Planted 125

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You guys are cracking me up!! Drool warning, I love it! Sorry I haven't been around as much as I'd like to, working many hours. In my line of work it's feast or famine, you have to eat the work up while it's there, sometimes you can go weeks with nothing.
I removed the MH lights for a while and went back to PC for a month. I just put the MH lights back on last night, just can't leave stuff alone! The growth is a little out of control with MH, but there is almost no algea. The plants grow so fast they starve the algea out. With the PC lights I get nicer colour but the algea starts to creep back in. I clamped 2x6 boards to the tank stand then clamped the MH lights to the boards to raise the MH lights higher from the surface of the water. They are about 2' off the water surface now, trying to slow the growth down a bit but keep it fast enough to keep algea at bay. See how it goes. I'll post some new shots as soon as I get my camera back, lent it to a friend. Talk to you all soon.:):)
 
Wow Glen! Now I see what you've been up to the last few months. That is incredible. The plants look as healthy as any I've ever seen and the aquascaping is right up my alley :) And I really like the MH lights. I completely agree with you about the growth rates you get with them - almost out of control.

Are you using 10000K MH bulbs yet? If not, you might consider the ADA 8000K bulbs available through Aquarium Design Group or Aquaforest. The have the best color I've ever seen over a planted tank.

Well I'm anxious to see some more pics of your tank. Hope you get your camera back soon.
 
Hey there marchmaxima, your tank will look as good, or better. Follow the advice on this site and you can't go wrong. I learned everything I know about planted tanks from the kind folks right here.
Travis, thanks for the tip on the ADA 8000K bulbs, I have two on the way.They ain't cheap but once your in this deep who cares!! I tried the 10000k and still wasn't happy with the colour, been struggling trying to find the right MH bulbs. Can't wait to see the tank when the new bulbs arrive, thanks again. Got my camera back, here are a couple of shots of the tank tonight. I have removed allot of the background plants and re-arranged a bunch of stuff, took allot of stuff out. Pretty major overhaul. Left room in the back as I am getting 6 new stem plants from aquariumplants.com to fill the background in again. The plants are shipping Tues the 12th of May. Should look good once I get the new plants in and get the midground to grow in. Thanks for all the kind comments, post more pics once I get the new stuff planted.:)
 

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Looking great as usual glen.

What are your thoughts on the turface? From here it seems to be working quite well, but I'd like an insider's point of view too.
 
would like to know what you think of the 10,000K bulbs vs the 8,000.

I'm planning on buying MH for my new 90-ish G IU'm planning. Since I know bugger-all about MH (and lighting in general), I'm interested in your opinion once you've had a chance to evaluate them.
 
Looking great Glen, it makes me want to transfer my 55 gallon mbuna tank to a planted before i get it started up, ive always wanted to do a larger scale planted tank and you might just be the inspiration.
 
Thanks for the comments guys!
Hey there neilanh, I've found Turface is probably the best substrate you can use for the money. It's very cheap, a little goes a long way. Plants root in it really well, I've pulled a couple of plants just to check and seen massive, healthy root systems. Foreground plants take a little more time to grab on but they do, even HC. I like the grey colour Turface better but can never seem to find it. As far as plant growth I have no complaints. Only drawback I have found with Turface is it is very light. I won't stay put. Bigger Pleco's will demo it and dig your plants up. I started my 125 with 2" at the front to 7" at the back. Pretty defined slope. I have done minimal replanting and the substrate is almost flat now, tank was started in Dec. You would have to build some kind of graduating slope with rocks or maybe plastic strips hidden in the substrate to make it stay put.

Hello marchmaxima,I am really liking the MH lighting, tough to find the right colour to bring out the reds. MH lights are so strong they can kinda bleach out the more subtle colours of the plants. Still waiting on the 8000k bulbs. I have found 14000k works well for growth, but washes out the reds. 10000k is better but still not the colour I was getting with PC's. Can't wait to get those 8000k. Might be just what I'm looking for. When Travis recommends something, I listen! If you go with MH lighting you will have to experiment how high you want to keep them from the water surface. To close and I got uncontrolable growth with lots of green spot algea. Heat can be an issue as well, they get very hot. In a hot climate you might need to run a chiller to keep tank temps down. I don't have that problem in Canada!. Take a bit of trial and error, but it's worth it.:)
Hello Ryan, It will cost you alot more to start up a bigger tank, If you have the funds go for it. I would personally try a smaller tank first and learn how to dose, run different levels of light and dial in what you want as far as a planted tank goes. It will give you an idea how much work is involved. It takes me minimum two hours to do the water changes required on my 125 and 75 to keep them looking good. My first ten gallon took me 10 minutes.
 
I hear you on the lighting issue. I upgraded to T5's and algae blew out everywhere. What a trial and error. The tank looks simply gorgeous.
 
Couple of shots tonight, the left-center background is a bit bare as is the left front corner on purpose, I'm waiting on an order of new stem plants to fill in those bare spots. An old favorite I hav'nt grown in a while, Ammania Senegalinsis, is one for the background. It is a nice reddish pink, though I have had it turn almost orange. Always does well for me. I Haven't grown it with MH lights yet, should be interesting. The tank is a little to green at the moment, need some more red in there. :)
 

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Looks fantastic. I don't have CO2 so have limited reds available with my current lighting. I envy your aquascaping skills.
 
I predict Zagz will get C02 if she keeps up her planted tank addiction. It's just a matter of time!
 
LOL I have been toying with the idea. Problem is that all but 2 tanks are planted, that would be a lot of CO2! I shall continue to relish in your tank until the desire overtakes me and I give in.
 
zagz, I don't know how your tanks are laid out, but I run 3 tanks off a single CO2 system using a 3-way manifold. There's 6-way manifolds available too. The trick is getting the tubing from a central location to all the tanks.
 
Tanks looks great, I like the all green look. You have plenty of different shade of color and unique leaf shapes to make the tank really work. Very nicely done.
 
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