My thoughts are that this would dissolve the CO2 well enough. Maybe/maybe not?
Substrate is Eco-complete. I use PPS-Pro and my GH is ~7 and KH is ~5. I don't really care about anything else
Here is a list of the plants...
Crypt wendtii - Brown?
Rotala rotundifolia, sp. green, and macranda
Crypt balansae
Alternathera reineckii
Blyxa japonica
Anubias petite
Narrow leaf java fern
HM
The fish I have in now are just two angels and a handful of SAE's. I may get rid of the angels and find some schooling cardinal tetras or some harlequin rasboras. Not sure yet.
Fell free to comment on the aquascape or ask any questions about the set-up. I think I will really like this tank and can't wait for it to establish.
I think the photoperiod sounds good so far. Maybe after the plants grow in more you might think about increasing the duration of your noon burst just depending on how everything is doing. It looks good and it will look even better after it fills out.
I actually was thinking about moss for the tank, but want to make sure I don't have any hair algae left over in there from my last tank first. I have had a hard time with hair algae and moss.
I figured out how to get the CO2 in the tank efficiently without lots of extra work and equip.
I found this T PVC fitting and hooked it straight into my filter line - I put this before the intake on my Iwaki Pump.
Here is the whole system minus the ocean clear and inline filter
I hope it will work well. I can hear the bubbles get chopped up in the pump and the filter should act as a wonderful reactor - I hope. Tom Barr recommended me this just after I put my fittings together. http://www.aquacave.com/reducing-tee...medic-436.html
Essentially the same thing, but only one solid unit.
Very nice so far, you can use flag fish for hair algae they cleared out one of my tanks, but make sure you don't feed too much or they will not eat as much of the algae. How many bags of eco complete did you use. I want to change my 75g to eco as well. Overall very nice, I love the petite anubias. The rotala R should turn pink with intense light when it reaches the surface it will look really nice.
I believe there is 7 bags in there. Definately enough that is for sure! I'll have to see if I can get flag fish anywhere around here. I don't think I have ever seen them in a lfs.
Nice setup!
How does the benificial bacteria in your filter handle the exposure to CO2 running thru it? I had always figured this to be one of the main reasons for having the reactor after the filter...
I do not know what damage the CO2 does to bacteria. My guess would be little. Even if it does damage the bacteria, most planted tanks don't rely hevily on filters for biological filtration so I'm not too concerned about it. Maybe others can chime in on what effect it may have.
very nice! I would have to agree about the moss though, maybe put some on the wood on the leftside of the tank to balance out the visual weight of the aquarium, but otherwise, It's a gorgeous tank!
Khoile, The CO2 fittings can be had at Lowes. They have an especially nice selection of plumbing and fittings.
So my CO2 injector (if you can call it that) is not working that well. It takes a lot of CO2 to get the drop checker green and plants pearling. I have a Mazzei venturi injector on order and it will be in next week. I ordered the Mazzie 384 model and will hook it up to my closed loop after the filter.
The tank is really starting to fill in nice. I'll post some new pics in a few weeks.
I thought about getting rid of my angel pair, but I think I like them more than I thought. I also got 3 black mollies, 5 SAE, and 5 otto cats, and 2 baby Yellow Lab Cichlids (for now). Funny story about those labs...I had my big cichlids in this tank before and when I was taking them out before my move, the mom must have released her babies. I have no idea how these two babies made it through it all.
What do people think about a group of schoolers? Any suggestions...?
I too have a tek light over my 90 gallon. I recently had it placed about 8 inches from the surface but due to burned leaves on my sunset hygro i raised it to a foot above the surface.
Your tank looks great! Your plant mix is nice. I just recently found out that amano shrimp will also eat hair algae. They can even get along with CRS and RCS. I've been fighting it in my shrimp tank. What a pain! I have some on their way to me. I expect big things!
Matt, do you plan to use your canister to supply the mazzei or do you have a separate pump for that? I'm like you in that it seems to take a lot of CO2 into the reactor to get the plants pearling well.
Peteski, I actually lowered my light to about 4" above the water. Maybet thats too close?
Thai, no problems with the river rock and wouldn't expect any either.
