dapellegrini
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Big thanks to everyone on this board who has helped me with various questions in renovating my 72g aquarium... During a long plane ride today I decided to write up this summary and post up some photos to share a little bit of my experience over the last 6 weeks going hi-tech planted.
********************************
Introduction: I have been doing aquariums for about 18 years now (since I was 12). I have had more tanks that I can count, and believe that I have owned nearly every freshwater aquatic creature available on the market, with exception of discus. My tanks have ranged in size from 1g to 80g, including planted, terrarium and other setups. 7 years ago I got married and reduced my tank hobby down to one 72g bow front tank.
For the past year my 72g has suffered from severe neglect. I guess you could say that I was it bit burned out with the Aquarium hobby. Scrubbing the glass, taking out the plants that I bought 4 weeks ago because they had died and dealing with BBA. I basically got to the point where I was either going to do away with the tank, or make some big changes.
I stumbled on RateMyFishTank.com last summer and saw some incredible freshwater planted tanks and decided that this would be my new mission. I have always wanted to do a Reef tank (next project) but decided that setting up and maintaining a hi-tech freshwater planted tank like I have seen on the internet can be just as cool, and would be a great half-step towards an eventual reef setup. I have never really paid much attention to details in a tank (water quality, ferts, filtration, etc). I have spent $1,000’s on plants over my lifetime, but never had much success with them.
So I decided that I had a lot of learning to do. Feedback from everyone on this board has been central to helping me figure everything out.
********************************
Lighting: First order of business was to get better lighting. I have known for a long time that I would need to upgrade my 80 watt NO hood. Just the same, this may have been the most complicated part, next to dosing fertilizers.
I had my eyes on a Coralife PC 265 watt hood for a while, but was hesitant to outlay the cash, when I could not see or touch it. That, and I didn’t like the gold-color and thought that for the $$$ I should be able to find something in black. It was very frustrating that none of my LFS had hoods of the type I would need. I found a couple of local high-end saltwater stores that had interesting hoods (mostly ceiling mounts), but $$$ was extreme and the setups seemed like serious overkill. I also looked at DIY setups, but because that would require a $400 canopy to meet my aesthetic requirements I opted for a hood.
I eventually stumbled on Odyssea hoods sold by AquaTraders and found a black, 48” hood with 4 HO T-5’s, mounting legs and moonlights for around $100 shipped. Though I would not recommend this hood or brand to anyone (see my review in the product review area), it did get me the light that I needed at an incredible price.
********************************
Pressurized CO2: The next thing I had to figure out was CO2. I have seen the CO2 DIY done with some limited success in my mother’s low-light tank, but was convinced that I would be going pressurized. It took a few days to sort out what I would need and I settled on a Milwaukee Regulator w/Solenoid and Bubble counter, a Milwaukee pH meter SMS122 and the AquaMedics Reactor 1000 CO2 reactor. I found a local beer brewery supplies store and picked up a 5lb bottle for around $80.
I was really nervous with a high-pressure CO2 tank under the aquarium, but once it was all setup, I must say it was pretty anti-climatic. I don’t know what I was expecting, but $$$ issues aside, it is fairly simple.
********************************
Filtration: In order to reduce clutter and accommodate a new inline heater that I purchased, I decided that I would need to replace my Emperor Penguin 400 HOB with a canister. After a bunch more research, I decided to go with a Rena XP3. This allowed me to setup my CO2 reactor and inline heater on the outflow of the canister and got rid of the big HOB. A few weeks later I decided that I needed to up my water flow and opted for a second XP3.
Here is my first picture of the tank with one XP3, CO2 injection and inline heater installed. I picked up what I could local to try and make a splash. Ended up buying 2 more non-aquatic plants (can you tell which ones?) before learning that such a thing existed in the hobby (more on that later). Also added a couple of swords and a Java Fern. The Val and the Crypt in the middle I have had for years now.
********************************
Timers and Misc: I picked up a Coralife digital timer to handle most of my day/night cycle. I run my lights 10 hours full force w/ 1 hour in the morning and the evening of half-staff lighting. The moonlights are a very cool addition for after hours, even though they do nothing for tank. I had to add an additional timer to control the second pair of lights since the digital timer only had day and night cycles.
I also decided to purchase a self-adhesive black background for the tank and am very happy with the end result.
