My 55g planted/fun tank

[tanks4allthefish]

I had my 55 set up in the den as a saltwater and things didnt go as planned so it wound up getting moved to the living room. I was going to go with a straight planted with some fish but my wife and kids asked me to do a "whimsical" tank instead. So after much deliberation I gave in but I went ahead and planted 4 plants anyway more as an experiment than anything. I think they will look okay with everything else. I havent had plants before so I just want to see how they do with my T5HO lights.

Here is what I planted:
12" Argentine sword
6" Argentine sword
Crested Java fern
Anubias

I just got it up and running yesterday so now I am going to start tweaking the set-up. I am going back to my previous 20g sump set-up for sure because I just do not like seeing all that stuff hanging on my DT. I added one of my 450gph powerheads just to have a little movement in the tank and it makes my plants sway gently so its going to stay. Hopefully I will get some pics soon.

[tanks4allthefish]

Its been a long day. I thought I had enough room behind the stand to run the plumbing for the sump but of course not, that would be way too easy. So it was off to the hardware store for some braided plastic tubing and of course they were out of the 1" but they did have the 3/4". I wound up going with some black plastic tubing for the 1 " overflow line. I had to install a GFCI and wouldnt you know it, one of the wires came undone when I installed the plugin into the wall so it had to be taken back out and redone. Finally all the plumbing is in and the sump is full but its late and I am paranoid to start it all up then go to bed. I am letting water sit in the overflow box overnight just to be sure it doesnt leak. It didnt before I took it apart a few months ago but I want to be sure.



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Everything is running, except the Emperor 400(had to order a new manifold housing) and added my lights. No leaks and flow is good, turning over about 600 gph.
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[tanks4allthefish]

Well, I changed my setup somewhat by removing the 20 gallon sump and adding a Sunsun HW303A canister filter to run along with my Emperor 400. Ammonia and Nitrates are at 0 and the water is clear. Additionally I added the Avast Marine ATO setup along with a 10 gallon container for topoff water and its works great. I got the canopy on but I still need to put the doors on.

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