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klibs' 75 gallon high tech (4th reboot)

26K views 158 replies 40 participants last post by  Greggz 
#1 · (Edited)
***I will be updating this first post with specs / general details as the setup evolves***

Current Status:
Whatever

Most Recent Pic (6/30/2017):



Learning from all of my research has made me GREATLY appreciate those of you who took time to keep detailed journals on how you accomplished great tanks so I will try to do the same. If this journal one day helps someone model a great looking tank I will be happy.

Current Hardware:
  • 75 Gallon tank
  • Apex Controller (pH / temp probes)
  • 2 x EHEIM 2217
  • [STRIKE]Koralia 425[/STRIKE]
  • Koralia 240
  • 10 lb CO2 tank (Apex controlled for failsafe)
  • Griggs style DIY PVC reactor for CO2 inline with one of the 2217 cans
  • 2 x Build My LED Dutch XB
  • Black Diamond Blasting Sand

Current Flora:
  • Needle & Narrow Leaf Java Fern
  • Fissidens Fox
  • Crypt wendtii bronze
  • Anubias nana & petite
  • [STRIKE]AR Mini[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Rotala Colorata[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Ludwigia Red[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Ludwigia Arcuata[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Moneywort[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Blyxa Japonica[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Staurogyne Repens[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Lobelia Cardinalis (not the small version?)[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Marsilea Crenata (i think)[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Glossostigma Elatinoides[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Bacopa sp Japan[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Bacopa Colorata[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Staurogyne Bihar[/STRIKE]
  • [STRIKE]Ludwigia sp Ruben (not sure? kind of like rotala macandra?)[/STRIKE]

Current Fauna:
  • Bloodfin Tetra x6
  • Pearl Gourami x3
  • Ottos x6
  • Pepper corys x6
  • Cardinal tetra x12
    More to come!!!

6/30/2017


5/8/2017




4/9/2017


1/18/2017


11/5/2016


9/29/2016


9/20/2016


9/13/2016


2/15/2016


2/6/2016






9/2/2015


8/13/2015


6/8/2015
 
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17
#7 ·
How many bags of the black diamond sand have you used and what is your sub straight depth. I am setting up my 75g with black diamond and was going to go with the medium 20-40 grit and was guestimating 3-4 50lb bags would put me somewhere in the range of 3" depth, am I correct?
 
#9 · (Edited)
3x 50lb bags was perfect for me. Got pretty solid depth. (2" +)

Awesome! I couldn't settle on a single school, and rummys are hard to find locally. My LFS says they are unpopular outside of the planted tank community, so they don't stock them often. Any larger fish planned?

Also, waiting on these photos. I'm excited. If I recall correctly, you helped me immensely when I started my tank.
Nope!
Rummys all the way! Gonna keep the black skirt tetra in there though - he deserves to stay and is a pretty funny "centerpiece" fish to have. Have a handful of ottos too. rummy's are very fragile when you first get them but once they are accustomed to your tank they will not die - very easy to keep once they survive acclimation. I got a few locally but they are extremely hard to find. Had pretty good success ordering a bunch on liveaquaria. I will be getting a lot more in the (hopefully near) future.


Anyways...

Total redo was a COMPLETE success. Lost 0 fish. They were angry being in quarantine for a day but they got RED once they were in their new home for a few hours. They're loving it right now - eating like the animals they are.

Finished planting out my hair grass. It took me OVER 10 HOURS to plant all of this. I swear if it does not fill in I will be so mad I might quit the hobby. Looking good so far... Going to keep things nice and easy on the ferts and closely monitor my N/P and make sure the tank is squeaky clean. Can't start off on the wrong foot.

In the next month or so I am looking to diversify the plants in the mid / background and order a larger variety. We'll see what we end up with. Definitely going to keep some of my blyxa but it will be replaced with different plants eventually. Keeping it stocked up tight with plants to make sure I can hit the tank with good amounts of light. Also ignore the hideous rotala stems. Once they start filling in I will keep them trimmed up pretty (hopefully lol)

Latest pic (2 days after setup - I will take a much less terrible pic eventually):

 
#12 ·
Actually going to give an update... Been slacking on this

STILL struggling to get my DHG carpeted the way I want it. Trimming my L Arcuata / L Brevipes so they grow nice and compact which is why there is a lack of a background right now. Rotala is doing well but again it is still a work in progress. Things are really beginning to fill in now. In another two months we should be looking nice.

