Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

[Flynfishmedic]

Hello everyone, I am new to planted tanks and getting back into feeding my addiction-fish. I have convinced my other half that the convenience of having a tank at home will resolve our conflicts about me being gone too much(as most of my time is spent drooling at neighborhood lfs). I have a few questions that I need some expert advice and opinions on before making a firm decision.
My setup reads like this:

Tank: 75 gal, 48x18x20

Substrate proposed: Eco-complete or SMS with peat.

Filtration proposed: Eheim 2213 with efimech, fine filter pad, coarse filter pad and filter floss- set up for primarily mechanical and water clarity.
                            Eheim 2217 or Fil-star XP3 or XP4 to take up bio load and provide chemical and more mechanical filtration.

Lighting proposed: T-5 with either 4 or 6 x 54 home made canopy to run approx 1.5wpg for 12 hours with additional 1.5 or 3wpg 4 or 6  hour midday burst.
                          I was thinking cf but would like the flexibility t-5 will offer.

Co2 proposed: pressurized with homemade reactor, to run concurrent with lighting or on ph controller.

Heating: ETH 300w inline heater.

Flora proposed: high and lowlight plants with multiple pieces of driftwood and rocks.

Fauna proposed: lots of tetras-cardinals, neons, some plecos, rams, discus, amano shrimp, dwarf gouramis, some live bearers(for my daughter).

  I have been researching components and fish stock based on convenience of setup, look, functionality and ease of maintenance. I would like anyone who has  some experience to pull apart my setup and give me their take on what I would like to do to please help me decide which direction to take. I have some experience with fish keeping but that was a long time ago, in a tropical country where I had the ability to pretty much keep anything with no consideration for climate concerns. I will be waiting patiently for fish gurus to give me the much needed advice. I will keep everyone posted on the progress of this current "fix". Thanks all!

[Zulaab]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

I will take a shot at a few of the items in there

subtract - For planted I would recommend SMS with peat or blend the two..  Eco-complete is a very good product too.  You may want to get EK's advice on that one.

Filtration - HoustonFishBox people like to over filter rather than under filtration.  The Eheim 2217 is your low filtration point and having one 2217 and 2213 would be better.  Having two Eheim 2217's would be best.

Flora, Lighting and Co2.. someone else like EK will need to answer that for you.

Heating - 300W heater is going to be perfect.  I like the marineland visi stealth heaters.

You are going to want to listing to one or more of the discus owners here about how to have discus in Houston water.   I believe you will need to treat the water a little different than normal.  But there are several good discus people here who can tell you what you need to know.
- That said.  Rams, Neon, Pleco's, Cardinals, White Clouds, etc + Live bearers should not pose a problems.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

Since you plan on keeping discus I am going to recommend ADA Aquasoil...price is comparable to that of Eco-complete but about 10x better....Lowers pH/Hardness and grows plants like no other....Eco on the other hand I experienced the total opposite.

For Filtration I would go for either 2x 2217 or xp3's.....when it comes down to replacement parts/media they will be both the same so that helps out some and the added flow will be great too. Algae grows better with lower flow/circulation....

With the lighting it sounds like you have something going for you there....I myself run the "noon burst" schedule but with a bit more lighting..Keep in mind that with poor reflectors you get a lot less bang out of them so plan accordingly. On my tank I am running 2x96w over a 30g long for 9hrs total but for 5hrs in the middle I have 2nd 96w come on. I like to start with about 7-8hrs and then work up according to how the plants are doing.

With the co2 I have two tanks running pressurized...one gets it 24/7 while the other gets it with the light schedule but turns off about an hour before the lights do. I have both of mine utilizing glass diffusers but the reactor is probably going to be the best bet with the larger tanks. I would probably go with the light schedule co2 since with most water altering substrates it will throw off your pH controller so you won't be getting a good reading.

The Heater sounds good but me personally I prefer to either run a bit less wattage since my tanks never get that cold and I have central climate control that is always on.....or run two smaller heaters.


With your fauna it looks good other then the white clouds since they are cool water species....also make sure the plecos you get don't get too large or are plant nibblers.....with the other fish it looks ok....





Welcome to the Box!

[fishlady]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

welcome to the box......i think nuff said by the resident expert on the subject.....all i have to add is ....pictures....we want pictures when your done setting up....or show the process of set up....either way .....we want to see it....

good luck


fishlady.......

[Mzungu]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

Welcome to HFB!

Yeah, everything was pretty much covered for you! I just want to reiterate the reflector comment Ek made...Be sure to get good reflectors to get the best out of your T5s! IceCap and TEK made great reflectors for T5s. I'd recommend something like that.

Keep us updated!

[Tiapan]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

yeah repeat what Ek said/ if you got the money for aquasoil go for it. anyway welcome to the box, and enjoy.

[Flynfishmedic]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

Thanks for all the advice and I will surely keep you all updated on the progress. I currently have the tank filled with heaters in to keep it at my high heating limit to test for leaks(or just because I am anxious to get water in it). I have found workhorse 5 ballasts for a good price and intend to use 3 with 6 t-5 bulbs with individual tek 2 reflectors in constructing light hood. Price is a concern but if I have to concentrate on other areas until I have it all together I will(or sell my car and buy a Schwinn with the family carrier-59 here I come). Where can I get a good price for aquasoil and any idea how much will fill 75 gal to 3"?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

yeah repeat what Ek said/ if you got the money for aquasoil go for it. anyway welcome to the box, and enjoy.

.Aquasoil is about the same price as all the other plant substrates that are sold online/LFS and even cheaper then the RedSea substrates. I hate hearing this comment because you actually get more for you money with AS and they are comparable if not cheaper to begin with but of course it is more expensive then plain gravel or SMS but then again you get what you pay for.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

You can order here and when it comes to shipping you can put local pick up and they will have your order ready at the showroom...

http://www.adgshop.com/

Or you can buy it from CityPets but sometimes they are short on the products or might not have what you want.

[Flynfishmedic]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

Thanks a million, really appreciate the advice. Is it just a preference thing on regular or powder type, is there a site where I can get a close up on the types?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

Powder type is for use in aquascapes that utilize fine foreground plants like HC but IMO it's not needed.....usually used on top or in front of regular size AS.

I have my HC growing in regular amazonia and had zero problems with it carpeting.....see for for yourself in the planted tank thread.

[Flynfishmedic]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

That is a truly beautiful tank! What type of lighting do you have, did you order plants online or get at LFS? What type of filtration do you have?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

I am running 2x96w PC over my 30g...Plants came from other hobbyist mostly....Filtration is run by an eheim 2213 and 2211.


If you are seriously getting into Planted aquariums look into joining NASH, we are a planted aquarium club and there are plant swaps, collection trips, and meeting of the minds that usually happen monthly and with all the knowledge gathered in one room there is little to no problems that can't be solved.

There is  sub forum here for NASH which we have just started.

[Flynfishmedic]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

Will do, I will expose myself to as much information as I can. I currently have an ehiem 2213, what will be my best bet for a supplement filter. I saw what you said about getting same types and ease of maintenance. Will this be good paired with a 2217?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Hello All, new to planted tanks and need some help!

With that size tank I would really go with 2x 2217's but since you already have the 2213 run it. I would probably fill the 2213 with only bio-media and no mechanical/chemical just to keep the flow on it strong and support bio-filtration.

I myself had a few 2211/2011's laying around so I put them to use.....filled with only bio-media.