I can get a 100 gal+stand and everything for free!!!!!!!

[greenmaji]

Alot of people get rid of tanks because they dont know enough about them to keep them.. Ive had tanks that had been through more owners than I could count.. they were all great tanks.. some of us FW guys know about the SW plumbing.. We have or do use it on our FW tanks.. just ask if you have any questions.. and upkeep on big tanks is much easier than small ones, more water is more stable..

 

[Blucat]

So with huge fw tanks, as long as it is planted you don't have to do gravel vacs?
And how do the snails help?

 

[Billsgate]

With ALL fw tanks, if it is well planted, you don't 'have' to do gravel vacs. I know you don't have to gravel vac around the plant roots, since the dirt will be taken up by the plants..... I just generalise it and leave all the 'dirt' in there (I do my weekly water changes). As long as you don't have fish that stir up the gravel too much, you can see a layer of mucus forming underneath the substrate (you can see that from the side). I don't know if it's generally recommendable to let this happen, but it's just my way of doing it, and I have never encountered any problems whatsoever.

Which brings me to the snails. These Malaysian trumpet snails help by crawling through your substrate, bringing all finer dirt particles between your gravel and eventually about a cm below the surface.
One of these snails hitchhiked on a plant, and now I have literally several hundred in both my tanks, of all sizes. Largest snail I have is about an inch long. They live on remains of food and plants. The reason my population is this big, I think, is because the algae wafers I give crumble allot and half of it sorta dillutes in the water.

If you want to see the 'mucus' check out my thread in FW tank show off, 18.5 and 28.5 gal. In the updated pic of the 18.5 gal it is clearly visible.

 

[Jchillin]

Blucat, one of the many advantages of having a planted tank is:

1) Never having to worry about NH3 or NO2, plants gobble this up.
2) Maintenance is reduced to half that of a reg. tank. PWC's only when needed (or due to your fish's needs. Snails (those that don't make plants their regular diet provide amazing maintenance).
3) Some fish really do prefer live plants to fake's. My angels were initially raised in a plastic plant tank and when they were transferred over to the 75gal, it was the first time I had ever seen them staying on the bottom for any length of time.
4) Planted tanks look marvelous.

 

[Blucat]

I am just starting out planting my tank. I used to have two beautiful oriental swords and a palm as a newbie , the swords surprisingly grew magnificently even with no fertiliser, no CO2, no special substrate and lighting just under 2wpg per gallon. But i had to tank blackout for the used to be green water and one sword and t he palm died. Now the remaining one looks bad and unhealthy.

I am still saving up for more plants as I know that maintenance is a lot easier, but it will be a long time.