Diary of a 75 gallon Planted/S. American tank (Now with Pic)

[JDogg]

ok originally i was thinking of a 90 gal that was on clearance at Petoco...it sold before i could get it

so i picked up a 75 gal from my lfs.

it will be the new home for the inhabitants of my 28 gal (fish and plants)

2 Angles: Pterophyllum scalare, 2 Three-Line Cory: Corydoras trilineatus, 2 Rubbernose Pleco:Chaetostomus milesi, 1 Bolivian Ram: Microgeophagus ramirezi, 1 Tiger Barb: Barbus tetrazona, 6 Rummy-nosed Tetra: Hemigrammus rhodostomus

Plants
Aponogeton undulatus, Fanwort: Cabomba aquatica, 1 Jungle Val: Vallisneria americana, 1 Oriental Sword Echinodorus macrophyllus , 1 Amazon Sword: Echinodorus amazonicus, Anacharis: Egeria densa

as well as my pair of GBR currently growing up in my 10 gal.

will still be a week before i can set it up, waiting on the stand (they did not have any in stock for a 75 in the color i want (black) had three natural wood stands. :?

tank can with a all glass cover and just the basic lighting (which i will upgrade)

has anyone used this type of fixture in their tank? I would hid inside a canopy.

i am thinking of using three each using compact fluorescent bulbs (2 60 watt and one 40 water) this would give me 2.13 wpg, if i am figuring this right.

am i right in thinking that i would not need CO2 at this wpg?

i am planing to remain only moderately planted and moderately stocked (add another bolivian, more cories and some more schooling tetras (either more rummies of some cardinals)

any thoughts and suggestion would be welcome

TIA!

 

[exodus]

With a tank that size I'd think you're going to need stronger, more even lighting than 3 CFL's. Shop lights would be a great alternative - especially T8 ODNO.

 

[HiFi]

I made a Wood Canopy and I used 3 dual T12 shoplight strips over my 75. (Hydro bill )
Then replaced the bulbs with Phillips Daytime Deluxe 6500k bulbs.
In total the cost cost about $50-60. And theoretically I'm getting 3.2wpg.
You could go with 2 dual strips giving you about 2wpg if you dont want to mess with ODNO wiring.
I have a hinged front face but just to note.. the canopy is rather heavy to remove if needed.
If I were to do it again I would look into ODNO T8's.

 

[Jchillin]

I would hid inside a canopy.

You can come out now...

I agree with my fellow members...those lights are great but your light will be spreading out in all directions. If you could get a reflector to reduce the amount of light you would lose, that's great.

Other than that, your plan looks excellent. Oh, a 75 needs a nice lush foreground plant. May I suggest some stargrass or dwarf hairgrass?

 

[JDogg]

I made a Wood Canopy and I used 3 dual T12 shoplight strips over my 75. (Hydro bill )
Then replaced the bulbs with Phillips Daytime Deluxe 6500k bulbs.
In total the cost cost about $50-60. And theoretically I'm getting 3.2wpg.
You could go with 2 dual strips giving you about 2wpg if you dont want to mess with ODNO wiring.
I have a hinged front face but just to note.. the canopy is rather heavy to remove if needed.
If I were to do it again I would look into ODNO T8's.

forgive my ignorance, but T8's are the "normal" bulbs that come with a fluorescent light strip?

i do not really what to mess with overdriving.

do the bulbs that fit an 48" light strip come in any other wattage then 40?

if not then how about two of THESE?
40x4=160
160/75 = 2.13 wpg

EDIT
now that i think about it, Home Depot must have something similar for alot less $$$!

Edit #2
Could i use a couple of These?
just swith out the bulbs?

 

[JDogg]

Well i have picked up my substrate... 100 pounds of gravel (red and black flint, bulk material that my lfs carries and sells cheap) and 40 pounds of eco-compleat.

i think i will put the eco-compleat as the bottom layer, and thicker in the back half where most of a root-feeding plants (mostly swords) will be.

does anyone still use root tabs with eco-compleat?


JChillin Said...

Oh, a 75 needs a nice lush foreground plant. May I suggest some stargrass or dwarf hairgrass

i was think of some hairgrass... and maybe a compact sword or two (if i can find one)

i have a few nice pieces of driftwood i will be adding too...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, for heavy root feeders, you should still add root tabs. I do with all my swords. They need them.

