aseradyn
Aquarium Advice Activist
I finally have my new "big tank" set up in my living room
I used the stand from my old 120 gallon tank. The stand has an open frame top, so I cut a piece of furniture-grade plywood to fit (actually, it's slightly larger), finished it with polyurethane, and laid it on top. The new 75 gallon tank looks great on it!
The substrate is 100 lbs of pool filter sand. After planting, I inserted fertilizer pellets around the rooting plants.
Main light is a Finnex Planted 24/7. By itself, my estimate (based on a lux meter and a conversion I saw on plantedtank.net) is that at max it delivers about 25 PAR to the substrate directly below, which is low. Most of the day it isn't even that high, and it falls fast as you get away from center. So I'm running a 2-bulb fluorescent alongside it for a few hours every day. Right now it's just running for 4 hours, about when the 24/7 peaks. We'll see how the plants do. Crypts are slow growers, and I'm trying to avoid creating an algae farm
Plants right now:
The anacharis is temporary - I don't much like it, but I have it, so I'll use it until I find something better.
When the tank finishes cycling (I'm seeing nitrites spike already), I'm hoping to add a large-ish school of small fish - something like bloodfin tetra or harlequin rasbora. Depends in part on what I can find at my LFS. Once the little crypts have a chance to establish themselves, I'll move the corys over from my 29 - it's really too small for them.
I used the stand from my old 120 gallon tank. The stand has an open frame top, so I cut a piece of furniture-grade plywood to fit (actually, it's slightly larger), finished it with polyurethane, and laid it on top. The new 75 gallon tank looks great on it!
The substrate is 100 lbs of pool filter sand. After planting, I inserted fertilizer pellets around the rooting plants.
Main light is a Finnex Planted 24/7. By itself, my estimate (based on a lux meter and a conversion I saw on plantedtank.net) is that at max it delivers about 25 PAR to the substrate directly below, which is low. Most of the day it isn't even that high, and it falls fast as you get away from center. So I'm running a 2-bulb fluorescent alongside it for a few hours every day. Right now it's just running for 4 hours, about when the 24/7 peaks. We'll see how the plants do. Crypts are slow growers, and I'm trying to avoid creating an algae farm
Plants right now:
- Crypt undulatus, around the base of the wood pile
- "Assorted crypts" (maybe willisii?) divided out across the open area in the front right
- Italian val, right in front of the filters
- Java ferns, with assorted baby ferns developing - they keep floating sideways, need to play with them again!
- Anacharis
- Hornwort, floating, caught in the branches
The anacharis is temporary - I don't much like it, but I have it, so I'll use it until I find something better.
When the tank finishes cycling (I'm seeing nitrites spike already), I'm hoping to add a large-ish school of small fish - something like bloodfin tetra or harlequin rasbora. Depends in part on what I can find at my LFS. Once the little crypts have a chance to establish themselves, I'll move the corys over from my 29 - it's really too small for them.