55 Gallon Low-Tech / Low-Maintenance Build

[daileene]

They do look good, huh? However, I woke up this morning to the Wisteria floating. It looks like I have a joker in my tank that likes to uproot plants! lol

I thought it was a purple Cabomba that you sent me, but I wasn't sure.

Oh and sorry I went MIA over the last couple of days. Busy, busy!

Oh boy...who could it be? LOL...that is why I cannot put any other plant in my other 10G aside from the swords, coz my koi and fancy goldfishes are bad diggers. My plants that I have tried putting in always comes up floating or ended up eaten by my calico fantail...so, yeah....

Yes, it is purple...they look awesome. And you don't have to say sorry...we are busy mommys and we understand...

 

[McLumpy]

New Item: LED Light

Eh, yep, I'm at it again... another new item for my tank. I'm pretty sure I have an illness. lol

Today I decided it was time to put my under cabinet LED light fixture, (the one I was using as a moonlight), back where it belongs and get something that plugs in. Low and behold, I found the perfect light! It is a bit bright though, (as you can see from the pic), but for $20, I couldn't pass it up!

Edit: This is where I found the light, (in case anyone is interested).

Just like w/ the under cabinet light, I will only keep this one on for a couple of hours after I shut off my light strip, (I just think it helps the fish adjust... that and I can spy on them! HEE!)

I do have an idea though on how I can modify the intensity of the light and give it a blue hue. I'll probably work on that over the weekend. So yeah, you guys had better RUN, I have yet another plan!

Ok, so this is what my tank looks like now w/ the new LED lighting...

 

[McLumpy]

Oh boy...who could it be? LOL...that is why I cannot put any other plant in my other 10G aside from the swords, coz my koi and fancy goldfishes are bad diggers. My plants that I have tried putting in always comes up floating or ended up eaten by my calico fantail...so, yeah....

Yes, it is purple...they look awesome. And you don't have to say sorry...we are busy mommys and we understand...

I'm pretty sure I have a good idea. lol I really should have named my Pleco something like Brutus instead of Tony because he's just a big ol' clumsy guy and that name would have fit him better.

About the busy mommy thing... that is NO joke! Whew! That kid has way more energy than I do! I'm just glad I only have 1! I envy moms, (such as yourself), w/ more than 1 kid. I don't think I could do it! lol

 

[mommytron]

Thank you for the compliment and advice, mommytron! I'm sorry you lost your Vals. Right now I'm only using Flourish, not Flourish Excel, but that is some very valuable info for anyone that does use it. I'm actually thinking about backing off a little on my Flourish. I'm currently using it once a week, but I'm thinking about either doing half-doses once a week or a full-dose every 2 weeks.

Do you have any advice on this?

your plants are the only indication of what/how much ferts to dose. if they seem to be thriving, you could cut it back and see what they do. if they begin to show signs of deficiencies, then up your dosing again. with my low-light set ups I've only ever used Excel, and that seems to work for my plants. i only dose after PWC's, so about once a week. it's pretty much whatever works for you & your plants.

tank looks great, keep it up

 

[McLumpy]

your plants are the only indication of what/how much ferts to dose. if they seem to be thriving, you could cut it back and see what they do. if they begin to show signs of deficiencies, then up your dosing again. with my low-light set ups I've only ever used Excel, and that seems to work for my plants. i only dose after PWC's, so about once a week. it's pretty much whatever works for you & your plants.

tank looks great, keep it up

I appreciate the input, mommytron! However, after doing my pwc today, I couldn't find my Flourish anywhere! lol No joke! It wasn't in the special spot in my linen closet where I put all of my liquid fish stuff, (placed on a high shelf so my little guy can't get into them). I tore the house up looking for it! lol

I just know as soon as I pick up another bottle tomorrow, it will show up. That's how things have been going lately.

Anyway, since I need to pick up some Flourish, do you think I should just stick w/ the basic formula or go ahead and get the Excel? I'm just trying to do the 'balancing act' w/ the ferts so I can get the right amount in there w/o going overboard.

So far the plants are healthy, (w/ the exception of them getting nibbled on and my Wisteria being uprooted). Growth has been slow, but given that I'm working w/ 56w of beneficial light, it was expected. I decided to keep the new LED light on during the day, but I don't know if the lighting is beneficial or not.

 

[mommytron]

when I started dosing excel my plants really seemed to take off. they seemed much healthier after. however i had not been dosing anything prior to that. excel is pretty much liquid CO2 (or some kind of usable carbon, not really sure how that works) so I would add it to your regimen, and continue with Flourish that provides trace nutrients and other stuff your plants are now used to having.

