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Planted 60 Gallon Cube -Planted TB Low Tech Style

6K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  BoxxerBoyDrew 
#1 ·
Got the tank up and running this AM.

Specs:
Deep Blue 24x24x24 Rimless sitting on a Marineland Black Ventura stand.
Rena XP-3 plumbed into the corner overflow.
Ehiem Jaeger 150 Watt heater
Finnex RayII DS 24 inch LED strip. (this thing is bright)
No C02 s this will be a Tom Barr lower tech type deal.

Plants:
Crypt Wendtii Bronze
Spiralis Crypt
Water Sprite
Bacopa Monnieri Moneywort
Echinodorus cordifolius Marble Queen Sword
Java Fern
Anubius Hasiflia
Anubius Nana

No Livestock yet, hope to add a few starters tomorrow when the temp is leveled off and the water is a bit clearer.

Question.
Toms method recommends a weekly or thereabouts dosing of equilibrium, KN03, and KH2P04 to be adjusted later based on the tanks needs. Should I start this regimen immediately?
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Wow 113 views and no interest. Could this beat my first post in the low tech forum with 216 views with no responses? To prevent that from happening perhaps "I" should respond to it.

"XCW-500" - Question. Toms method recommends a weekly or thereabouts dosing of equilibrium, KN03, and KH2P04 to be adjusted later based on the tanks needs. Should I start this regimen immediately?

"Me" - Well, We've read up and cant find anything against it. So I would say go for it.

"XCW-500" - Thanks Me, I already did.

"I" - Great looking tank by the way(though there are many better), whats up next?

"XCW-500" - Well the water has cleared, temp has leveled out, plants are staying put, so i thought i would head out to the LFS and get a few fish to give that Rena filter something to eat.

"I" - Sounds great, but your pic is a little fuzzy, will you post another now that the water is clear?

"XCW-500" - Yeah our photography skills suck but we could post one later today after the the lights kick on, and i add some fish. Thanks for responding you guys.

"I" and "Me" - Your welcome, and welcome to the forum.
 
#7 ·
Today I added a few more plants from the GCAS Swap meet. I added:
Crypt Parva, Lutea, Crypt Undulata, Hygrophila Tiger. and some Cyperus Helferi. I am not really sure how all of this is going to work out with the RayII at 24 inches, but I guess we will find out.

Couple there had some really great looking rare rainbows and i was really tempted, but will hold out till I am sure we have some good biological cycle happening in the filter.
 

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#8 ·
Finnex RayII DS 24 inch LED strip. (this thing is bright)
No C02 s this will be a Tom Barr lower tech type deal.
This caught my eye.

High light is not low tech. Light, ferts and CO2 are all linked together. If you have high light and low CO2 then the plants will be limited by the low CO2 and algae will take advantage of the surplus light. The whole thing is a balancing act.

You should take a look at this article

It gives these ranges …

Low light - 15-30 micromols of PAR - CO2 is not needed, but is helpful to the plants
Medium light - 35-50 micromols of PAR - CO2 may be needed to avoid too many nuisance algae problems
High light - more than 50 micromols of PAR - pressurized CO2 is essential to avoid major algae problems
and then has a chart later on that shows the Finnex Ray II (24 inch) still throwing a PAR of 50 at 20 inches from the lamp and as much as 100 at 10 inches. Not personally familiar with the lamp but I think your well into the high light range.

Looks good so far but watch out for algae. CO2 may be unavoidable with that much light.
 
#9 ·
This caught my eye.

High light is not low tech. Light, ferts and CO2 are all linked together. If you have high light and low CO2 then the plants will be limited by the low CO2 and algae will take advantage of the surplus light. The whole thing is a balancing act.
You should take a look at this article
It gives these ranges …
and then has a chart later on that shows the Finnex Ray II (24 inch) still throwing a PAR of 50 at 20 inches from the lamp and as much as 100 at 10 inches. Not personally familiar with the lamp but I think your well into the high light range.
Looks good so far but watch out for algae. CO2 may be unavoidable with that much light.
Thanks for the thoughtful post and advice. I am watching it very closely as these lights and LEDs still seem kind of new in the hobby. All of my previous experience was with compact florescent.

Looking at the chart here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189944

Specifically for the 24 inch DS model, it shows the PAR values from 39 down to 23 at 24 inches and 9 inches out. This was the data I used to judge the light to be in the lower light range.

I hope to not add C02 based on a eventual heavy plant load if i can get it there before the algae explodes. Though this is not my first planted tank, I am by no means very knowledgeable in plants, so i am sure there will be some learning curve here.

Again thank you very much for taking a moment to comment.
 
#10 ·
Update 3/17/13

Been a while and we have seen some progress.
Yesterday we added:
Aponogeton ulvaceus
Hygrophila difformis
Crinum natans
Marsilea quadrifolia.

- Also Added 8 Cherry red Neocaridina but i think they may have already found there way into the filter. Bummer.
- Getting a bit of slimy brown algea especially on the Sword, maybe from over feeding? Not sure how to attack this before it gets worse.
-Happy to report the performance of the finnex LED light seems to be as advertised.
- Thinking of adding an aquaclear 50 or 70 to help out the filtration and add some water movement to the rear lower area of the tank.

Comments and advice always appreciated.
 

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#14 · (Edited)
This week the Aponogeton ulvaceus shot up a bloom. These pics are 2 days old and it has actually stretched about 3-4 inches acrossed the top of the water. Still hasn't popped open for some reason, maybe it wont?:confused1:
Also of note I was doing a little filter maintenance on the Rena this am and found 7 of my 8 Cherry Red Shrimp along with a handful of fry happily residing in the bottom of the filter. Looked like they had been eating well and enjoying life. Transferred them back to the tank but have a feeling they will flip there way right back down there again.
 

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#18 ·
I noticed you said you added A pepper cory?

Just FYI, they do best in groups of 6 or more...
 
#19 ·
I love the cubes and their footprints. Nothing beats the depth of scaping. That ulvaceus will take over that tank when it get cranked up. :wink:
Mine shot up two bulb stems and they grey to about 4 feet intertwined. Crazy. I'm keeping an eye on this tank. Very cool. What kind of sump setup are you running?
 
#20 · (Edited)
Thanks to everyone for the comments and advice.
I think the shrimp have already cruised back to the filter. I have will look into the pre-filter affair you suggested. (they do seem to like it down there though).
Also I understood and will try to add a some peppered cory friends. I just broke in the tank with the 1.99 rainbows and didn't want to overload the tank at first. I have a friend who is going to take some of those for his family tank and I plan to add a few additional corys, and other species of bows, stay tuned.
Regarding the filter, its not a sump, i have the corner overflow plumbed directly into a Rena XP3. I am still trying to determine if this setup provides enough flow/filtration. So far I think filtration yes, flow maybe not.
Yesterday I looped the stemy bloom deal around the filter and pointed it back under the light and finally it popped!
Very cool! :proud:
Long day at work so just a few quick Iphone pics.
 

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#23 ·
VERY VERY COOL SETUP!!!!

I really like cubes as well, and you have done a great job on this one!!! I too will be watching this, as I think I might be headed this direction instead of a 75g upgrade to my 55g I have now!

You might want to try some craft mesh on the inside of the overflow to keep the shrimp out! Its cheap and pretty easy to work with!

congrats on the flower opening too!!!

Keep up the GREAT WORK!!!
Drew
 
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