Edrock200's photo journal

[edrock200]

Hey all,
Starting my planted tank...I have a 75 gallon with an automated pressurized co2 system. Substrate is a combo of peat moss, flourite, eco-complete and onyx. Lighting is 4x65 PC 6700/10k dual daylight.

I was swapping a 55 gallon with the 75 and I wanted to keep the water since it has already been cycled. So I put my fish in a 10 gallon tank temporarily and syphoned the water from the 55 into the 75. The substrate kicked up and it became very cloudy very quickly My wife was real thrilled with the mess I made...hehe, 75 gallon is on the floor:


I ran the fluval 404 against the 75 gallon for about 7 hours and voilla:

Then, I had to lower the 55 gallon tank next to the 75, syphon the water back into the 55, put the 75 on the stand, and syphon the water back up. Unfortunately, using the fluval to syphon was a really bad idea as some of the sand got sucked into it and broke the impeller. So I took my eheim 2217 that I had in storage and put it to use. I must say, even though the eheim added some convenience (piped directly to the aquamedic 1000 reactor and I was able to get rid of the power head) it took it 3 days to get the water clear whereas the fluval took 7 hours...anyway, here's my tank after pumping the water back in, cloudy again, but planted:

After a few days it cleared up:

I'll post more as the tank progresses.

[edrock200]

Some closeups:

[jart]

Good start, you've got lots of fast growing plants and some nice fish. Keep in mind that although the water may have been in a cycled setup, most of the beneficial bacteria will be in your substrate and/or filter (mostly the latter, I believe).

[edrock200]

Thanks for the tip. I did migrate the bio media from the fluval to the eheim so hopefully that will help.

[aquamoon]

Looks like a nice start. Any plans on a hardscape?

[edrock200]

I'm assuming hardscape means wood/rocks? Sorry, I'm new to the hobby, not fully down with the lingo yet. I just put some type of african wood in there today as well as a black background to hide the cables and such. Here's some pics with the lights off, they are flash intense...I'll try to get some better shots tomorrow. Also please excuse how dirty my cabinet is, I've been dripping water all over the pace getting it setup. I really need to clean it tomorrow.

[BSS]

Heck, growing plants is now easy. It's the photography that I still find challenging . Here's a tip or two. Get the room as dark as possible. Turn on just the tank lights. Set the camera on a tripod (or other steady item). See if your camera has a flourescent light (or similar) setting. Use the timer on the camera, so you can have you hands off the camera. Try reducing the exposure time. Those are the games I play with my Nikon 4100 (?). Oh, then go download 'irfanview' to allow simple cropping and resizing.

Looks like you have a nice start. With that many plant varieties, you can figure out what grows best in your conditions and what you like the looks of and then start reducing species. Then again, trying to part with any plant continues to be a challenge for me. The worse they grow in my tank, the more I want to wrestle with them . Ah, the challenge and the addiction.

Keep the updates coming!
Brian.

[edrock200]

Thanks for the info BSS. I know what you mean on the plants...I'm only a week into this and I'm already hooked. I mean to to make a beach in the front but forgot to...my tank will take on many forms before I am satisfied.

[edrock200]

hardscaped durring the day:

[mrbelvedere]

Nice start, but I may suggest putting the stem plants in the back or at least behind the wood. They will grow very fast once they get going, and it won't be very aesthetically pleasing to have a view of your tank obscured by plants. Of course, you could brag to your friends about how fast your plants are growing that way. "See guys, I'm such a good aquarist I can't even see the fish".

[edrock200]

Originally Posted by mrbelvedere138

Nice start, but I may suggest putting the stem plants in the back or at least behind the wood. They will grow very fast once they get going, and it won't be very aesthetically pleasing to have a view of your tank obscured by plants. Of course, you could brag to your friends about how fast your plants are growing that way. "See guys, I'm such a good aquarist I can't even see the fish".

I'll be the first to admit I didn't research the plants or their growth habits enough when I ordered and when I planted them. In the front row, from left to right I count 10 plants. Numbering 1-10 from left to right can you point out which ones will be problematic?
TIA,
-Ed

[Ðank]

You can let the plants just grow in a bit and figure it out by trial and errror. With your nice setup it shouldn't be long. The wood looks pretty nice from what I can see too. Is that a tub of carbon in today's pic? I think you should leave that out if you have it in your filtration if you are adding ferts.

[mrbelvedere]

Sorry to say this but it looks like almost every one excluding number 10 and maybe the sword. But like Dank said, trial and error. Some people have carpets of tall plants that they mow short. Oh and BTW, I noticed you have a container of activated carbon in a picture. I hope you don't use it a lot. It strips nutrients from the water.

[edrock200]

Thanks for the info guys. The carbon goes in my fluval, which is now reserved for "emergencies" once the new impeller comes in. The eheim just has bio media and sponges.

[edrock200]

Todays photos:









I also have a nasty algae bloom in my tank. A thread on it is here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ge...t-my-tank.html
and close up pics here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/234620-post22.html