Thaiboxer
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hi everyone!
(FYI - I read all the Planted Tank sticky messages, so I'm asking questions based on some of the knowledge in those)
I am a newbie to planted tanks, but have been managing aquariums for several years. I have the advantage of understanding how to cycle a tank, stock it, and basic care and water changes. For the last two years I've been running a very stable 125 gallon tank that's loaded with South American cichlids. Big ones. I've actually had really good luck with my tank until the last year or so but have recently decided to break it down completely and build a planted tank from the ground up. Here's my story (followed by a patient plea for advice from the gurus):
Background:
As you can see above, I have a 125 gallon tank with quite a few cichlids (2 oscars, a Jack Dempsey, a Red Terror, 2 monster plecos, 2 red parrots, and one or two others). The fish are pretty happy and get along okay. My #1 problem is algae. Black fuzzy stuff that's nearly impossible to get rid of.
I've done a lot of research in an effort to track down the source of said algae, and isolated it this weekend. My aquarium water is very healthy - Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and Phosphates are all very tolerable. However, my tap water has HUGE amounts of ammonia and nitrites! So basically, every time I change my water I'm hurting my fish. How messed up is that?
Solution #1 - I'm buying an RO setup and will for evermore use that as my water source.
Before I start that up, I'm going to tear down the tank. Why? Because it's going to be easier to wire brush my rocks, clean my gravel and dry it, and clean my filters and change all the media. Don't worry about the fish, some will be shipped to happy new homes and others will reside in other tanks. (Oh, yeah... I suffer from a terrible case of MTS... Multiple Tank Syndrome)
The goal:
I would like to have a happy community tank with some live plants. I'm not aiming for a densely planted tank, just enough to add some color. I'm aiming for mostly lower light plants, at least for starters.
My Questions...
What do I need to buy? Here's what I'm thinking of:
Water Quality: RO. Here's the one I'm looking at, I think it's plenty big to fuel my tanks and provide extra drinking water:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=30377;category_id=1755;pcid1=;pcid2=
Lights: Right now I'm running two 36" regular flourescent lights. Obviously not enough for any plants. I'm looking at buying two of these:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=29551;category_id=1875
That's 192 watts of good light, right? I think I'll also replace my current regular flourescent bulbs with nice ones, but not sure which. Here are a few options:
http://www.hellolights.com/36lamps2.html
Would the four lights (2 normal, 2 power compact) be enough for a standard 125 gallon tank? I believe it's 22" deep.
CO2? Do I need this right away?
Substrate: Right now I have about 150 lbs of regular gravel in there, I bought it from an LFS and cleaned it. Can I get away with no fertilizer and add it later if I want? Or do I have to decide now?
Undergravel Filter Trays? I own them, but they aren't in the tank today, should I put them back when I setup the tank again? Is there an advantage to the air space, or setting it up so I can easily run CO2 under the gravel later?
Filtration: Right now I have an Emperor 400 (too much surface agitation?) and a Magnum 350 running on the tank, as well as some internal cans that are powered by aeration. I also have a brand spanking new Filstar XP3 in the box. (Don't want to run it on the super algae system) For the new setup, I'm thinking of putting the Emperor on another tank and running the Magnum and Filstar in-line.
What do you think? What am I missing? Thanks again for helping me out!
(FYI - I read all the Planted Tank sticky messages, so I'm asking questions based on some of the knowledge in those)
I am a newbie to planted tanks, but have been managing aquariums for several years. I have the advantage of understanding how to cycle a tank, stock it, and basic care and water changes. For the last two years I've been running a very stable 125 gallon tank that's loaded with South American cichlids. Big ones. I've actually had really good luck with my tank until the last year or so but have recently decided to break it down completely and build a planted tank from the ground up. Here's my story (followed by a patient plea for advice from the gurus):
Background:
As you can see above, I have a 125 gallon tank with quite a few cichlids (2 oscars, a Jack Dempsey, a Red Terror, 2 monster plecos, 2 red parrots, and one or two others). The fish are pretty happy and get along okay. My #1 problem is algae. Black fuzzy stuff that's nearly impossible to get rid of.
I've done a lot of research in an effort to track down the source of said algae, and isolated it this weekend. My aquarium water is very healthy - Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and Phosphates are all very tolerable. However, my tap water has HUGE amounts of ammonia and nitrites! So basically, every time I change my water I'm hurting my fish. How messed up is that?
Solution #1 - I'm buying an RO setup and will for evermore use that as my water source.
Before I start that up, I'm going to tear down the tank. Why? Because it's going to be easier to wire brush my rocks, clean my gravel and dry it, and clean my filters and change all the media. Don't worry about the fish, some will be shipped to happy new homes and others will reside in other tanks. (Oh, yeah... I suffer from a terrible case of MTS... Multiple Tank Syndrome)
The goal:
I would like to have a happy community tank with some live plants. I'm not aiming for a densely planted tank, just enough to add some color. I'm aiming for mostly lower light plants, at least for starters.
My Questions...
What do I need to buy? Here's what I'm thinking of:
Water Quality: RO. Here's the one I'm looking at, I think it's plenty big to fuel my tanks and provide extra drinking water:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=30377;category_id=1755;pcid1=;pcid2=
Lights: Right now I'm running two 36" regular flourescent lights. Obviously not enough for any plants. I'm looking at buying two of these:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=29551;category_id=1875
That's 192 watts of good light, right? I think I'll also replace my current regular flourescent bulbs with nice ones, but not sure which. Here are a few options:
http://www.hellolights.com/36lamps2.html
Would the four lights (2 normal, 2 power compact) be enough for a standard 125 gallon tank? I believe it's 22" deep.
CO2? Do I need this right away?
Substrate: Right now I have about 150 lbs of regular gravel in there, I bought it from an LFS and cleaned it. Can I get away with no fertilizer and add it later if I want? Or do I have to decide now?
Undergravel Filter Trays? I own them, but they aren't in the tank today, should I put them back when I setup the tank again? Is there an advantage to the air space, or setting it up so I can easily run CO2 under the gravel later?
Filtration: Right now I have an Emperor 400 (too much surface agitation?) and a Magnum 350 running on the tank, as well as some internal cans that are powered by aeration. I also have a brand spanking new Filstar XP3 in the box. (Don't want to run it on the super algae system) For the new setup, I'm thinking of putting the Emperor on another tank and running the Magnum and Filstar in-line.
What do you think? What am I missing? Thanks again for helping me out!