New 75gal Wall Mounted Tank - Planted Mbuna

[cowman345]

Hi all, I'm new here, so I'd like to say hi and introduce myself. My name's Dave and I've been a reef aquarist for about 4-5 years. I lost a 55gal reef to an electrical accident (lesson: don't throw a heater you just dropped on the floor back into your tank and leave for work). Afterwards, I took a couple years to recover and try my hand at aquaria again. This march I got back into the swing of things with a 2.5gal Nano Reef that is still doing well today.

Heavily inspired by Travis Simonson, I tore out a wall in my basement office and installed a stand for a 75gal aquarium with the intent of trying freshwater, specifically a planted Mbuna tank.

Here's my set up so far:

75gal Perfecto Aquarium with sturdy 2x4 stand

3 VHO Lamps on an IceCap 660 Ballast, total 330W - (2 50/50 actinic, 1 6500k full spectrum bulbs)

Filstar XP3 with 1 pack Bio Stars (will add more later)

~2" CaribSea Cichlid Sand (fine) and ~3" CaribSea EcoComplete Plant Substrate

200W Hydor Heater

CO2 injection with Milwaukee Regulator, solenoid, and pH controller.

Initial additives: none

Buffered to ~14dKH and maintained at pH 7.2-7.3 with CO2 injection.

While my long term goal is to have a well-maintained growing garden populated by Mbuna Cichlids, my current goal is to obtain some plants and allow them to establish a foothold, and get my fertilization relatively stable before adding fish.

So, now for some advice-seeking, that's why I'm here, after all...
Where should I get plants from? Also, is there any reason I shouldn't get a bunch of plants incl. Glosso and Riccia right away?

Thanks all, I hope to contribute a lot to these forums in the future!

-dave-

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA. Nice tank!

 

[czcz]

I do not see why you cant start with glosso and riccia right away. Very cool tank and great choice for your guru and inspiration Best of luck and excited to see progression!

 

[Menagerie]

[center:b93941bfd6] Welcome to Aquarium Advice, cowman345! [/center:b93941bfd6]
Having just seen Travis' tank up close and personal, and having kept nasty Mbuna myself, you have your work cut out for you! Choose your fish wisely As for plants, if there are any fish clubs around, that is a great way to get plants, or check out the classifieds here at AA.

 

[travis simonson]

Beautiful job Dave I especially like the framework.

I'm with czcz, you can go right ahead and start planting the tank. You'll want to start fertilization as soon as you plant it too because the plants will require it and you don't want your nitrates to hit zero to avoid a massive algae explosion. I recommend www.gregwatson.com for good, affordable fertilizers. You'll need potassium nitrate (for NO3), monopotassium phosphate (for PO4), potassium sulfate (for K), and CSM+B + Extra Iron (for trace elements and iron).

As to where to buy plants, I can wholeheartedly recommend buying them from lowcoaster on AquaBid.com. Instead of buying them from him at auction on AquaBid you can email him directly at beadgc@nyc.rr.com and ask him to send you a price list. If he doesn't have what you're looking for he can get it within a week in most cases. He's a great guy to deal with and has very reasonable shipping charges.

This is going to be an interesting tank to see develop. If you haven't already, I recommend that you read the stickies posted here in the Planted Tanks forum. They contain a wealth of information that will help get you started on the right foot.

Keep us posted, and thanks for the compliment

 

[cowman345]

You'll need potassium nitrate (for NO3), monopotassium phosphate (for PO4), potassium sulfate (for K), and CSM+B + Extra Iron (for trace elements and iron).

Thanks for your replies, and thanks Travis for the info about the ferts... GregWatson.com is out of CSM+B with extra iron... is there another (inexpensive way I can dose iron as a supplement?

-dave-

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Actinic light doesn't do very much for plants, but even with 220w of VHO you should still have plenty of light. Also keep in mind that when you add fish your macronutrient dosing will change.

 

[czcz]

CSM+B still has iron, just less than CSM+B+Extra Iron (~6.5% and 10% respectively). You can get Fe chelate from Greg if you want to increase Fe on your own, but CSM+B has been a great product for many people for years -- the Extra Iron mix just helps those that like higher Fe ppm. Dry Fe chelate is much cheaper than the Seachem Iron supplement, all things considered.

(Might be worth asking Greg when he is making his next batch of his experimental mix. Like Travis I prefer CSM+B+Extra Fe.)

HTH

 

[cowman345]

Thanks, I ordered some dry iron chelate from greg too, so I'll give that a go... anyone know how long they take to ship? My plants are arriving tomorrow... should I worry about getting some nitrates in there immediately? I guess I could go buy some KNO3 at a garden shop or something, it's stump remover right?

-dave-

 

[travis simonson]

No hurries, no worries man. Newly planted plants will take a couple of days before they start their uptake again. Greg ships his stuff pronto (he really does aim to please) so you should get it within three days of the shipping notice. There should be enough NO3 in your tank during a new cycle so that you don't have to worry about nutrient dosing.

While I'm thinking about it, you need to invest in NO3, PO4, and KH test kits if you haven't already. If you can afford them, LaMotte makes the best kits around,noquestions asked. I use the LaMotte NO3 and PO4 kits so that I know exactly where my nitrate and phosphate levels are. You can't go wrong with them although they do cost about $50-60 per kit. If you've spent this much on your aquarium, I highly recommend them. The cheaper kits have done me wrong before so I highly recommend them. I hear Hach test kits are also very reliable althoughi I've never used them and cannot attest to their accuracy. If you buy one good test kit make it the LaMotte NO3 kit. You won't regret it. I get mine from www.aquaticeco.com. Get the low-level NO3 kit and it will do you well

 

[czcz]

I ordered in the evening and the next day it was shipped USPS Priority with emailed tracking info. Grants and Greenlight brand stump remover is 'pure' KNO3; I do not know if that is true of all stump remover. If you cannot find it maybe lower the lighting but keep the CO2 up to avoid algae until your order arrives.

 

[cowman345]

12 minutes for a single test?! You gotta be kidding me... I imagine I'll be testing pretty often. I have Aquariam Pharm PO4 and KH/GH kits, (and a NO3 for saltwater, I think i just need a freshwater reference card for it).

-dave-

 

[cowman345]

Tank Update - 75gal Wallmount Planted

Here's an updated photo... I got my plants the other day, and spent a couple hours figuring out fertilization, thanks to Travis for straightening me out.

Fertilized for the 2nd day of Estimative Index, adding micronutrients. Within 5 minutes of adding them, my Pennywort started bubbling like mad, never seen anything so cool. In fact, now all my plants are pearling nicely!

Question: How neccessary is it for me to go through the tank and remove the dead gunk floating around from a few of the plants?

-dave-

 

[travis simonson]

That's looking great Dave Nice plant selection.

I recommend using a net and running it along the surface to pick up any floating debris from the plants. It will eventually deteriorate and cause a rise in nitrate levels if you don't. Replant anything that looks like it's in good shape. Once you add your fish you will likely see an increase in loose plant matter too.

 

[cowman345]

BUMMER!

Came home to a ballast that was on fire and smoking... not cool. Had to pay 169 bucks for a new VHO ballast. this just KILLS me knowing I can pick up a nice 4x65W PC kit for less than 150 shipped, but can't wait for it to ship, my plants would suffer.

-dave-