Journal: My first aquarium, 75 gallon planted tank.

[philipraposo198]

This is where I will be posting all info regarding my tank and its process. Today I got the tank up and running, sorta. Still needs plants and fish but we will get there.

I will be using ATM Colony to help start things off with a school of Rummy Nose Tetra's. Plants will be going in as soon as I can find some good deals on plants



Since this is my first ever aquarium and as suggested by the people on this forum I have decided to log my process in hopes to not only reflect back on decisions I have made and the mistakes along the way. This is also a great way for other who enter into the hobby to have a look at how others have done it from start to finish

Equipment:
-75 gallon tank
-Eheim pro 3 2075 filter
-Eheim jager 300W heater
-Finnex led planted plus light

Substrate:
-Safe-T-Sorb (approx. 60 lbs used)

Ferts:
-n/a (still doing research on how I want to dose)

Driftwood:
-3 found pieces of driftwood down by lake Ontario, boiled and soaked then screwed to 12x24 pieces of slate which has been buried by the substrate.

Plants:
-

Stocking List:
-25 Red Cherry Shrimp
-10 Oto Catfish
-2 German Blue Ram
-12 Rummy Nose Tetra

Random info:

I thought I would try and just dump the substrate (safe t sorb) right in with out a rinse to see how bad things would get. The picture I posted is that of my tank 1 hour after filling it with water; as you can see its not that bad at all!

Also note that the driftwood I found and did a quick boil and rinse and it went in the tank; no scrubbing or soaking for weeks. Again keep in mind I have it bolted to 2 big 24 x 12 sheets of slate which is under all the substrate. I don't really like the idea of how high the substrate is in the front due to the 1/2 inch slate under it. I may reduce the amount of substrate by 3/4 inch tomorrow or before plants go in.

 

[mikem691]

That is some awesome drift wood

 

[philipraposo198]

That is some awesome drift wood

Its even better because its free, found it on the beach of lake Ontario in Pickering. Took about 3 hours to find though. No tannins either!

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

Looks great! I'm surprised you poured the sand right in with no clouding.

 

[philipraposo198]

Thanks

I made sure to take care when adding the water to slow fill via a small fountain pump and a hose. I think that made the difference. the product (safe t sorb) was very dusty coming out of the bag. I took small scoops at a time and slowly filled the tank up.

Very happy with this so far. I am planning to get some plants tomorrow from a local guy.

 

[Aquariumfish123]

I love the drift wood!

 

[philipraposo198]

Thanks a lot!! Its great knowing others like my idea and that I am not totally lost in all of this.

I am struggling with how the plant layout will come together. I think its time to break out a sketch book and start drawing some ideas.

 

[DeirdreHoyle]

Thanks a lot!! Its great knowing others like my idea and that I am not totally lost in all of this.

I am struggling with how the plant layout will come together. I think its time to break out a sketch book and start drawing some ideas.

With my tank I tried to leave about 1/4 of my tank plantless so the fish have somewhere to swim without plants. I like the contrast of plants to open water

 

[captaincritical]

The tank looks absolutely beautiful! Can't wait to see it with some plants.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this, but rummynose tetras can be quite sensitive to water conditions and probably aren't the best choice to start off your stocking. They require an established tank to thrive. Of course you can try, but they're not the hardiest when it comes to water parameters.

Looking forward to watching your aquarium come together!

 

[philipraposo198]

Thank you, I am aware. But I feel with the large amount of topwayer plants and other plant plus colony I think I can do it

 

[captaincritical]

Thank you, I am aware. But I feel with the large amount of topwayer plants and other plant plus colony I think I can do it

More power to you! Let us know how the Colony works for you. I've heard good things.

 

[philipraposo198]

I will forsure