150g planted tank build

[Mr.Pleco]

Hey guys,

Had a thread going for building this tank and thought I'd post in the planted section to get more input on plants.

So far...

9 bags of FloraMax
6 Cabomba - in front of overflows
12 Valisneria - background
1 Lutea

so far there are only plants on the left side

I want to put amazon swords in front of the vals and christmas moss on my driftwood.

I'm going to be buying 2 DeepBlue Solarmaxh02 Double T5 Ho Strip W/led 36"

I have 2 older fixtures that came with the tank...not sure if they are HO or not. Came with attinic 10k and 6.7k bulbs (was a saltwater before I bought it)

With that in mind...what would go well with what I have going?

I'll put pictures up...it's a really nice setup in the tank, I love it.

 

[blert]

I've read that...
Vals + Excel = Melt
...so be careful with that if you had planned on using Excel.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Excel?

 

[Rhino]

I've read that...
Vals + Excel = Melt
...so be careful with that if you had planned on using Excel.

I have vals and dose excel daily. My vals have all kinds of runners coming off. Just start dosing excel slowly. Though dosing excel in a tank that big would get expensive fast.

 

[Rhino]

Excel?

Excel is liquid carbon that people use in place of co2.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Yeah sorry my brain was fried from writing a paper.

I'll look into Excel and Seachem Flourish more. I read some people dosed Flourish every other week without co2 and their plants looked great.

I wouldn't dose daily since the whole tank is scaped with FloraMax which contains all the nutrients anyway.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

left side
12 vals, 6 cabomba, 1 lutea

right side

 

[Rhino]

Good looking tank.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Good looking tank.

Thanks!

I have 5 other tanks and decided I wanted to go all out on this one.

I hope I get paid in a few days and I'll go spend my paycheck on lights. Then I'll be able to start planning more. I'll get my friend to take a picture of the tank (in one picture instead of two) since my phone sucks until January.

I'm hoping I can put off co2 as long as possible. I'll want it later I'm sure but for now I want to see if I can get away without it. If I need some to hold me over i'll make a DIY one.

 

[richpowell1989]

I love your tank mate but I wouldn't bother with c02 unless your going to plant it a lot more

 

[Rhino]

Have you looked into fishneedit fixtures? Very good fixtures and probably cheaper than deep blue.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

I love your tank mate but I wouldn't bother with c02 unless your going to plant it a lot more

I'm definitely putting a lot more plants in, I've only made 2 trips to buy plants and bought more of the same stuff the 2nd time plus the lutea.

I want to get some anubis or somthing to put in the upright part of the driftwood...there is a crevice (not sure if you can see it in the pic)
and then the slab on the right side...I want to put christmas moss on it

other than that I'm up to suggestions and more planning

 

[richpowell1989]

I'm definitely putting a lot more plants in, I've only made 2 trips to buy plants and bought more of the same stuff the 2nd time plus the lutea.

I want to get some anubis or somthing to put in the upright part of the driftwood...there is a crevice (not sure if you can see it in the pic)
and then the slab on the right side...I want to put christmas moss on it

other than that I'm up to suggestions and more planning

I think a big amazon sword would look great I have one that is 18inches wide and at least 20inches tall if not more and it just seems to keep growing

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Have you looked into fishneedit fixtures? Very good fixtures and probably cheaper than deep blue.

Never heard of fishneedit. I did look at at a bunch of 36'' fixtures with t5's. My friend and I spend several hours at MarineWarehouse, a family owned fish store that has more than dumb chain stores.

Deepblue are the best for the price there plus they have moonlight LED's. We are going to make more moonlights most likely. My friend bought a 24'' Deepblue for his 20g planted and it looks nice.

They are $90 at MarineWarehouse so I'm fine with that. I don't want to cheap out too bad. Originally we wanted to make 2 6ft LED fixtures but the LED's alone were about what I'd spend on the Deepblues.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

I think a big amazon sword would look great I have one that is 18inches wide and at least 20inches tall if not more and it just seems to keep growing

Exactly what I was thinking...but more than 1.
Think 3 one on the left..one middle and one right

 

[aqua_chem]

Doesn't Deepblue make those huge 4-bulb fixtures? Might be a bit much on a non-CO2 tank.


Here's some commentary from the thread so far:

#1 For the love of god, buy dry ferts. You're going to go through a ton of Flourish on a tank that size. You'll also use up a lot of Excel that way too.

#2 Planted tanks always always benefit from CO2. That being said, the contribution of DIY CO2 on a 150g might be negligible.

#3 Fishneedit lights are not "cheaping out". They are quality fixtures that other people swear by.

 

[Mr.Pleco]

Doesn't Deepblue make those huge 4-bulb fixtures? Might be a bit much on a non-CO2 tank.


Here's some commentary from the thread so far:

#1 For the love of god, buy dry ferts. You're going to go through a ton of Flourish on a tank that size. You'll also use up a lot of Excel that way too.

#2 Planted tanks always always benefit from CO2. That being said, the contribution of DIY CO2 on a 150g might be negligible.

#3 Fishneedit lights are not "cheaping out". They are quality fixtures that other people swear by.

I'm pretty sure just about every company makes a huge 4 bulb fixture?
but I'm buying 2 2 bulb fixtures
Amazon.com: Db Solarmaxh02 Double T5 Ho Strip W/led 36": Pet Supplies

#1 - I have made no decisions about ferts yet so calm down.
#2 - That is a no brainer. I will survive if my tank is healthy and not growing like weeds. I don't plan on growing anything that is high demanding as of yet.
#3 - I never said Fishneedit lights were cheaping out. I've never heard of them (even after hours of research) and I looked them up. They run less than the Deepblue's I want to buy but they do not have moons.
http://www.fishneedit.com/t5ho-3ft--2lamp-aquarium-light.html
I'd rather pay $20 more and get moons.

 

[aqua_chem]

#1 was in reference to:

I'll look into Excel and Seachem Flourish more. I read some people dosed Flourish every other week without co2 and their plants looked great.

I wouldn't dose daily since the whole tank is scaped with FloraMax which contains all the nutrients anyway.

On a related note, Floramax doesn't have squat for nutrients. Maybe some iron and micros, but not enough to warrant bypassing ferts

#2 in reference to:

I love your tank mate but I wouldn't bother with c02 unless your going to plant it a lot more

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/atta...670251_0_94f9956240823cbeee96b6c2139a2980.jpg
IMO, whenever dealing with T5HO, you might have to use CO2. In a tank that size (but what height?), it's probably not going to be an issue, but it's still a lot of light:

Courtesy of Hoppy of PlantedTank.net

Rearding #3, those were your words, not mine.

 

[richpowell1989]

Exactly what I was thinking...but more than 1.
Think 3 one on the left..one middle and one right

Yeah that sounds very cool they would look awesome mate you can buy them big already in an submerged form

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Great looking piece of dw!