Lastly, after noticing that my fish were not always happy in the morning (gasping, etc) I added an air stone that runs at night to get more O2 in the water.
Plants and Fish: Well I emptied out the LFS of any healthy plants that interested me but was not satisfied. So I placed my first order for live plants online with AquariumPlants.com for around $100. I have been very happy with the plants that I received. I have made a few subsequent additions to add better foreground plants and get some fast growers in there to get the O2 up and hopefully start to balance things out.
As for fish, I havea couple more Corys a group of Ottos, SAEs and a bunch of Nerites. I plan on adding more Nerites and some Cherry Shrimp as soon as I find a good home for my Clown Loaches.
********************************
Ferts: Now for arguably the most complex part of this process, understanding ferts. In the past I always bought some liquid fert (never really paid attention to which one) from the LFS and dumped it in with no discipline when the plants I had didn’t look happy. Well, I knew that wasn’t going to fly and decided to purchase dry ferts from Greg Watson to make my own PMDD. A few weeks into things, I caught wind of the Estimative Index (EI) and decided to adopt that philosophy in place of PMDD. I was at first shocked at the amounts I was dosing, but it all makes sense… I am still keeping close tabs with test kits, bit seem to be having much better results.
I also seeded my gravel with Root tabs, figuring that can only help my cause.
********************************
Today: This part is better given in pictures. Here is the current setup followed by some pics of the tank.
Here are the two XP3 spraybars w/ Airstone under one of them.
Here is a top / back view. You can see the 3 wires coming out of the hood (moonlights and 50/50 light control), the two spraybars and returns on the other side.
I have had a few issues with my hood. It used to make a horrible rattling noise, so I unplugged the fans inside it. With it resting on my glass tops the heat shattered one side… Then I put the light on its feet above the tank about 4-inches for awhile. I have now replaced the glass tops and moved the light closer to the water (trying to get more light to my foreground). I cut a couple small pieces of wood to bring it up from the glass a little bit to hopefully avoid another glass issue.
On the other side of my tank you can see on of the XP3 returns and my pH probe (the yellow thing).
Finally one last shot from the back / top. Here you can see the XP3 returns from the other side.
Here is a shot of things under the aquarium. Can you tell which XP3 just got setup (clue: look at the color of the tubing). If you are at all familiar, you should be able to see what I am doing here.
A close up of the CO2 regulator. You can also see the SMS122 (green thing) behind it, along with the inline heater and digital timer.
I bigger picture of the CO2 reactor and pH meter.
As I mentioned, ½ of my lights are operated by a second timer. I also have my solenoid and one of my pumps plugged in here.
Now some pics of the current plants:
A group of Olive Nerites up in the corner (probably trying to avoid my clowns). There are quite a few plants in there now. In fact without removing something (rocks, driftwood or other plants) I don’t think I could get many more in there. My camera is really no good at trying to take these pics of the tank for whatever reason… They don’t do it justice.
You may notice the tank is “false pearling”. Just changed did a PWC before the shot. I have seen a couple of plants pearl otherwise, but am still working towards regular pearling...
Hard to see the Pearlweed and E. Triandra that I am trying to grow upfront. There is still some Glosso in there too, but not that much of it.
********************************
Lessons learned: The biggest lesson I learned was about non-aquatic plants. Once I realized that the LFS and even some online vendors will sell you non-aquatic plants that can only rot in your aquarium, I found the source of much of my frustration with plants in the past.
The other big one was figuring out dosing for fertilizers. Tom Barr’s Estimative Index is required reading. There are so many different opinions about how much of what is good in a tank, that ultimately I have learned to only use others’ experience as rough guides, try myself, observe and adjust.
For lighting I would recommend either DIY ,if you have a good canopy, or a nice Coralife or equivalent hood. Don’t buy something that seems too cheap to be true. I use HO T-5’s and think they are great, but if I was starting over I would probably just go with PC.
********************************
Moving forward: I am happy to report that my tank is doing better and better. Most all of my plants are well, and algae is more or less held at bay. I am currently looking for a new home for my Clowns and Rainbow shark and will then be moving my Cherry shrimp into the tank as well. I can now sit and watch my tank for long periods of time. There always seems like there is something going on. I am sure I am going to have a few more hard-knock experiences as everything stabilizes, but am very happy with where I have gotten to date. Thank you to everyone for your help and advice.
