New 75 project advice wanted...

[Ripsnort]

Hi everybody. New to the site and to planted tanks....so here goes. I have had tanks in the past but it's been awhile since my last adventure. I recently purchased a 75 gal and decided that I wanted to do a Asian planted community tank. Now I have been doing some research, still super newbie, but I have some questions that need answers before I can move on.

First... Regarding filtration and water turnover rates. I initially really wanted to do a sump to keep all the equipment from hanging off the back. I was recently told that I would need to have at least a 10x turnover per hour (750gph) and to accomplish this I would most likely need to add power heads in the tank. The suggestion of a fluval FX 5 would be a better setup. What do you all think?

Second... I bought a light fixture that has 2 x 54w T5 HO bulbs, 2 x 54w blue acinic bulbs and 8 LED moon lights. I believe that the light is rated at 12000k. I've been told that I should I should drop to 6500k bulbs. Thoughts?

Third... CO2! Oh CO2! I understand the need for it, but I have heard of low light no CO2 setups that are very low maintenance. We take several trips a year that are 7-10 days long and decreased maintenance is appealing.

I ask these questions now because I need to buy the equipment to start moving forward with my build. Any advice, comments and suggestion are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Craigthor]

Your lighting is well beyond low light standards a single T5HO would probably be sufficient for low light.

 

[abrahamavelar]

also the actinic lights will not help plants but will make u have more algae

 

[Ripsnort]

Yeah, unfortunately I was a little trigger happy when buying the light. No biggie, I'll replace the bulbs and move on. I am leaning more towards a pressurized CO2 system with moderate light. How much pruning will a set up like this require? Plant types being different I understand, just a rough idea?

 

[abrahamavelar]

Depends on the plants but I.e. I have wisteria that I trim lots every 2 weeks

 

[ChizerBunoi]

I would only turn on two bulbs. Change 1 to a 6500K and use either the actinic or 12K (those bulbs make your fish look great). The actinics/ 12K will not lead to more algae. If you start going crazy with your light period, over dosing fertilizers or injecting co2 and unbalancing one of these three factors, you will get algae.

Keep your lighting period on for only 8 hours maximum. Go with slow growing plants. I would also skip the co2 dosing.

I would only dose trace elements with each water change. No macro dosing required. For example, pick up some Seachem flourish and dose 10mls with each water change (once every 2 to 4 weeks).

You can be very successful with a sump. Just distribute your output from your return pump so that the water flow evenly covers the tops and the bottom. With good water movement, you won't get hair algae. I would also monitor this closely as the water will evaporate faster, so you might need an auto top off (Tunze or Elos). Even if you are dosing pressurized co2 in the future, you can be very successful. You also don't need 10x turn over, that is over kill.

You don't need to go with a fluval as that is over kill. A Rena xp3 is sufficient.

 

[TheFishBoss97]

well, if you low maintenance plants, THEN DO NOT!!!!!DO NOT
get ANY type of ROTALA PLANT>...................THEY GROW SUPER FAST
i'd suggest anubias nana petite, DHG, DBT, and maybe vals(they spread fast, but look amazing in a dense jungle)...........
PICS!

 

[Ripsnort]

Great info! Thank you! Now, what are your opinions on in line heaters? Once again I'm trying to keep as much stuff out of the display. I'll post some pics once I start putting it all together. For now I'm just collecting equipment.

Substrate... Opinions?

 

[meegosh]

Sounds like you are going low tech but going high tech doesn't need to be as hard as some people make it sound. When I had my 30g high tech up and running at it's peak I only did weekly water changes.

I had the CO2 on a timer, autodosers for ferts on a timer, and would do a weekly 50% water change. Every week I would do a trimming, sell them locally or online. Of course the CO2 and autodosers add a bit to the expense but a nice planted tank sure looks amazing.

I'm curious about inline heaters as well, I'm setting up a 75g with a canister and am looking to keep all the equipment out of the tank. I'll follow along here and post anything if I figure something out.

As far as substrate, I've used Quikrete's premium playsand in a low tech 10g and everything did fantastic. I had swords, vals, crypts, anubias nana and some others growing just fine. I've also used AquaQuartz's Pool Filter Sand in a 20g tall with stock lighting and I was able to keep everything that was in the 10g alive and green. The growth really slowed down though with the extra depth.

In my 30g high tech that I have/had running I used EcoComplete. If I were to do another high tech setup I would probably save the money and just use PFS instead and spend the money on autodosers. Depending on the plants you want to keep you may not need a nutrient rich substrate like Eco and the others.

 

[Ripsnort]

Does anyone know the hose size for a cascade 1200? I have been looking online and can't believe that I can't find it! Need to know so I can look for in line co2 diffuser and heater.

 

[meegosh]

Does anyone know the hose size for a cascade 1200? I have been looking online and can't believe that I can't find it! Need to know so I can look for in line co2 diffuser and heater.

According to this it is a 5/8" hose.

 

[Ripsnort]

Meegosh, thank you and I have "bookmarked" that site!

 

[Ripsnort]

Ok... Bought a Cascade 1500, Milwaukee CO2 regulator with solenoid and bubble counter, a substrate heater, 75 lbs of gravel, 30 +/- lbs of fluorite, and some root wood. Still have questions about an in line heater but think that I will get the Hydor 300w as I have seen some really good reviews. Thinking of doing a fishless cycling of the tank once set up but what I have read doesn't mention having plants or not in the tank for the process. Now with CO2 is my light still too much? Any thoughts or advice on the cycling? Getting excited to get it all built. Still deciding on type of large rock for features.

 

[abrahamavelar]

Plants will be fine while cycling the tank plus it will help you to make sure u like the aquascape b4 u get any fish in

 

[richpowell1989]

Ok... Bought a Cascade 1500, Milwaukee CO2 regulator with solenoid and bubble counter, a substrate heater, 75 lbs of gravel, 30 +/- lbs of fluorite, and some root wood. Still have questions about an in line heater but think that I will get the Hydor 300w as I have seen some really good reviews. Thinking of doing a fishless cycling of the tank once set up but what I have read doesn't mention having plants or not in the tank for the process. Now with CO2 is my light still too much? Any thoughts or advice on the cycling? Getting excited to get it all built. Still deciding on type of large rock for features.

Plants will be fine I did it that way and I had no problems

 

[Ripsnort]

I'm sorry I wasn't thorough with my description of how I wanted to cycle the tank. It was late I want to cycle it using the addition of household ammonia as described in the link bellow.

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_fishless.php