Diary of the 75G planted tank.... New pics 6/26/06

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That's what I'm hoping....

Since I moved my filter over, I thought it would be instant cycle, lol. I planted the tank, added the XP3, installed the inline heater, and now my ammonia shot up to 2ppm this morning when I tested after I woke up. Nitrites are high too, 2ppm. So it looks like I need to cycle. I thought running the XP3 overnight would have eliminated the ammonia and nitrite, as it's been running on my 55G since Christmas Day. Will keep an eye on my levels and let you know how things go in the next couple days.

Also, the java moss was looking good til this morning. Getting all that cruddy moss on it. The moss in the 26G is great, all clear. But since adding the plants in the 75G, it just appeared, and bad. Hopefully when I get the CO2 set up today, it will take care of it. Also, should be getting all my fertz Monday. Will then be able to adjust my Nitrate to phosphate levels.

Got all the vals planted.... :) Didn't completely get all that I ordered. :( They should spread, right?

So you think it looks nice now? Just wait til I add my rock that I got for it. lol. Doing a layout work-up in my head, lol. Got some white rock, black lava, red lava, glacier jade, plum sea glass, black sea glass, forest green rock, and a couple others.
 
Lookin Great LWB.........I wish I could start on my tank soon.

How much Eco Complete did you use and I know you said inline but what brand and watt heater did you get..........and are you happy with it?
 
As for the Eco Complete, I used 8 bags in the 75G. I love this heater. It's the Hydor ETH 300W. You just add it inline with your output of the cannister filter. For the 300W model, you just need to make sure the output of the cannister is 5/8". There are 2 models for the 200W, the 1/2" and the 5/8" models. My tank is staying at a constant 78-79 degrees. It's nice not seeing a heater along the back of the tank.
 
Tank looks amazing! Wait till it grows in a bit, it's gonna look really good. Your Vals will fill in. You'll be pulling them out soon. This was a great thread to follow, you teased us real good, with a spectacular ending and lots of great pics. Thanks!
 
Well, I got a few more tricks up my old sleeve here, lol. You haven't seen the rocks yet. Just wait til I get it finished, lol.
 
Well, here it is folks. The tank is almost complete. It's only missing the main ingredient, FISH. But will wait til it's completely cycled. I'm still at 1ppm ammonia, and lots of nitrite. Also, tomorrow I get my Flourish products, nitrogen, potassium, and others. Also looking into dry ferts, but that's another learning curve for me. So here it is folks, LOTS OF PICS....

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ENJOY!!!!!!
 
Whoooo hooooo! Nice job man :) This is one of the best developed threads I've ever seen. I want to thank you for sharing the progress with all of us. You've done everything correctly all the way through and it looks like it is going to pay off big-time when you're ready to add fish. I love the contrast of the small rocks you've added. You may find that they get overgrown by the plants in time but, dang, the plants look healthy. Beautiful work and I can't wait to see how things progress for you. Very, very well done. This thread is one of my favorites. Keep the posts coming :)
 
Wait, hold on a sec, just please, wait a minute, lol. What in the world is a diary of a planted tank if it doean't have the "Inner Workings"? Here are some more pics of the inner workings in place.

My Tank:

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My Hydor ETH 300W Heater:

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My Timer and Power Strip:

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My Rena Filstar XP3 Filter system and CO2 tank:

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My Milwaukee Regulator, Solenoid, Needle Valve, and Bubble Counter:

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My Glass Diffuser under the XP3 Intake:

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So there it is. Now yes, that is a small tank. It's a 5lb CO2 tank. Here's my future CO2 tank:

http://cgi.ebay.com/450-Gallon-Stai...593395220QQcategoryZ98119QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hehehe.... Gotcha.......
 
Looks nice. So now for the fish!

What are you planning on stocking with?

I think that tank you linked to would be adequate- for the next 100 years or so.
 
My list, still subject to change:

5 German Blue Rams
5 Bolivian Rams
3 Medium Marble Blusher Angels
1 Gold Nugget Pleco or Red Lizard Whiptail Plecostomus
6 Julii Cory Cats
6 Peppered Cory Cats
1 Red Tail Shark (?Questionable?)
10 Rummy Nose Tetras (True if I can find them)
10 Cherry Barbs

Hopefully the angels will pair up. If they do, will move the 3rd one to my 55G with my sharks and eels if he gets picked on too much.

Also, I planted my tank on friday. The vals didn't touch the surface. But today, several of them are already at the surface, lol. Do they really grow that fast? lol
 
I wanna be a fish in that tank. Excellent work! Go sit down now and enjoy! Thanks for all the great pics.
 
Can't sit down, lol. Got to test, test, test, lol. Kidding. Just kicking back and relaxing now til it cycles. Maybe a couple good movies now? (y)
 
Well, here's off the top of my head.

The red plants are Ludwigia repens
The tall plants in the back right are vals
In the back left are Medium Amazon Swords
The bright green on the left front corner is a Creeping Mint.
The green plant about mid-way back just to the left of the large driftwood in front of the amazon swords is Water Sprite.
In the foreground on the left next to the creeping mint and also in front of the branchy driftwood is micro swords.
The 2 fuzzy plants, one on the left in front of the cave, and the other to the right of the branchy driftwood, are Red Foxtail.
The ones that look like banana's on the right are Banana Plants
In front of the large driftwood are 2 clumps of dwarf hairgrass.
And the 2 on the front right corner are 2 Anacharis
And on the left side of the tank, in the midst of the swords, you'll see a smaller twisted set of plants. There's 2 Medium Ruffle Swords.
 
The glass diffuser diffuses the CO2, but not completely. It releases smaller bubbles. Then those smaller bubbles are sucked into the intake, through the XP3's impeller, and diffused completely. So far no sign of the XP3 building up gas pockets or spitting bubbles out of the output. And my ph is looking good, about 25ppm CO2.
 
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