Tex, thanks for the nice comments! Actually, hair algae dissapeared in this tank I think hair algae is all tied to Iron. I dosed too much Iron in my old 55 and I think that is what brought it on. It never really did go away. Maybe this tank is just better balanced. No algae at all it it. Good to know about those shrimp though... My angels would get a good lunch with them in the tank.
can i use a mag 2 250gph pump with the 1/2 inch 384 Mazzei Injector for a 110g tank with 80lb of Substrate, I could go with 3/4 inch Mazzei Injector but all i have is a Mag 5 500gph pump and i'm using is ehiem 16/22 hose {5/8}
Here are some shots of my tank...things have grown in nicely. I plan to make a few changes.
First I want to take out a few of the anubius on the front right and extend the HM over in its place in the foreground. I'm not happy with the back middle of the tank. Any recommendations here? I think there is too much lime green. Maybe I'll move some blyxa there.
Also, is the focal point good in this tank good? Actually, what do people see as the focal point? To me its the reineckii, but does the rotala macranda ditract from it? Any comments and recommendations ARE appreciated.
I love it! Though, my eyes keep going back and forth between the macranda and the other really red plant. You needle leaf is beautiful, I would try to accent that some more
Is your tek a HO? I'm surprised your plants arent "burnt" from the fixture being so close to the surface. Whats the current photoperiod? I'm always interested to hear in order to better mine. Looks great though. Maybe try a lotus or lilly in the middle of the HM.
Yes, the TEK is HO. Photoperiod is 2 GE midday bulbs for 8 hrs and then a midday burst (3 hrs) of 2 10,000 k bulbs. The plants seem to respond well to this schedule.
Your colors are wonderful. I think one thing that is a little distracting to me is that you have thin spikey leafed plants grouped on the right- reineckii and needle leaf java and the round leafed on the left. Kinda like it's 2 separate tanks. The back right corner also needs to be fuller. (Your probably letting that all grow in...)
Is your Macrandra the variegated? Are those tonias in the back? They are kinda lost there. They would look great in the front right corner... Anyway... just a few suggestions... Your tank really looks healthy.. and wonderful growth!
Your colors are wonderful. I think one thing that is a little distracting to me is that you have thin spikey leafed plants grouped on the right- reineckii and needle leaf java and the round leafed on the left. Kinda like it's 2 separate tanks. The back right corner also needs to be fuller. (Your probably letting that all grow in...)
Is your Macrandra the variegated? Are those tonias in the back? They are kinda lost there. They would look great in the front right corner... Anyway... just a few suggestions... Your tank really looks healthy.. and wonderful growth!
Thanks for the comments. The colors actually are much better in person. The camera washes things out and makes them really bright for some reason. I had a "art" friend who didn't like the reineckii and java ferns together. I think I may try to do something different with that. Any ideas on a new plant there and a way to unite the two sides of the tank together?
The back left is some crypts (can't think of the name right now) I'm trying to get to grow in a little more grow in. And yes, those are tonias in the middle, and I also don't like them there much.
Just a work in progress. The comments are very helpful! My friend keeps telling me that it looks good, but not great...yet
Could you switch corners with your rotala? The plant in the right back really isn't doing much for you. It's also thin and narrow adding to the 2 tank look. I keep thinking that a Ludwigia might bridge the gap between long and narrow and short and round. It is a kind of elongated round leaf.
I do hate how you just can't show what the tanks really look like by camera. Wish we could see them all in person....
Could you switch corners with your rotala? The plant in the right back really isn't doing much for you. It's also thin and narrow adding to the 2 tank look. I keep thinking that a Ludwigia might bridge the gap between long and narrow and short and round. It is a kind of elongated round leaf.
So your saying just switch the Rotala rotundifolia on the left with the Crypt on the right? And keep the macranda and alternathera where they are?
Also does the idea of leaving the center area of the tank "open" work? Right now it seems it is only encouraging the idea of "two" tanks rather than one, unless I find a way to unify the the two sides. Perhaps having some of the narrow leaf fern on the left would unify it....the idea of repetition. Any other suggestions?
I may try the tonina on the front right and move some blyxa in its place.
I appreciate the comments!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Aquatic Plant Forum
730.4K posts
52.4K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to aquatic plant owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about collections, displays, tanks, styles, troubleshooting, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!