I am in NYC this week on business and have trusted the tank to my wife (reluctantly)... Hopefully I will return home Thursday to a happy tank...
~
********************************
Introduction: I have been doing aquariums for about 18 years now (since I was 12). I have had more tanks that I can count, and believe that I have owned nearly every freshwater aquatic creature available on the market, with exception of discus. My tanks have ranged in size from 1g to 80g, including planted, terrarium and other setups. 7 years ago I got married and reduced my tank hobby down to one 72g bow front tank.
For the past year my 72g has suffered from severe neglect. I guess you could say that I was it bit burned out with the Aquarium hobby. Scrubbing the glass, taking out the plants that I bought 4 weeks ago because they had died and dealing with BBA. I basically got to the point where I was either going to do away with the tank, or make some big changes.
I stumbled on RateMyFishTank.com last summer and saw some incredible freshwater planted tanks and decided that this would be my new mission. I have always wanted to do a Reef tank (next project) but decided that setting up and maintaining a hi-tech freshwater planted tank like I have seen on the internet can be just as cool, and would be a great half-step towards an eventual reef setup. I have never really paid much attention to details in a tank (water quality, ferts, filtration, etc). I have spent $1,000’s on plants over my lifetime, but never had much success with them.
So I decided that I had a lot of learning to do. Feedback from everyone on this board has been central to helping me figure everything out.
********************************
Lighting: First order of business was to get better lighting. I have known for a long time that I would need to upgrade my 80 watt NO hood. Just the same, this may have been the most complicated part, next to dosing fertilizers.
I had my eyes on a Coralife PC 265 watt hood for a while, but was hesitant to outlay the cash, when I could not see or touch it. That, and I didn’t like the gold-color and thought that for the $$$ I should be able to find something in black. It was very frustrating that none of my LFS had hoods of the type I would need. I found a couple of local high-end saltwater stores that had interesting hoods (mostly ceiling mounts), but $$$ was extreme and the setups seemed like serious overkill. I also looked at DIY setups, but because that would require a $400 canopy to meet my aesthetic requirements I opted for a hood.
I eventually stumbled on Odyssea hoods sold by AquaTraders and found a black, 48” hood with 4 HO T-5’s, mounting legs and moonlights for around $100 shipped. Though I would not recommend this hood or brand to anyone (see my review in the product review area), it did get me the light that I needed at an incredible price.
********************************
Pressurized CO2: The next thing I had to figure out was CO2. I have seen the CO2 DIY done with some limited success in my mother’s low-light tank, but was convinced that I would be going pressurized. It took a few days to sort out what I would need and I settled on a Milwaukee Regulator w/Solenoid and Bubble counter, a Milwaukee pH meter SMS122 and the AquaMedics Reactor 1000 CO2 reactor. I found a local beer brewery supplies store and picked up a 5lb bottle for around $80.
I was really nervous with a high-pressure CO2 tank under the aquarium, but once it was all setup, I must say it was pretty anti-climatic. I don’t know what I was expecting, but $$$ issues aside, it is fairly simple.
********************************
Filtration: In order to reduce clutter and accommodate a new inline heater that I purchased, I decided that I would need to replace my Emperor Penguin 400 HOB with a canister. After a bunch more research, I decided to go with a Rena XP3. This allowed me to setup my CO2 reactor and inline heater on the outflow of the canister and got rid of the big HOB. A few weeks later I decided that I needed to up my water flow and opted for a second XP3.
Here is my first picture of the tank with one XP3, CO2 injection and inline heater installed. I picked up what I could local to try and make a splash. Ended up buying 2 more non-aquatic plants (can you tell which ones?) before learning that such a thing existed in the hobby (more on that later). Also added a couple of swords and a Java Fern. The Val and the Crypt in the middle I have had for years now.
********************************
Timers and Misc: I picked up a Coralife digital timer to handle most of my day/night cycle. I run my lights 10 hours full force w/ 1 hour in the morning and the evening of half-staff lighting. The moonlights are a very cool addition for after hours, even though they do nothing for tank. I had to add an additional timer to control the second pair of lights since the digital timer only had day and night cycles.
I also decided to purchase a self-adhesive black background for the tank and am very happy with the end result.
Lastly, after noticing that my fish were not always happy in the morning (gasping, etc) I added an air stone that runs at night to get more O2 in the water.
