55 gal planted tank....lots of new pictures 12/29/06

[newfound77951]

I am new to AA....but am glad I found it! Lots of good advice. I am in the process of setting up a 55 gal planted tank, it's not quite done but thought I would post for others to see and maybe to get some feedback. Still have a few more plants to go (as soon as my aquariumplants.com order arrives) and the gap in the aquascaping is for a piece of driftwood that is taking it's sweet time to waterlog. Might put in a smaller piece from my 30 gal in the meantime. Also need a background, will do black craft paper to match the substrate. Right now all the stem plants are all about the same height so it's hard to get a nice layout until they start growing. I should be getting ferts this week so will start dosing then.

Here's the specs:
55 gal
2x96 W PC
AquaClear 70(300) with foam and 2 bags Biomax, no carbon
80 lbs Eco-complete
2 Red Sea Turbo Co2 (1 running now, will set up second to be on alternating 2 week yeast change schedule)

Plants so far:
Wisteria
Ambulia
Water Sprite (rooted and floating)
Sunset Hygro
Didiplis diandra
2 lg swords (E. cordifolius?)
2 compacta swords
dwarf hairgrass
giant hairgrass
Bacopa caroliniana
Osiris sword
Rotala indica

Waiting on:
Crinum calamistratum
Aponogeton crispus
red tiger lotus
Ozelot sword

Fish: mostly rainbows, plus the usual algae cleaning squad.


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[rich311k]

Looks like you are off to a great start. Nice looking tank.

[Glenc]

That should fill in real nice. Nice clean looking tank.

[newfound77951]

Finally got some fish in...still need to re-aquascape after I get the algae under control. I'm getting there but at 4 wpg things happen REALLY fast!

Got 3 Otocinclus, 3 SAE's and 3 turquoise rainbows (Melanotaenia lacustris). So far the rainbows have eaten more algae than anything else. They pull it off the plants like it's a string of spaghetti...super fun to watch!

FYI for folks in the Providence, RI area Rumford Pet Center in E. Providence has SAE's!

Here are some pics of the SAE's and rainbows.

[severum mama]

Your tank looks great. Good job!

[Glenc]

Yes sir, at 4 WPG things will move fast! I run at 4 WPG also. Once you get your ferts in line, you will be able to grow most anything. That much light is alot of work to stay on top of, especially in a tank that big. Mine is only a 20 gallon and I have to dose every other day, 25% water change twice a week. Higher light means more upkeep,a bit of a pain but I really do enjoy playing with and watching the progress of my tank. Good stress reliever!

[newfound77951]

Thanks for the feedback! I just re-aquascaped the tank, will post some more pics soon.

I am still figuring out the dosing, right now I am dosing trace (CSM+B) equivalent to 0.1 ppm Fe every day, and K2PO4 at 15 ppm once a week. Nitrates were 12.5 ppm steady with the trace dosing about 1 ppm per day, I will keep an eye on them. My tap water is unuseable so I have to transport water from work, I do a 5 gal water change once a week because of this. I am still wrestling with some algae but starting to get the upper hand. I work in a marine nutrient analysis lab so that helps a lot!

[GlitcH]

Looking forward to checkin out your progress Newfound.
Thx for the advice......Rumfords is a great store.
Along with RI Aquarium on North Main in providence.

[Derek015]

i envy all those planted tanks i am trying to get my tank planted but i dont know what to plant it with

[newfound77951]

Update...finally got the background on all the way, rearranged a few things and took some more pictures. I think I have too many sword-like plants, so maybe I'll have to put some on the barter/trade forum in exchange for some stem plants! Second pic is of two of the turquoise rainbows...they are gorgeous but don;t sit still long enough to get a good picture

Feedback please!

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