The plan is to phase out a good amount of the blyxa in favor of the ludwigia. I want it to be purely a midground plant and take up less real estate. Also need to trim and begin to propagate the AR mini. Not seeing the best growth out of that one... A fresh start would probably help it out.

Pics:





 
#16 ·
Added 4 more rummynose from a batch of 8. As always I lost 50% in the quarantine. The surviving 4 are doing great.

Also added the 8 harlequin rasboras from my 29g low tech. Going to convert that tank into a shrimp tank. Looking to get a LOT more harlequin rasboras in there. Giving up on the rummy (unfortunately...)

Eventually I will have to make the decision to stick with the rummys + rasboras OR to just have two different schools. We will see

Will update with pics soon...

Rotala rotundifolia (?) is beginning to turn more red now that I have upped my light and it has grown taller as well. Carpet is still doing just OK. spreading for sure but not that quickly. In time I'm sure it will be as full as I want it to be. Going to stick with the DHG belem due to the low maintenance it requires. Cannot stand trimming my foreground so often as with plants like HC and such.

Also added some rotala colorata.
 
#19 ·
Well I JUST got the colorata so can't answer that. the other rotala I have has a nice orange tint to it.

BML Dutch XB in the rear (over the rotala) ramps up to 62% right now and blasts at 78% and blasts for like 3 hours (2 different 1.5 hr periods)

The one in the front (same fixture) ramps up to 44% and blasts at 52% for an hour.

Total photoperiod is 8 hours. 3 hours of that ramps up / down from 10%.

My light schedule is weird because I mess with it all the time. I also started dosing more iron and am still ramping the lights up slowwwly. Eventually I have no doubt I will get the color I want. Just want to avoid the risk of algae bloom lol

I will tell you this - I immediately saw results when I had my blast period lengthened AND upped my iron dosing / reduced N dosing. Did it all at once but it immediately brought out the color. Eventually I will be stable enough to have it at high levels and everything will be dialed in.

Baby steps... Tank has been set up like this for ~3 months so I'm in no rush. I anticipate by month 5-6 I should be styling

the tank's looking good. Try some bloodfin tetras. They're usually quite hardy if they make it through quarantine.
Nahhhhh - settling on the rasboras / rummynose. Again I might remove the rummys in favor of a huge school of harlequins. Will see in time... I am not emotionally ready to part with them due to the time / money spent to get the school I have lol
 
#20 ·
Cool thanks for the reply. I don't want to reduce KNO3, I'd rather not mess with health. I've been curious about adding more iron, but wasn't sure how much to actually add.

Are you getting any extra GSA or GDA since upping the burst? My old lights were not XB, but I got the MC's which are. With substrate my tank is 14" to water top, but I have them 9" higher from hanging. My burst with the Solunar goes to only 65. Maybe I'll add a 2 hour event to 80/85 and see how that goes.
 
#21 ·
yeah mine sit right on the rim so it's a lot of light.

I have begun dosing iron at 1/2 the rate of CSM+B on micro day. Which is a lot I believe. like 1/2 tsp of CSM and 1/4 of Fe chelate

definitely a little more dust algae on some of the glass which kind of sucks but not a huge deal. nothing major though. extra iron has no negative effects from what I have seen
 
#24 ·
Hah, that's funny, my AR looks terrible now too. I had it growing GREAT like 3 months ago, then it started getting twisted leaves and growing tons of GSA. I manually popped off all the bad leaves and the new leaves coming in are nice, red, and not crinkled. I think my issue was co2. I was using the apex as a ph monitor to control the co2. While it certainly kept it at the ph I told it to, I don't think the co2 levels were what they should have been. I stopped using it, pump co2 all day, and am seeing greater growth on all plants.

I recall you use the apex in the same way, maybe give it a shot like I did. I wonder if you're encountering the same issue.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Maybe - I might give that a shot. Probably going to have to dial back my regulator because I am blasting CO2 right now.

