New Planted Tank

[Lemonsong]

Hey boys and girls,

Well I have just set up my brand new planted tank. just kicked off the cylce today and I have about 4 weeks to go so let me tell you about it...Here are the specifications:

125 All Glass Aquarium with Black pine stand

Coralife Aqualight pro metal halides (2 x 150 metalhalides, 2 x 96 atinics, 3 x 1 LED's) total =495 watts. Light system suspended above the aquarium a total of 1'. Hooked up to coralife digital timers with a photoperiod of 12 hours a day (11am-11pm).

Rena XP3 Filter with spray bar attachment

2 33 watt Marineland Visi-therm heaters keeping the tank at a steady 84*F

150 LBS of flourite (its the only substrate in there) equalling a depth of around 2"

Dosing is: Flourish, Flourish iron, and Flourish Excel for your standard mineral loss. As for a water change I plan to change 10% every 2-3 days for obvious reasons.

Well thats about it. I plan on keeping discus (this is my third time ) being that they are my favorite fish. I plan on have 2 schools/shoals of 6-8 discus, with a couple german blue rams, a schools of cardinals or a similar tetra, a bristle nose pleco...well im actually looking for a good recomended algae eater...a school of Botia Sidthimunki or Botia Angelicus or if worse comes to worse a school of botia macracanthus.

Decorations are going to be....well duh plants But mainly I have 3 pieces of large driftwood to which I will shape in the aquarium to cover the most of it (this is still a work in progress)...As far as plants I dont really have any in mind...I have a list that do well in discus water so I will choose from those accordingly. I understand that the halides are going to be to bright for the discus so for algae control and "shade" for the discus the top of the water will include some water lettuce or water hyacinth or maybe if need be some frog's-bit.

Well thats about it...hopefully this planted tank will do as well as my last one did! If you guys or girls have some suggestions or opinions that would be great in pointing me to where i want to go with this tank...pictures are soon to come Thanks a million and have a great one!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

As for your dosing, you want more traces than just Iron. If using Flourish products, then I'd recommend the Flourish Comp. It's a lot better than the Flourish Trace. Also, I'd recommend adding Flourish Potassium. You will need more Potassium than what's supplied by Flourish alone. And it's hard to overdose, and does not cause algae. So it's best to have a good supply of Potassium on hand.

Other than that, sounds like a good setup. Not sure how the MH will do with plants, but you can let us know how everything plays out. I know some of us are interested in how MH's work out with planted tanks.

As you are working with the plants, you might find that some plants you might need a little deeper substrate. So you might want to keep that in mind, and if you need to, pick a little more up. But other than that, sounds like you are set. Good job so far.

 

[Lemonsong]

Dont worry I will let you know how it turns out and I will also go pick up some flourish pottasium tomorow. Also can you recomend any really good algea eaters? Preferable a different type of pleco...hmm maybe a clown/emperor pleco

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I have Bristlenose Plecos and a Sailfin myself. In my 75G, I have 1 Sailfin and 4 BN's. I have 1 male and 3 female, so maybe I'll get some eggs someday, lol.

Other good cleaners are otos for the initial new tank syndrome (diatoms), and True SAE's for hair algae. What's recommended is usually 1 oto per 1 SQ foot of tank bottom, and 1 SAE per foot of tank bottom as well. I have 4 oto's in my 29G and 6 in my 75G. They are awsome, and quite the characters.

 

[Lemonsong]

I love otocinclus...problem is they dont have the longest life span If I could have just a whole bunch of them that would be awsome but its not worth the money how long them truly live. But on a sde note I love Zebra Otoclinclus But they are seasonal so...any other suggestions beside the bristle nose? I think clown pleco is the way to go!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Clowns and rubberlips? There's also the Gold Nugget Pleco that people like as well.

