Pianofish's 75 gal ~Lots OF NEW PICS~ 5-25-11 (!56k)

[pianofish]

Greetings all fish folks,
For about 2-3 years now I've had a nice Peacock cichlid community tank, which was fun, but I've been smitten by the planted tank bug, and as such I have taken an interest into it. I've been doing my research and have already put up a few posts asking questions and I think I am finally ready to start dabbling into it. Yesterday to my surprise my local fish store accepted all of my old cichlids. Which was pretty awesome as I got some nice storecredit . When I got back, I took out the rest of my rocks and plants, then I spent about an hour or 2 taking out all of the gravel from my tank. I would insert pics but I don't really know how...


So Now my EDITED"parts list"
1. substrate- Underlayer of MTS, overlayer of blackflourite sand
2. heater- plan on using the one I have which is a normal nonsubmersable one
3. filter- Eheim 2217 classic (being shipped so) 2 old HOBs
4. Lighting- T5 Coralife NO 1X28w + standard hood kit that came with my tank 40w, and a T5 Coralife NO 2X28w
5. Plants: See page 4
6. Fish- I plan on having Angels, Black Neon Tetras, Apistos, Cory Habrosus and Red Cherry shrimp.


PAGES 1-3 are planning


PAGE 4+ PICS START

So far this is the game plan,

Going to change out my water for tap,

or now this is my project ahead of me, really looking forward to it.

Please comment,
Thanks a Bunch
Your pal always,
Piano

[narhay]

The easiest way to insert pictures is to upload them to a site like www.photobucket.com Then copy and paste the IMG tag under the photo into your message and poof, picture shows up.

[Dr. Acula]

Welcome to the planted tank world, pianofish.

The only thing I'd look into is that with that much light coming from T5 HO bulbs, you're likely into the high light category. WPG isn't actually a terribly accurate way to get your tank's lighting category, and doesn't really apply to these T5 HO lights, nor to large tanks. If you want to stay away from high light, I'd look into a T5 NO fixture instead. The lighting category can give you more help with this.

Also, though I have no experience with it, it's going to be impossible to keep the flourite from mixing with the black sand over time. It'll be sped up even more if you do aggressive rescaping and uprooting and replanting. If that's something you're concerned about, then you might want to consider alternatives. Otherwise, no harm done.

Anyway, good luck with your new project. I know I think it's all good fun, and I imagine you'll enjoy it.

[pianofish]

Thanks for the advice guys, and here are some pics of what the tank looked like, and what it is now.




and here is what it looks like now.



So I just ordered my Eheim 2217, should come in, in about a week. Got a sweet deal on fosterandsmith with that CK code deal.
Still debating on what lights to get. I have a post in the lighting section.

[pianofish]

So I have decided that I am going to go with either a 3 NO T5 30w fixtures, or just add a dual T5NO to what I have currently, Substrate will be black, probably a mixutre of flourite with something else. I'm going to my LFS this weekend and picking up the substrate and probably new glass tops to my tanks, as mine have corroded away with the use of salt with my old African cichlids. I believe thats about it for tonight. Now time to research easy plants. the fun part.

[pianofish]

So my filter came in today



Tomorrow I'm going back to my lfs. I'm considering doing the mineralized substrate method as the underlayer for the tank. More research is necessary.

[pianofish]

So finding the right topsoil is proving to be quite a bit of a challenge. Who woulda thunk it?

[londonloco]

Mineralized Top Soil capped with whatever, great choice. Keep up the research, your doing this the right way!

[BMueller777]

lookin good, nice plans it seems... what's the ck code for drs foster smith?? I only know the one for the XP3..

Thanks,
Brian

[jmhart]

Good choice with the 2217.

[pianofish]

So I have the week off for Mardi Gras
Sooo what better oppurtunity to get started on making MTS, going look for soils tomorrow I hope, and if I can't find bagged soil, i'll go to a landscaping place. And if that doesn't work, then I may just go and pick up a buncho flourite, I'm anxious to get started at something.
So yeah. thats about it.


Oh and Brian all you do for the fostersmith thing is add CK infront of any 6 digit code and presto, you get money off.

And thanks for all the comments, keep em coming!

[Craigthor]

Originally Posted by pianofish

Oh and Brian all you do for the fostersmith thing is add CK infront of any 6 digit code and presto, you get money off.

Almost everything works with the CK code Almost... Some items don't though. Last year I was using hte YL code just like CK but it is no longer valid.

[pianofish]

awe that bites.

[jmhart]

Originally Posted by pianofish

So I have the week off for Mardi Gras

Gotta love Louisiana for that reason. Most of Mobile does the same thing.

[pianofish]

Haha nice!

So I just got back from the garden store, with 160lbs of topsoil in tow. Going start the wet cycle. Wish me luck!