As for the lighting, I have 2 260W CF fixtures on my tank with a total of 520W. 1 fixture works great on a 75G, but I opted for a 2nd one. Currently I have no 50/50 bulbs or straight actinics. It's a full 520W. And I'm finally getting my dosing down, as I have no algae problems in the tank. But it is like walking a tight-rope. A delicate balancing act. Now if I could just get my 29G like that, lol.

A nice sword is a Ruffled Sword. I have a couple in my tank, with other swords as well. They are pretty cool. I had dwarf hairgrass, but it got choked out by algae. My recommendation on dwarf hairgrass is to let your tank go through new tank syndrome before getting some. It will be a less of a headache knowing the new tank algae syndrome is past. Now that I'm ready for it, I'm thinking of giving it a try again.

 

[JDogg]

As for the lighting, I have 2 260W CF fixtures on my tank with a total of 520W.

more light that i need at this time, i do not wat to adventure into co2 yet, but thanks for the info/advise!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

They do have some nice 130W 48" fixtures that would fit the bill as well. Also, the 260W fixture has 2 switches. Can run just 130W and use the other 130W as a backup if a bulb goes out. It also has 4 moon lights as well.

 

[maxwell1295]

Did I just read 520 WATTS?!?! WOW! 8O

That's nearly 8wpg.....your fish must have tan lines!

I bought a similar unit to what Lonewolfblue has for my 55g mbuna tank. It's this 48" 260W fixture that I picked up from eBay. It will also work for a 75g. It houses 4x65w bulbs has 3 switches, one for each set of lights (2x130w) and one for the moonlights. I opted for the 50/50 bulbs which will give me 130 watts (about 2.4wpg) which should be fine for 55 gals.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, it can be a little noisy. So if that's a problem, you can look up a Coralife fixture. I have one on my 29G, it's 130W 30", and is so quiet. Also, I think it cools better too because the fans are in the top and not on the ends.

Yes, that's a full 520W. I couldn't control it at first, so I brought it down to a managable level. Then once I got my nutrients in line, I bumped it from 260W to 390W. Then, once everything stabalized and started Travis' dosing schedule, I got rid of all the algae. So now, I finally bumped it to the full 520W, and still, no algae, and the plants pearl like mad. Now, since I'm algae free, I'm probably going to add dwarf hairgrass for my ground cover, as I now have plenty of light for it, and shouldn't have problems with algae smothering it like the last time I tried it.

 

[maxwell1295]

That's interesting...

I have 3 Odyssea units now. a 96W on my 30g, a 96W (50/50) on my 29g, and a 260W (50/50) on my 55. My 30g has no algae at all. The only problem I encountered was a nutrient imbalance. The 29 and 55 aren't set up yet so I haven't been able to run the lights on them yet. I'm moving in a couple of weeks and didn't want to stock them now only to have to move the fish and plants in a couple of weeks.

 

[JDogg]

well it has been a busy few weeks, but i am moved into my new home and the fish are all safely transferred to the new 75 gal!!!!

i moved all the fish and plants from the 28 gal as well as the HOB filter withmature filter media.

2 Angles: Pterophyllum scalare
2 Three-Line Cory: Corydoras trilineatus
2 Rubbernose Pleco:Chaetostomus milesi
1 Bolivian Ram: Microgeophagus ramirezi
6 Rummy-nosed Tetra: Hemigrammus rhodostomus
2 German Blue Rams: Microgeophagus ramirezi
3 Oto: Otocinclus macrospilus
Plants
Aponogeton undulatus
Fanwort: Cabomba aquatica
1 Jungle Val: Vallisneria americana
1 Oriental Sword Echinodorus macrophyllus
1 Amazon Sword: Echinodorus amazonicus
Anacharis: Egeria densa


if you are wondering the net in the middle of the tank is keeping the lonely 1 Tiger Barb: Barbus tetrazona from mixing with the SA population (she will be returning to the 28 when it is re filled to join an asian theme)

 

[JDogg]

ok maybe i should give a little description of what i did so far...

substrate is ~1 inch deep of eco-compleat and ~2 deep of red flint gravel #6 (3 mm grain size)

lighting is at 2 wpg, dosing excel

one issue i am having is the outflow from the canister filter is not allowing my fanwort to stand up well., currently the outflow is at the top of the tank, parallel to the top of the water angeled down at about 10 degrees below the water line.