Nick's 75g first planted tank (Fish are IN! lots of pics)

[Rush3737]

Okay, then here is a very early look at my possible final stock.

Transfer from 29g tank:
Silver Tipped Shark
Raphael Catfish
Red Tailed Shark

From LGD:
9 Blue Tetras
Koi Anglefish

New:
6 Dwarf Chain Loaches
2 Bristlenose Plecos
1-3 Longfin Rainbow
2 Roseline Sharks
2-4 Gouramis
6-10 Swordtails/Mollies

[Rush3737]

Also, if I can get something off of a member here, I might up the budget and make this high tech. In this for enough already... might as well.

[Rush3737]

And yet more questions...

The member here I was hoping to buy from had another possible buyer lined up, so if that falls through, I have a 5lb tank I can get off of CL for $65. The next major thing is the regulator.

After many searches I *think* this will work: Concoa 400 series

But can anyone say for sure?

Edit: Nope, single stage dammit

[Rush3737]

Plant update. Be prepared for lots of big names and scientific jargon...


Unfortunately the guy on the left kept getting uprooting until I had the good sense to turn down the Fluval a bit. Still I probably buried it a bit too deep now but we'll see. The one on the right seems to be doing well, and has sent out the air root thingies.


Grass is looking okay I guess, and I think the bit in the front may be a new blade, but I'm not sure.


As you'll see with the other big leaf plant, they are NOT doing well at all. smaller guy in front seems to be doing pretty good.


Three different plants here, all seem to be doing moderately well.


As I said before, BAD. Going to cut the two end branches off and let the plant hopefully concentrate on salvaging the middle branches.


The control group is doing well, with the highest stem growing about 3/4" in a few days. I love the variety of colors they provide in that back corner.


And I may have picked this up today, leading to the thread title change. I did manage to get it full for $65 off of CL.

[longgonedaddy]

Give the big leaved plants some time, they might just need some time to settle in. That "grass" is lilaeopsis and should form a nice little patch. I like how you have the cabomba all mixed together.

[Rush3737]

Yeah, the cabomba forest is my favorite plant related decision so far.

Any thoughts on the planned fish stock?

[longgonedaddy]

Originally Posted by Rush3737

Yeah, the cabomba forest is my favorite plant related decision so far.

Any thoughts on the planned fish stock?

It's going to grow like weeds for you, so you'll really have a forest if you want it. The one corner of my tank is very dark from the growth.

I'm mostly a South American fish keeper, so I don't have much experience with most of what you've listed, but my third hand knowledge tells me it's a great mix. The swords/mollies will keep the bigger fish well fed with their fry.

[Rush3737]

Hmm, you'd probably then be interested to know that when I setup my 55g tank I'm going to be leaning towards an apistogramma based tank.

[longgonedaddy]

Originally Posted by Rush3737

Hmm, you'd probably then be interested to know that when I setup my 55g tank I'm going to be leaning towards an apistogramma based tank.

I can picture three pairs, or maybe two harems, a bunch of tetras and either hatchets or pyrrhulina for the surface.

Lots of wood, lots of plants. No carbon/Purigen for a nice tea colored aquarium.


One at a time though!

[Rush3737]

Exactly. Once I can successfully plant this thing and have it fully running and I'm happy with it that will be my next project to move on to.

[Rush3737]

Re-arranged my rock structures today to make the colors match on either side more. Also added Java moss to the left hand structure. I also bought a piece of driftwood that is currently soaking.

Will post pics tomorrow as my tank is a tad muddy right now from all the rock moving.

[Rush3737]

Okay, so obviously I've added the driftwood. I figure with a BN Pleco or two in the tank they will need it, and other fish tend to just like it, so I think it'll be a nice break between the two rock formations. Rocks definitely looks better with all the colors on either side, but hopefully if my moss experiment works out that won't matter much in the long run.

I re-planted the grass and also slightly moved some of the stuff sitting in front of the rocks on the left to give everything a little more room. One of my goals for tonight is to document and start to remember the names of everything in the tank so I know what I'm talking about as I add more and it continues to grow.

On that note... holy cabomba batman. That stuff is definitely taking off, about 3/4" or more in the last 3 days. Can't imagine what that'll do with CO2...

And on that note, I contacted Bettatail to hopefully build me something, but he unfortunately hasn't been on much lately and it's been several days since I've heard from him. His stuff gets great reviews and I hope he doesn't take a vacation from here or anything! Really excited to get that in place and have the plant side of things all squared away.

[Rush3737]

So last night I bought...

Victor 7-0155 dual stage regulator
Hoke 2331F2B metering valve
Skinner C series solenoid
*Check Valve
*Bubble Counter
*Tubing
*Disc diffuser

*This was cheap stuff from the Asian sellers, so if I have any issues they might get upgraded at some point.

I will still have to hit Lowes or Home Depot to get the needed washers, pipe putty stuff, and potentially an adapter for out of the regulator and into the solenoid. I know the solenoid is 1/8 both ends (as is everything else from there on out), but I think the output on the reg is 1/4, but not sure.

[Rush3737]

Okay guys, need some help, can't talk to myself through this one!

Basically the first plant I bought from Petco was Laceleaf water sprite. I had my concerns from day 1, but now it's obvious that there is another type of plant in with the sprite. Also, because this plant had 3 billion stems I uprooted it, removed any showing any signs of bad health and replanted the rest in 3 bunches with a little bit of space between, looks MUCH better now. But in any case, what's the other plant?



The left bundle is mostly the sprite, the right bundle stuff is what I need help with.

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In other news... snails. Didn't realize they could even survive with an ammonia filled tank, but apparently they can. Either the Java moss I bought in store of some of the plants I got from LGD must have had them. Looking around I guess they won't harm my plants, so they should be okay for now, but I still fully intend to get my Dwarf Chain Loaches, so any that aren't too big by that point will be in trouble.

[longgonedaddy]

Originally Posted by Rush3737

In other news... snails. Didn't realize they could even survive with an ammonia filled tank, but apparently they can. Either the Java moss I bought in store of some of the plants I got from LGD must have had them. Looking around I guess they won't harm my plants, so they should be okay for now, but I still fully intend to get my Dwarf Chain Loaches, so any that aren't too big by that point will be in trouble.

No snails from me. Just added my first today.