Nanook,
A 375 gal with your goals and requirements can be achieved and successful.
the main thing you will want to consider is CO2.
Adding CO2 does not mean you must trim more and dose more etc.
Plant choice alone can greatly reduce the need for pruning.
I'd suggest a lot of branchy wood with moss, Java fern, Bolbitus, Aunbias etc attached. these grow slow, are tough and folks will buy them as you prune the excess.
I'd use a sump.
I'd also plumb a water change hose in/out for the tank. This, I can promise will make any need for the water change a much less heinous task.
It might cost you 10-30$, but do it.
Have a fill valve you can turn on/off right there at the tank and a drain with a screen on it in the tank.
I routinely change a 350 gal tank each week, takes me about 2 hours a week with high light plants/CO2 etc.
I have two dosing pumps to add the ferts, so I only fill them up once a month or so.
While draining/filling, I trim and prune, wipe the glass.
Most Crypts will get about 20-30" tall, like balansae, spiralis etc, these make good back ground weeds.
You can likely do water changes once every 2 weeks with fairly good results.
EI is not required to do weekly water changes, but folks having troubles or those that want to keep on top of things real well can do it weekly.
With slower growing species/tanks, less light etc, the upkeep is not as critical.
As you gain experience, you can parlay out the water changes.
But.........most folks do better by keeping up on things.
It's a bit more about personal human behavior than the plants.
PPS can be done, it's not an alternative to water changes, nor is EI suggesting you must do weekly water changes. It requires more chemical knowledge, a battery of test kits that need to be also calibrated, filling out your test results into Excel spreadsheets etc.
I did this years ago and do it when I have a question, but I am long since tried of testing as a matter of a routine. I have better things to do with my time.
It's far from simple and when things go sour, you default to EI+ waterr change anyway. PPS does provide a narrow range of nutrients if you test regularly. But you don't gain anything in terms of plant growth rate or health.
Folks use to add nutrients and test prior to EI(maybe 5-8 years ago), many folks had algae problems, few had any clue as to why they had certain species of algae, everyone of them had trouble figuring out how to calibrate the test kits, did not want to be bothered with all that testing, data collection. I use to tell folks to test for NO3 and maintain a range of 5-10ppm. I suggested a K+ level of 20-30ppm, Fe at 0.5-1.0ppm, PO4 at 0.5--1.0ppm and a GH of at least 3-5 degrees. This is not different from PPS. I suggested water changes more than PPS did though. Everyone did this, many had algae issues till they added more CO2, PO4 etc.
I figured out you did not need the test kits at all to hit these ranges.
In order to come up with EI, I had to do the PPS and explore the ranges needed for both the plants and the algae.
So when someone says PPS is new, I tell them it's reinventing the wheel.
EI is new and has helped just about anyone to grow a mean planted tank with minimal skill and chem knowledge and not a single test kit.
Observation of the plants and water changes can solve a great deal and simplify your life.
We have done it in the past for a long time.
Yes , it does work but requires a much steeper learning curve, cost more for the test kit etc.
Basically it's a much harder sell to the public and makes solving your problems much more difficult as well.
That's not going to get more folks into this hobby, that much I can tell you.
Many don't get into the hobby to test, they want a simple way to grow their plants without all the chemistry/testing and associated cost.
EI is very simple. Water changes prevent any build up, frequent dosing prevent anything from running out.
You can test and adjust the EI routine to meet whatever requirements you want, likewise you can test just one parameters with PPS amd do weekly water changes as well.there is no rule about water changes.
I can go a long time without water changes using EI also.
I do not suggest foklks do, but as they gain experience, they can and then use test kits to make sure they get too far off base.
Is that PPS or EI?
Who knows....using test kits is not the exclusive domain of PPS, that much I can assure everyone.
For your tank:
Make sure the overflow spill over in the prefilters is only about 3-4 inches, raise the standpipe spill over to accomplish this.
Seal the dry section so no gas/CO2 or O2 get in/out.
Get at least 3-5" of flourite or onyx sand etc, Discus will likely do a better with Flourite.
Add mulm/peat to the bottom and then cap with the flourite etc.
Plumb the water change valves directly to the sump area.
Add heaters and CO2 reactor to the pump area.
Add CO2 only during the day.
Add about 2 w/gal of light 10-11hours a day.
Let me know if you want to use CO2 or not.
Regards,
Tom Barr
3rd annual Plant Fest July 8-14th 2005!
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