65 G new planted/first planted. Any advice is appreciated!

[Travis P]

I have had my aquarium up and cycling for a little over 3 weeks now and have the water levels balanced and building good bacteria. An overview of what I am running: 65 Gallon planted with fluval 406 filter biostars added. DIY co2 with 3 2L bottles with bubble counter. Trinity T5 HO lighting 4x36, 39 watts each. 2 bubls are 10,000k and other 2 are 6700k. Flourite substrate with moonlight sand over substrate. I have been adding flourish,flourish excel, and iron. Planted yesterday DHG, DBT, pogostem erectus, jungle val, red and green cabombas, and a little java moss. Fish are 4 Angel fish, 3 Silver Dollars, 3 mollys, 30 neon tetras.

I am new to the planted tank and would like any kind of advice as to if I should adjust anything with my setup or add something different. So far results have seemed well. Fish are all happy, water levels are balanced. Not sure if I should trim the plants right after planting or not. Im wanting the foreground to be carpeted for the most part by DHG and a path of DBT. Aquarium is still cloudy for all the action it got yesterday with the plants.

At any rate I'm new to Aquarium Advice but have enjoyed the info that is on here.

Travis

 

[Travis P]

I keep trying to upload some photos but am having trouble. Hopefully I will get some up soon.

Travis

 

[Travis P]

Pics on day 2, sorry for the glare. I'll add some later when there is no glare.

 

[Rivercats]

The silver dollars are plant eater and will eat your plants. I strongly suggest removing them sooner than later. You did a nice job on your first scape!

 

[Travis P]

Thanks for the reply @rivercats. My plan is to only have the angels and tetras in there but my wife lives the silver dollars and mills so that why they made the move from the smaller tank. I have been thinking about moving them back. In your opinion, should i leave the 2 10,000 k bulbs or make all 4 bulbs 6,700k?

Travis

 

[Rivercats]

Well even if she loves them they will eventually ruin the plants. As for the bulbs its a matter of what you find more pleasing to the eye as the plants will use the light from either. I actuallly had to change my 10,000K bulbs out to 6000K (wanted 6700K but couldn't find them in HID metal halide) so the tetras would come out more. The 10K was just too bright and they would stay in the plants the 6 hours those bulbs were on. So leave them as is and if you find your tetras are not staying out alot I'd then switch to a lower K rated bulb. Its just the 6700K bulbs will look much dimmer to the human eye.

 

[Rivercats]

Oh just so you know Mollies can be hard on plants too. You'll have to wait and see if they bother them or not.

 

[Travis P]

Thanks rivercats, I hope to be posting pics for the next few months of the growth. BTW the tetras are not shy at all so far. I took a look at some of your pics of the 220 and I must say its one of the better looking tanks I have seen. Great Job and you have some HUGE awesome looking Angels in there.

Travis

 

[Rivercats]

Thanks, it's still growing in so it will look alot better once it's fully grown. Those angels aren't quite a 1-1/2 years old and are still growing!

 

[Travis P]

The two larger angels in mine are same age but they don't seem near as large, probably 5.5" though.