75 Gallon Planted Tank Setup Help?

[khoa.tran]

Hi,
I'm about to setup a 75 gallon planted tank and I need some help.
my setup is as follows

Tank: 75 Gallon Tank
Lighting: 2 Hagen T5HO Glo Dual Strip Lights
Substrate: Will get Eco Complete Substrate

I'm thinking to use a DIY Co2 kit from a 2 liter coke bottle connected to an air stone to diffuse it (Someone gave me one). I know this isn't that great but i'm short on cash atm. I can probably make another one of these and connect it to the tank.

Do you guys think the lighting is enough? or should save up to get another hagen fixture to make 3 of them. Each of them are 108 watts since each bulb is 54 watts. right now i have 216 watts total on the tank.

Any other suggestions to for me? I dont really know what to dose with i see alot of the seachem stuff like flourish or excel... I'm just starting the planted tanks and not really sure of what i need etc..

Thanks

[cah925]

The 2 light fixtures should be plenty of light. However, if you plan on running all 4 bulbs on the tank, you should consider going with pressurized CO2. I had a 4x54W T5HO fixture on my 75 gal tank and I could grow just about anything. As far as ferts go, you should read up on dry ferts. It will save you a ton of money over the years. It does take a little experimenting to find the right dosing schedule, but well worth it in my opinion. Rex Grigg has a whole page regarding dry dosing on his website and I think he still sells ferts. Greenleaf Aquariums also sells ferts.

[darksinister]

If you're going to run DIY CO2, I'd definitely run more than one. I want to say around 3, but I'm not too sure on that and maybe a more experience member can help.

As for lights, i have an 80 gallon and I have about the same amount of wattage you do and the plants are doing great. I would say you have enough lights.

What are you plans for the tank? Is it going to be fully planted or sparsely planted? Any hardscape(driftwood or rocks)? What help me was going on MS paint and designing the layout i wanted with the type of foreground/background plants and fishes i was trying to get. This gave me a plan and it made it much easier.

As for dosing, I personally use the EI method because it's much cheaper in the long run. Check this thread out, should give you want you want to know...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fe...-regimes_.html

[khoa.tran]

Hey thanks for the responses guys, So I was thinking of adding a third light fixture because there is a sale going on 129.99 for the dual light i bought the other ones at original price of 200. So if i add the 3rd one would it be overkill? I will look into dry ferts for dosing. My plans will be to have driftwood and lots of plants dont know exactly what I want yet as im new to this. I don't even know what fish I want yet. Currently I have some apistos, rams and bn plecos. Any plant suggestions for these? Also how much would it actually cost to get a pressurizes Co2 setup going? I mean total cost of everything.

[ldk59]

Put the $$ you were going to spend on the 3rd light fixture into a
pressurized C02 setup...your going to need it with that much light
DIY won't cut it for a 75... no matter how many2 liters you set up..it will be far to inconsistent for that size tank with those lights.

And read up on EI dosing, it's a bunch cheaper and more flexible
than most other methods.

Of course, these are JMHO...YMMV... yadda yadda yadda....

Larry

[khoa.tran]

Ok so I've read that link

This is what I should be doing.

60~80gal
50% H20 change-weekly
3/4 Tsp-KN03 3x a week
3/16 Tsp-KH2P04 3x a week
1 Tsp-GH booster once a week
15ml 3/16Tsp-Trace 3x a week
Optional
4-8ml-Fe/Iron 3x a week

Should I do this and do the CSM + B

*Dry Dosing Plantex CSM+B...
Converting 1 tablespoon to 250ml H20,
20 ml = 1/4 teaspoon of dry fertilizer.
There are 12 - 1/4 teaspoons dissolved
250ml/12=20.83ml.

How much CSM+B do i put in? And what is the Trace? I went to the online stores and found GH booster, KH2P04, KN03, but dont know what Trace is and is Chelated Iron= Fe/Iron? And if i dose all of this will my 2 litre Co2 be ok? or would I definetly have to buy a pressurized system?