Also strange is that when I hooked up a new tank a few weeks ago my bubble rate was COMPLETELY different. like not even close. it went from a stream of bubbles to like 2-3 bps. Stuff like that worries me that I'll have to tweak my CO2 every time I get a new tank.

Also I just purchased some pH test solution and recalibrated my pH probe. Results were WACK. My ph that was reading at like 6.8 went all the way down to 6.1 after calibrating. Might have to change my mindset and use the probe as a 'failsafe' so I don't gas the hell out of my fish instead of perfectly controlling it at a set pH for CO2.

I have had glimmers of hope with my AR. Some are crinkled, some look alright, some are completely messed up. Never stable though... frustrating.

Questions for you:
Now that you are constantly pumping CO2 is your pH during the photoperiod:
Stable?
Lower or higher than what you set it to on the controller method?

Did you adjust your needle valve for a while before hitting a good level? What made you come to the rate you chose?
 
#27 ·
See my first response answered a bunch of the questions. Just saw you wrote more.

Took like 3-4 days of adjusting to get where I am now. I'm giving it a two week growth period and will adjust higher if needed. I started like 4-5 bps. That's a safe spot to start. I adjust every day after for 4 days to get where I am now.

The pH drops fast and consistently for the first 2-3 hours, then slows dropping, but does continue to drop through the period. The last 3 hours or so is like maybe 5.92 - 5.89. It's real slow late so it does stabilize.

I really think this was my last hurdle to perfecting things. Sometimes technology gets in the way of things.
 
#26 ·
Yeah definitely dial it back. I started from scratch when I did it, cause i blasted it also. I started back at 4bps roughly and dialed it up from there.

Left the ph probe in and I'm getting a larger ph drop than I protected against previously. My tank would drop from 7.2 to 6.15 when using the ph probe to regulate. Since I stopped, it drops from 7.2 to 5.89 before leveling off. So this tells me that I for sure wasn't providing enough co2.
 
#29 ·
Hey man, good to see your tank growing in. I'm quite a fan of the grey rocks also, their texture gives a lot of character to a scape.

I also have Harlequin rasboras in one other tank. They school quite well, and are fast swimmers, I think they compliment a planted tank well - adds much needed movement. Many fishes have nice coloration/patterns but not so much movement. My CPDs in the other tank seem sleepy by comparison.
 
#34 ·
Dimming lights is VERY important IMO. Makes things so much easier. I have the BML manual dimmer too. I'll give it away to anyone for the cost of shipping if you want. Just sits under my stand now that I have the Apex...

So I took bsantucci's advice and tried to constantly inject CO2 into my system. Forgot to set the Apex to turn it off when I went to bed and woke up to 3 dead rummys. Foolish mistake...

Right now I'm letting the rotala on the left grow out and color up. Once it is super tall I will re-plant a good amount of it and let it get dense again. Then I will try to manicure it as best I can.

Everything on the right is still growing out. Rotala colorata on the right is brand new so that needs time to fill in. L Arcuata and L brevipes are doing well but grow more slowly than the rotala. I have noticed that my brevipes grows VERY compact. It grows mostly laterally and very densely which is pretty awesome but weird at the same time. Started with like 10 stems each of arcuata/brevipes emersed a month or so ago so I feel like I'm doing alright filling them in.

AR mini looks OK in full tank shots but it looks awful up close. AR remains one of my least favorite plants but I love how it easily highlights red spots.

Hopefully picking up another batch of harlequins after work today. In a few weeks they'll be in this tank.

Pics 9/2/2015... need to clean that glass inside and out lol







 
#35 ·
Ah man, that's terrible. Hate when I make errors that could be avoided, but it happens.

Didn't you have your apex set to turn off the co2 already as it was? When I stopped using it for controlling the co2, I just took out the ph line from the code, left the on/off times.

Did you post a new pic? I'm at work and don't see anything, not sure if it didn't post right or my work is blocking it. I can see all your other pics though, weird.

So I'm a week into injecting as I told you, and plants pearl insane amounts daily now. Wasn't getting that before. I can confirm this is definitely working. I hope it does for you too.

My AR is really growing in much nicer now. I suspect yours will too and will make you love it again.
 
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