Plants and Fish: Well I emptied out the LFS of any healthy plants that interested me but was not satisfied. So I placed my first order for live plants online with AquariumPlants.com for around $100. I have been very happy with the plants that I received. I have made a few subsequent additions to add better foreground plants and get some fast growers in there to get the O2 up and hopefully start to balance things out.
As for fish, I havea couple more Corys a group of Ottos, SAEs and a bunch of Nerites. I plan on adding more Nerites and some Cherry Shrimp as soon as I find a good home for my Clown Loaches.
********************************
Ferts: Now for arguably the most complex part of this process, understanding ferts. In the past I always bought some liquid fert (never really paid attention to which one) from the LFS and dumped it in with no discipline when the plants I had didn’t look happy. Well, I knew that wasn’t going to fly and decided to purchase dry ferts from Greg Watson to make my own PMDD. A few weeks into things, I caught wind of the Estimative Index (EI) and decided to adopt that philosophy in place of PMDD. I was at first shocked at the amounts I was dosing, but it all makes sense… I am still keeping close tabs with test kits, bit seem to be having much better results.
I also seeded my gravel with Root tabs, figuring that can only help my cause.
********************************
Today: This part is better given in pictures. Here is the current setup followed by some pics of the tank.
Here are the two XP3 spraybars w/ Airstone under one of them.
Here is a top / back view. You can see the 3 wires coming out of the hood (moonlights and 50/50 light control), the two spraybars and returns on the other side.
I have had a few issues with my hood. It used to make a horrible rattling noise, so I unplugged the fans inside it. With it resting on my glass tops the heat shattered one side… Then I put the light on its feet above the tank about 4-inches for awhile. I have now replaced the glass tops and moved the light closer to the water (trying to get more light to my foreground). I cut a couple small pieces of wood to bring it up from the glass a little bit to hopefully avoid another glass issue.
On the other side of my tank you can see on of the XP3 returns and my pH probe (the yellow thing).
Finally one last shot from the back / top. Here you can see the XP3 returns from the other side.
Here is a shot of things under the aquarium. Can you tell which XP3 just got setup (clue: look at the color of the tubing). If you are at all familiar, you should be able to see what I am doing here.
A close up of the CO2 regulator. You can also see the SMS122 (green thing) behind it, along with the inline heater and digital timer.
I bigger picture of the CO2 reactor and pH meter.
As I mentioned, ½ of my lights are operated by a second timer. I also have my solenoid and one of my pumps plugged in here.
Now some pics of the current plants:
A group of Olive Nerites up in the corner (probably trying to avoid my clowns). There are quite a few plants in there now. In fact without removing something (rocks, driftwood or other plants) I don’t think I could get many more in there. My camera is really no good at trying to take these pics of the tank for whatever reason… They don’t do it justice.
You may notice the tank is “false pearling”. Just changed did a PWC before the shot. I have seen a couple of plants pearl otherwise, but am still working towards regular pearling...
Hard to see the Pearlweed and E. Triandra that I am trying to grow upfront. There is still some Glosso in there too, but not that much of it.
********************************
Lessons learned: The biggest lesson I learned was about non-aquatic plants. Once I realized that the LFS and even some online vendors will sell you non-aquatic plants that can only rot in your aquarium, I found the source of much of my frustration with plants in the past.
The other big one was figuring out dosing for fertilizers. Tom Barr’s Estimative Index is required reading. There are so many different opinions about how much of what is good in a tank, that ultimately I have learned to only use others’ experience as rough guides, try myself, observe and adjust.
For lighting I would recommend either DIY ,if you have a good canopy, or a nice Coralife or equivalent hood. Don’t buy something that seems too cheap to be true. I use HO T-5’s and think they are great, but if I was starting over I would probably just go with PC.
********************************
Moving forward: I am happy to report that my tank is doing better and better. Most all of my plants are well, and algae is more or less held at bay. I am currently looking for a new home for my Clowns and Rainbow shark and will then be moving my Cherry shrimp into the tank as well. I can now sit and watch my tank for long periods of time. There always seems like there is something going on. I am sure I am going to have a few more hard-knock experiences as everything stabilizes, but am very happy with where I have gotten to date. Thank you to everyone for your help and advice.
I am in NYC this week on business and have trusted the tank to my wife (reluctantly)... Hopefully I will return home Thursday to a happy tank...
~