 

[McLumpy]

when I started dosing excel my plants really seemed to take off. they seemed much healthier after. however i had not been dosing anything prior to that. excel is pretty much liquid CO2 (or some kind of usable carbon, not really sure how that works) so I would add it to your regimen, and continue with Flourish that provides trace nutrients and other stuff your plants are now used to having.

Gotcha. I'll try that and see if it helps.

Oh and disregard the statement about me losing my Flourish, I just have horrible memory. I put it in the refrigerator, (as per the directions). DERP!

 

[McLumpy]

2nd Light Fixture?

Now that I think I have this planted tank stuff figured out, I feel it's time to upgrade my lighting, (yes, already, lol). I was thinking about simply purchasing another light fixture like the one I have, (only this time I would get the freshwater version). That is if Big Al's will ever get them back in stock! I would hate to purchase from a different source, since I was really impressed w/ Big Al's, but I may need to do that as they're out of both versions.

My plan for the new fixture would be to switch out the Colormax, (pink), bulb w/ the Actinic, (blue), bulb that came w/ the fixture I'm currently using. This would give me (2) 28w 6700k bulbs, (1) 28w 10000k bulb, and (1) Actinic 28w. This would bump me up from 56w to 84w of beneficial light and the Actinic bulb will give the tank a little color to offset the brightness of the bulbs.

Also, before anyone asks, I would have purchased 1 fixture w/ 4 bulbs from the beginning. However, I wasn't sure if a planted tank would work w/ the type of fish that I have in my tank and I didn't want to drop a lot of money into a fixture if I couldn't use it for plants.

For the most part, the plants are doing well, but I do have a few ornery guys in my tank. lol My Pleco, Tony, is being a little monster and knocking my Wisteria out of the gravel, (so I relocated it until it can get a chance to establish roots). Up until today, I thought he was the one nibbling on my plants, but my baby Clown Loach, Leo, was caught in the act. Little stinker!

But aside from a few nibbles and wiggles from my fish, it seems that having plants in there is going to work and another $40 fixture is within my budget.

I guess what I'm looking for is some advice on my lighting plan. Would 84w be sufficient enough in order to introduce Medium light plants? I only plan on adding a few more plants to my tank, (mainly foreground plants), and I'm hoping that by adding an additional 28w will give me more options.

TIA!

 

[mommytron]

if you want to go to medium light you will need to look into injected CO2 and a fert regimen. the more light you have the more nutrients you need to supplement. DIY CO2 is pretty much out of the question for a tank if your size, so you're looking at a pricey upgrade. that $40 will quickly turn into $200 (I'm just guessing), but if you're up for the expense, then by all means go for it

 

[McLumpy]

if you want to go to medium light you will need to look into injected CO2 and a fert regimen. the more light you have the more nutrients you need to supplement. DIY CO2 is pretty much out of the question for a tank if your size, so you're looking at a pricey upgrade. that $40 will quickly turn into $200 (I'm just guessing), but if you're up for the expense, then by all means go for it

So, what you're saying is if I add 28w of lighting on top of my 56w, (to put me at 1.5wpg), I will need to introduce CO2? I didn't figure CO2 would be needed unless I go over 2wpg. This is why I wanted to add an Actinic bulb to that fixture, as that lighting isn't beneficial to plants.

I really don't want to implement CO2, (at least not at this point). I guess I'll stick w/ the 1 fixture for now and see how my plants do w/ 1wpg.

Thanks again for the input!

 

[mommytron]

it's hard to go by wpg. because the type of lighting, spectrum, and shape of tank all come into play as well. if your lighting is high enough for medium light plants, chances are you will see nutrient deficiencies and/or algae issues unless CO2 and ferts are introduced. you could certainly try it out and see how your plants do, but if those issues arise you will either need to cut the wattage back down or invest a bit more.

 

[McLumpy]

it's hard to go by wpg. because the type of lighting, spectrum, and shape of tank all come into play as well. if your lighting is high enough for medium light plants, chances are you will see nutrient deficiencies and/or algae issues unless CO2 and ferts are introduced. you could certainly try it out and see how your plants do, but if those issues arise you will either need to cut the wattage back down or invest a bit more.

Well, I think I'll hold off on add'l lighting for now anyway, since I noticed this morning that my Amazon Sword took quite a beating in the middle of the night.

So yeah, my post about me having a small "nibble and "wiggle" issue. Pfffft... not anymore! Apparently someone in my tank really likes the taste of that plant and has managed to destroy some of the leaves. *sigh* My Anacharis is looking a little "skinny" too.

I didn't figure I would have an issue w/ any of my fish doing this except for the Pleco. However, after catching my Clown Loach nibbling on my Wisteria the other day, then seeing my Dwarf Gourami "picking" at my Anacharis this morning, I have no doubt that I will need to revamp my plant selection.

