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125g Planted, Up and Running

3K views 20 replies 6 participants last post by  clownplanted 
#1 · (Edited)
Last night stayed up unthinkably late in order to finish planting these guys. A huge thank you to Trinsfish.com for the hook up on the plants. They definitely over delivered with great healthy plants.

Well here is the set up.

125g Tank
Fluval Fx6 Canister
Sera Flore Inline Reactor
GLA Co2
Aqueon 1250 power head
EVO QUAD LED (96x3w)
CalAqua Drop Checker
Milwaukee pH Controller



Inside the tank

-Pool Filter Sand
-Java Moss
-Dwarf Sag
-Dwarf Hairgrass
-Baby Tears
-Italian Val
(Looking to add more plants + fish soon)


The tank is hooked up to timers and the lights and co2 are automated.

Root tabs will be in place by the end of the night and will also fertilize the water column for the first time. Let me know what you think of Day one of plants! Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. (If only I spent a fraction of what I've spent on this tank on a new phone lol)
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Looks very nice!

Is that the 125g setup from Petsmart, with the stand with a single center cabinet and shelves to each side of it? If so, I have same one and am currently building a CO2 system and was planning a 20lb tank next to tank but would much rather have the tank in the cabinet with my FX6. Is that a 10lb tank you have?

Also, is your sand not getting blasted around with the FX6 output pointing downward like that? I have mine up toward surface to agitate.
 
#3 ·
Hello Jamie,

This is the 125 setup found at Petsmart. The cabinet is exactly as you've described.

This is a 10lb tank. The fit under the tank is very snug, but it fits perfectly. You could probably find a different way to sit things in the stand but what was important to me was access to the the Co2 for tinkering and also the purge drain on the filter. With it set up like this I get both of those things accomplished.

The filter's water flow has been severely affected by the Sera reactor due to its 5/8 inline and outline size. I was both disappointed and surprised when I realized how much this affected the fx6's water flow. Due to this I've added the power head for added circulation. The sand stays in place and I haven't had a problem. I have great circulation and Co2 seems to be working great.
 
#6 ·
Hello Jamie,

This is the 125 setup found at Petsmart. The cabinet is exactly as you've described.

This is a 10lb tank. The fit under the tank is very snug, but it fits perfectly. You could probably find a different way to sit things in the stand but what was important to me was access to the the Co2 for tinkering and also the purge drain on the filter. With it set up like this I get both of those things accomplished.
Thanks for the info. May have to go with a 10lb if I can hide it over a 20lb outside the stand. Do the filter/tank extend past the wood of the stand to fit (where the back of cabinet is open) or would they still fit if cabinet had a back panel on it? I don't have a ton of room between back of stand and wall.

Thanks!
 
#7 ·
The Filter is 1" off the back ledge of the stand (The lid of the canister and not the base). If you have the 1" tubing the filter comes with ran behind the tank on the wall that should allow for the tiny extra space you need in order to close the cabinet. You should have plenty of room, in my cabinet it fits very easily you just have to think about how to use the small space you've got.
 
#8 ·
I mounted a power center on wall behind cabinet and build some platforms that sit on floor between wall and back of cabinet to raise up the transformer boxes for the pair of LED lights I run. Looks like I'll need to move the platforms and do some rearranging so the tank and FX6 fit.

Anyway, sorry to hijack, appreciate the help!
 
#11 ·
I have been very concerned about it. A replacement motor and impeller would be annoying but not devastating. I've calculated the risk and if I end up in the position where the fx6 goes out I will replace the motor then I would build a DIY reactor in order to better suite the mammoth flow from the FX6.

If anyone knows of a commercially available reactor that is 1" inlet/outlet let me know. From what I understand that increased flow rate is also going to just blow the co2 bubbles right out of the reactor sort of defeating it's purpose.
 
#15 ·
You could take the Sera reactor and put it inside the tank connected to a powerhead instead of keeping it inline with the FX filter. Maybe not the most attractive option, but could find some nice hardscape pieces to screen it. Another alternative would be keep your eye out for an additional cheap canister to run your reactor separately. I have 2 fluval cans on my 75 that I picked up used for a total of $60, both working just fine.
 
#19 ·
Update

So just did some trimming. I allowed for the plants to grown in for about 5 days and get used to their new home.

Now I've taken all of the dwarf hair grass, trimmed and replanted for a carpet. I am very happy for how close to a hair grass carpet I've gotten in just 5 days! Holy cow this is awesome. A lot of work but the end result is epic.

Anyways here are some more fuzzy pictures for your viewing pleasure. Before trim and replant then after.

Also added 24 Serpae Tetras! They are an awesome addition.

Now have 20 Rummynose, 24 Serpae and 2 clown plecos. Everything is going very well and so far from the 48 fish stocked have only lost 2 tiny young rummynose.


One and only issue I am having is with the dwarf sag. It has a lot of melted leaves which I know is to be expect. It just does not seem to be doing well, or at least some portions of it.
 

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#21 ·
My LFS has Kuhli loaches where I got them. As far as your situation with the reactor being inline with the FX6. I have a FX4 and did not want to restrict the flow. So I got a dedicated Fluval 206 that is just for co2 turn over. I removed all media. It works great. So I place the out lower and behind my Fluval FX4 and it works great. In your case maybe get the 306 or 406 as it would feed the co2 better. I have a 60 gallon so it's plenty for co2. The pic has the dedicated 206 next to Sera flora 500 reactor and 10lb bottle. I could not get my FX4 to fit under my 60 gallon cabinet so it's in another cabinet off to the side. Works great and may be an idea for you. I absolutely did not want to go from 1" hose to 5/8" hose if I wound of tapped into existing FX4
The second pic is where the FX4 is. It's under a 10 gallon tank stand that fits pretty good. It's to the right of the 60 gallon tank. Works out good.




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