 

[Lemonsong]

I love gold nuggets...they will do okay?I am just trying to get an algae team that will do well in the tank and still maintain the looks...if you get what I mean

 

[Lonewolfblue]

For that sized tank, I'd say at least 1 gold nugget and a team of 4 BN Plecos. Then some otos and SAE's.

 

[Lemonsong]

Really even with the stocking levels of my tank already? How about say 1 clown or gold nugget pleco plus say 10 otto cats and a paif of SAE's... sound good? I dont want to put to many fish in the tank and still have a decent algae crew

 

[Lonewolfblue]

That sounds like a good plan you have there. I'd get 3 SAE's, as they do like to be in groups, and make sure they are the true SAE's. If it's the false one, it will be aggressive and get's pretty big.

 

[Lemonsong]

Well yeah thats what I heard...SAE's get like 6" dont they? What would be the way of distinguishing the difference between them?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I'm not exactly sure how to tell the difference myself, will need to do a little checking there. Maybe someone else in here will give good info on this. I just have the oto's myself, and may get some more. Need more than just 6, lol. They love algae wafers, sometimes will have all 6 on 1 wafer, while the plecos are eating the other wafers, lol.

 

[Lemonsong]

I love otto cats so could I get away with just otto cats and a pleco to be on the safe side?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

You could, yes. Then, if for some reason you start having problems with hair algae, then you have the option of getting a couple SAE's if you want, as they are about the only ones that touch the stuff. I had hair algae, and got rid of it through modifying my dosing schedule, and now have no algae problems. So if you plant well, and know your dosing schedule for your current setup, you wouldn't need the SAE's if you don't want them. And the otos are a great addition to any tank. Just kind of spendy here, lol.

 

[Lemonsong]

Same here about the otto's....but I have always been told to stay away because of the short life span. And as far as a dosing schedule I was think of all the flourish lines in the morning about an hour after the lights come on

 

[Lonewolfblue]

No, not all at the same times. You only want to dose the Macros (Flourish and Flourish Potassium) on one day and traces (Flourish Comprehensive) on the next. If you dose all at the same time, some of the solutions like the iron will fall out of solution, causing more problems. Then just keep the Flourish Iron incase you need to suppliment with extra iron. But remember, too much iron will cause massive algae problems. Also, I dose mine before lights on.

 

[Lemonsong]

ohhh okay...how about flourish, flourish excel and flourish pottasium every day or every second day and having flourish iron dosed when iron is getting low (by checking with a test kit)...ohh and I forgot to mention im going to try under gravel heating (heating the substrate about a degree or two hotter thank the water) all controlled by a rheostat with water probe placed in the substrate. Worked wonders the first time I did it

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I personally mix my own solutions from Greg Watsons, but it still works the same with Flourish products. Here's my routine.....

Sundays: 50% PWC, Dose Nitrogen, Dose Phosphate, Dose Potassium, Dose Excel in tanks with no CO2.

Mondays: Dose my Traces (CSM+B with extra iron and magnesium), Dose Excel in non-CO2 tanks.

Tuesdays: Dose Nitrogen, Dose Phosphate, Dose Potassium, Dose Excel in tanks with no CO2.

Wednesdays: Dose my Traces (CSM+B with extra iron and magnesium), Dose Excel in non-CO2 tanks.

Thursdays: Dose my Traces (CSM+B with extra iron and magnesium), Dose Excel in non-CO2 tanks.

Fridays: Dose my Traces (CSM+B with extra iron and magnesium), Dose Excel in non-CO2 tanks.

Saturdays: Day off from dosing ferts. Dose only Excel in non-CO2 tanks.

Oh, and don't bother testing for iron. There is no accurate test kit for iron.

 

[Purrbox]

Something else to keep in mind is that those Actinic bulb have little to no benefit for plants. It will only be the halides that are doing anything for your plants.

 

[Lemonsong]

Thats fine...the bulbs come with the fixture. Plus I guess im gonna have to figure a way to find what dosing works for me. Its gonna be a long road ahead but I am just trying to consider my options!