I currently have my Wisteria floating in my breeder tank, (yeah, silly huh, but it works to keep my CL away from it). I just hope that it will be able to get a bit more established so I can place it back in the gravel and hope for the best. My Anubias hasn't been touched, (of course). It also appears that nobody is interested in the Cabomba either.

If all else fails, I may just replace the "yummy" plants w/ a bunch of Anubias and Cabomba plants and call it a day. lol

 

[McLumpy]

DIY Moonlight

I finally had a chance to experiment w/ adding color to my new LED light. Believe it or not, it was extremely easy to get this effect. I ended up using a lens that goes to a spotlight that I have in my flower bed. The spot light came w/ 4 different colored lenses that could be interchanged, but the multi-colored lens looked the best.

The lens is just sitting on top of my glass tops. In order for me to get a deeper color, I just placed the LED directly against the lens.

The pics are a little 'fuzzy', but this is how my tank looks after lights out...

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Looks really cool.

I want to try a moonlight at some point too.

 

[McLumpy]

Looks really cool.

I want to try a moonlight at some point too.

Thanks! You should! Especially on your new tank... Elvis would love it! You know he's cool like that!

Honestly, the pics do it no justice. It looks absolutely amazing in RL! It's surprising what you can accomplish w/ a $20 clip-on LED light and a spare colored lens.

 

[ejaramillo01]

Thanks! You should! Especially on your new tank... Elvis would love it! You know he's cool like that!

Honestly, the pics do it no justice. It looks absolutely amazing in RL! It's surprising what you can accomplish w/ a $20 clip-on LED light and a spare colored lens.

This looks great. Help me to understand, this effect is created with the $19.99 dollars clip lamp (the one from Target?) and the lens? Do you have it in a timer also? Or the whole night stays on?

Congrats again!!

 

[McLumpy]

This looks great. Help me to understand, this effect is created with the $19.99 dollars clip lamp (the one from Target?) and the lens? Do you have it in a timer also? Or the whole night stays on?

Congrats again!!

Yep, that's all it is. The clip works great too and fits perfectly on the rim of the tank. The 'arm' of the light is easy to bend too, so you can adjust how high the light sits above the tank.

I don't have it on a timer yet, but I plan to do that soon. I haven't decided if I want to leave it on all night or not. It is a dim light so I doubt it would disturb the fish, so I don't see why not.

 

[McLumpy]

More Plants!

Yesterday was a long, sad day, (you can read more about that in my 55g tank thread). But now that my 55g is blessed w/ my 2 ADF's, I decided to make my way to Petco for more plants to help give them more hiding places. I bought a few more bunches of Anacharis, another Anubias Congensis, (I attached that to my petrified wood), a Cryptocoryne wendtii (I believe it's green), a Ruffled Sword, and a small portion of Micro Sword.

The Ruffled Sword and Micro Sword is more than likely going to be tough to keep alive w/ my lighting, but I got a great deal on them, so it's worth a try. The Ruffled Sword and the Crypt are a bit 'rough' looking, but I'm hoping that they will bounce back. If they start to die off, I'll remove them, but at the moment they seem to be holding on. The Micro Sword was a free plant, so if it dies, oh well.

So... I guess I wasn't done w/ this tank afterall. lol

 

[McLumpy]

Update on Partial UGF System

Just like I had feared, the partial UGF system eventually failed, (well, sort of). I have been keeping a close eye on the amount of food/waste collecting beneath the plates and it was beginning to get out of hand. /sigh

So, I got creative in order to remedy the situation...

Prior to my last pwc, I decided to attach 2 long airhoses to my 3-way Air Regulating Valve. I placed 1 airhose below the gravel, under the plate, and positioned the end of the airhose in the middle of plate. I then did the exact same thing to other plate. Once the tubes were in place, I slowly increased the airflow to each of the tubes until bubbles were passing at a steady pace through the powerheads.

My philosophy was that if I was to get enough airflow beneath the plates it would carry the debris out from under the plates. The debris would then flush through the powerheads, circulate through the tank, and get sucked up into my HOB filters.

After running the airhoses for approximately 5-10 minutes, all of the debris was gone! IT WORKED!!

As far as the longterm use of this method, I plan on keeping the airflow beneath the plates at a very slow pace in order to keep the air from damaging my powerhead motors or props. Then, whenever the plates need flushed, I just slowly increase the air for a few minutes, wait for the debris to be sucked up, then decrease the airflow again.

I know this method is similar to a Reverse Underground Filter, (RUGF), setup, but my powerheads don't have the reverse flow option, so I had to get creative w/ what I had on-hand.

 

[ejaramillo01]

I like your creativity! Well done

Plus sounds logic and easy once you explained.