[troynel]

I use to have a reef aquarium and thought that a planted tank would be easy. I'm sure it might be once you get it down but i'm having a hard time figuring this thing out. I have a few questions that I need answered if someone would like to help. First a background on the tank:

amon: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 40
ph: 6.0
temp: 78

tank is a 130 gallon setup with 2 65w pc 6700k and a 150 hqi with 8k bulb. Mostly swords and spirial or something like that. I have a wet dry filter rated for 200 gallons and nitrate reator, phos ban, and charc. for chemical filtration. I dose prolibo and carbon to the tank.

Tank also has 10 Pirahnas in it. Could this be miy problem?

Problem 1 is one nitrate - I do 20% or more weekly
Problem 2 is my plants seem to have sand and other stuff stick to them plus algea growing on the swords.
Problem 3 the grassy plants don't grow that high when i know there supposed to and they often turn clear.
Problem 4 gh is 180 or higher and kh is almost 0


? is what can i do to fix this prblem and get my plants growing lush and green and not have to wipe them off from the sand that sticks to them?

 

[customdrumfinishes]

pirahnas eat plants dont they? seems like the nitrate reactor would take the nitrate out.

how big are the fish?
what is prolibo?
even with the 150 hqi with 8k bulb i wonder if you have 2wpg. im not familiar with that light..

 

[freydo]

yeah... planted tanks are different from reef tanks, and have their own requirements. lots of other things to consider. my suggestion is to give these links a read

Setting up a Planted Tank:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/showthread.php?t=8790
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/showthread.php?t=14684

Plant Nutrients:
PPS Method: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/showthread.php?t=4241

EI Method: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/showthread.php?t=15225

Tank Lighting:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/lighting/showthread.php?t=34149

these will answer a lot of your questions, and possibly steer you in the proper direction.

hope this helps!

 

[troynel]

The Pirahnas are about 3-5 inchs. I haven't seen them eat any of the plants but it's a possibility i guess. I thought the reactor would take care of that as well but so far after 2 weeks it hasn't. I have 2.1 watts per gallon. Lights are on for 12 hours a day. Use ro water most of the time for water changes. I will read the links and hopefully will gain some most needed knowledge.

 

[Logan's Daddy]

1. Read the posts linked by freydo carefully.
2. Ditch the wet/dry filter, it is stripping needed co2 from your water.
3. Get rid of the phos-ban too, plants actually need quite a bit of phosphates.
4. While you're at it stop using the RO water, you need all of those minerals that a ro filter strips out for plants.
5. Add a little baking soda to increase KH if you want to.

Planted tanks are a lot different from reef tanks, you don't need RO water or even to be too worried about what's in the tap water besides chlorine. You don't need as much water quality equipment either, the tank in my signature below has a filter with nothing but floss in it mostly used for flow and to suck out the really big stuff. Besides that I inject pressurized co2 and add fertilizer following the EI method. 50% waterchange once a week. That's it. Get yourself a co2 setup and some fertilizers, save all that other equipment and set up another reef!

Planted aquariums are awesome, and although they generally need less equipment than a reef they can still be every bit as challenging. Keep surfing this forum, it's a good one, a lot of good people with a lot of good advice.

have fun!

 

[Church]

I came to this side of the fence after doing sw tanks my whole life, and I can tell you that planted tanks are just as challenging, if not moreso in certain cases... but it's all very worth it, so stick with it!