Planted 75G Make-Over... Many New Pics 8/5/07

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I did it today. I redid my 75G. Boy it was a chore, took all day, lol. Plants didn't suffer much either. Here's some pics of the progress....

Also, to bump my kh up a little, I sprinkled some crushed coral around on the tank bottom. Mainly behind the caves, swords, etc. About a handful...

Initial tank setup when I first bought the 75G...

Tank before tear-down....

Beginning tear-down...

Filter tore down and cleaned...

Tank stripped clean of plants and large driftwood...

Plants in sink, swords were in a bucket. These are the other misc. plants.

Filter and powerheads installed, and some plants in place.

Left side... Ground cover will be clover if the pleco leaves it alone, lol.

Middle...

Right side... Ground cover will be E. Tiandra if the pleco leaves it alone.

Full-tank shot...

Complete...

 

[mr funktastic]

wow its empty now lol. what did u do with all the trimmings? that would be a huge trade on the barter section lol. tank looks good i cant wait to see it fill in again. this should be another very long and well updated post.

 

[Glenc]

Very,very nice. Boy, that was a ton of work. Looking at your post made me tired! Good for you for taking the time and having the energy to get it done. It takes work to get and keep that beautiful planted tank. You are a very dedicated guy. Sit the heck down and enjoy that squeaky clean tank!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

wow its empty now lol. what did u do with all the trimmings? that would be a huge trade on the barter section lol. tank looks good i cant wait to see it fill in again. this should be another very long and well updated post.

LOL, you wouldn't want the trimmings. I got rid of everything that had BBA real bad and kept only the good stuff. Now that I have CO2 mist, will see if I can beat the rest of the BBA. The BBA was brought on when I had to medicate the tank and turned the CO2 off. I just couldn't beat it once it got a large foothold. Hopefully next time I do a major job, will have lots to send out. It looks empty, but really, it will fill in, lol. There's more than it looks, lol. Like in the far right corner, there's actually 10 foxtails. Some short and hidden some.

Very,very nice. Boy, that was a ton of work. Looking at your post made me tired! Good for you for taking the time and having the energy to get it done. It takes work to get and keep that beautiful planted tank. You are a very dedicated guy. Sit the heck down and enjoy that squeaky clean tank!

Started at 10:30am and finished at 8:00pm, lol.....

 

[Zezmo]

Looks like the tank is off to a good new start. That is one Monster pleco I don't think he could leave anything alone. There is no doubt that was a lot of work. Did you catch some flak for having filters and plants in the sink?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Looks like the tank is off to a good new start. That is one Monster pleco I don't think he could leave anything alone. There is no doubt that was a lot of work. Did you catch some flak for having filters and plants in the sink?

You want him? LOL....

No flak, I'm single, LMAO......

Also, I could probably get rich off selling ramshorn snails, lol. Didn't realize how many I had, lol. Had hundreds in the bottom, and quite a few in the sink, lol.

 

[mr funktastic]

people actually buy ramshorns? those are the little flat spiral ones right? i hate those things. they really have a way of ruining a planted tank.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually, they do a great job cleaning up dead plant matter in my tank. They don't eat the live plants. As for buying them, probably wouldn't get a penny for them, lol. Just have hundreds of them, lol.

 

[evercl92]

Looks like a school of roseline sharks, am I correct? I adore those things, but they are $40 each here in Ohio.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, that's a school of roselines. I have 3 of them, over 4 inches each. I'm friends with one of the gals at the lfs and got mine for 25.00 each I think it was.

 

[rich311k]

Wow you were busy. i think it is going to grow in nicely.

If I did that in my kitchen sink I would be lucky if Kathy fed me for a week.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

lol.....

Actually, they sell ramshorns here for 2.49 each, lol...
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1093
Maybe I could sell mine, LOL

Here's one of the roseline pics I have.....

Here's my pet pig, Felix da Pleco....

 

[newfound77951]

It'll look great when it grows in.....I just did a similar rip-out-everything-and-start-over too...it's a lot of work but worth it! I didn't leave mine quite as bare as I just couldn't part with a lot of the plants!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, bad, bad news. I woke up this morning and guess what? All GBR's in the 75G are dead. Everything else is doing great, even the rummies and otos. But all the GBR's died for some reason. This really stinks, lol. Well, time to start over. Maybe I'll start getting some apistos instead. Hopefully they will be more hardy like the Bolivians.

 

[JRagg]

That's no good. Sorry to hear about that. Losing fish always sucks (for lack of a better word).

Apistos seem to be pretty hardy (mine are at least). Granted my tank is usually pretty clean, it can get mucky after a pruning and replanting session.

EDIT

I meant mine gets pretty mucky after pulling stuff up, which is about once every two weeks. Hygro has to be replanted constantly. Apisto fry are also fairly easy to sell since as well.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Maybe I should try kribs, lol....

I may end up with so many fry, and the lfs here won't take kribs, lol.

Edit:
Think it could have been from a nutrient spike? From pulling up all the plants and disturbing the Eco Complete and old root tabs? I didn't churn the Eco like I was planning, just pulled the plants and replanted.

 

[Codefox]

I feel your pain LBW...my GBRs didn't make it either. I'm going to go with something else for my 55. I just don't want to deal with such a delicate species right now...I almost feel like I need to put them in a dedicated tank

 

[czcz]

Keep us updated. That Roseline Barb pic is incredible.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I asked the lfs if they could take the pleco off my hands, lol. They told me it was too big for their tanks, lol. In other words, NO. lol. They just could have said no, lol. So I just posted an ad on the board at the lfs, Free To Good Home, Large Pleco, LOL.

Edit:
Got some new pics.......

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Now to really watch things closely. Nitrite has spiked, and have had some fish surfacing. Still injecting CO2 and have lots of surface aggitation. This should pass soon. Nitrite is currently at .25ppm. May do a PWC tonight. No ammonia levelsl.

Edit:
Could possibly be from zucchini as well. My pleco ate a whole half of a zucchini in 4 hours yesterday. He's currently eating the other half today, lol. Can't believe how fast he goes through it, lol. Seeds and all. lol.

Update:

Well, I think I found my nitrite problem. I checked my filter output, since I couldn't tell anymore by looking at it since it is now a vertical spraybar, and had near 0 output. So I just did my filter again. This time I took most of the floss out, and replaced with the bio stars I took out a while back. And them put a thin layer of floss over it with the fine filter pad. Hopefully my flow will increase as well with this. And with the water clearity being much better, and less plant matter floating around due to it all getting caught by the powerhead intakes and me cleaning off the intakes a couple times a day, maybe now my filter will not clog again for a bit. Checked nitrites, and still at about .25ppm.