PS what do you guys think about the pfertz High-Tech + package? Would dosing that be equivalent to the previous dosages?

Thankz

[MemphisBob]

CSM+B is trace powder. Where you see trace referenced in the dosing schedule, you use the mixture the recipe is for. In your case, you would use 15ml of the 1tbsp. to 250ml water "juice". Chelated iron mixture is available from Seachem or you can ask for a recipe to go with the schedule you already have. Greenleaf or Rex have powdered iron to make a solution from. Even dosing by the numbers for EI will not make up for inadequate or fluctuating CO2 that is provided by most DIY builds. A pressurized system will eventually be necessary if you use the lighting selected. You could probably get by without it if you used only 2 of the 54w T5HO bulbs. In other words one fixture.

[khoa.tran]

I actually saw Chelated Iron for sale on the websites, I just want to know if this is the 4-8ml-Fe/Iron 3x a week or is it some kind of different iron? I will look into buying a pressurized Co2 unit but I really don't know how it works and how to use it.. kinda scared lol

Thnxz again for your help

[fishwhisperer]

I agree with idk59. There is a decent experiential learning curve with high tech planted aquariums, now matter how much you read, and you just cannot do what you want to do with DIY CO2. Stay low tech, keep reading and collecting the right components as you can afford to do so. Then when you get the right stuff, you can pull the trigger. You will be glad you did.

If you really just have to inject CO2 in an aquarium as soon as you can, go with a smaller aquarium, just my two cents worth. Oh yea, don't forget to post pics of your efforts.

[khoa.tran]

Ok, So now I know that I need the pressurized Co2 System and I will save up for it. However, is Chelated Iron being sold on websites just pure Fe/Iron? I couldn't find Fe/Iron on the websites and the only thing I found was Chelated Iron. Thanks

[Hoppy]

Fe is the chemical symbol for iron. Fe/Iron just means iron. All iron used as a fertilizer is chelated, which adds a chemical that binds to the iron keeping it easily available to the plants. So, any time you see Fe or iron in a trace element mix or as a separate fertilizer, it is chelated iron. For most of our purposes it doesn't make any difference what chemical the manufacturer uses as a chelator for the iron. Those who are a bit more advanced have a preferred chemical, depending on the hardness of their water.

[darksinister]

I agree that you should use the money for the third fixture to get a pressurized system instead. I was pretty new with the pressurized system, but I got it up and it's running, so it can't be too hard if i can do it. LOL.


You can buy a complete system or buy parts and put it together. Here's a good link of the cost and how to obtain the system by pieces:
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Pressurized-CO2/19/


Here's a link to a video on how to set it up, it's a really good visual:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdOFCatSPKo

[Axelrodi202]

You really don't need a third fixture. Those T5HO's give off a lot of light!

[khoa.tran]

Thanks for the input guys, for now I will run the two sets of lights and and will get a pressurized Co2 unit asap depending on the cost. I will follow the dosing method mentioned above. I have a few more questions though

Do I need the under substrate heater for plants? I see people using inline heaters etc.. I have just a normal one. I'm guessing if i put it near the filter output it should be sufficient?

When I do get a pressurized Co2 unit and do the recommended dosing, could I add anymore lights? Or will i burn out my plants adding anything more than my 2 strips?

And lastly, what do you guys think about the pfertz supplements? They seem very easy to use, just pump it in your tank 1 pump for every 10 gallons?

PS thanks darksinister for the links

thanks again

[darksinister]

A regular heater will do fine in your tank, you don't need any special heater. As for adding more lights, you can, but you might have to do more maintenance due to the plant growth caused by more lighting.

As for pfertz, I've never tried it, but it's basically the dry fertilizer that is premix for you. If you're trying to save money, I'd spend the extra 10 mins to mix the solution on your own.