[Immortal1]

Well, guess it is about time to start my Tank Journal for my new 75 gallon planted tank. Hoping to create a beautiful planted tank similar to many of the great tanks seen here on TPT. To start with, my first tank was/is a 20H tank with plants and fish - started that one around October 2014. After shuttling 5 gallon buckets of water around the house I decided my next tank is gonna be a LOT more user friendly.

This pic probably should be added to the "Whats in the cabinet" thread, LOL. Maybe a little over the top but oh well.

And yes, the frame of the stand is probably strong enough to support 3 full 75 gallon tanks stacked on top of each other, LOL.

And now onto something a little more interesting. This is basically how things look in the tank at the moment.

And this is basically how the new stand looks as of 3/28/2015. Still have more work obviously, but it is atleast some progress.

 

[burr740]

Looks really nice. But man, drilling those hardwood floors......that is dedication

 

[Immortal1]

LOL, not as much dedication as you might think

The duct into the living room is 2"x12". The metal cover over the duct is 4" tall by 18" long.
If I ever remove the tanks and stand, I only need to remove the piping and re-install the original vent cover - you will never know there was holes in the floor. In this pic you can see the original vent cover.

 

[burr740]

Oh, I get it. Yeah that is not as bad as I first thought.

 

[BoxxerBoyDrew]

VERY NICE to have water and a drain at your tank stand!!! Only thing I am wondering about is where is the stand pipe/floor drain going? If it is going into sewer line you will need a p/s trap in the drain line to prevent sewer gas from entering the house! If it is just under the house you could cause a mold/mildew problem if you do a lot of water changes or the humidity is high in your area.

Other than that everything looks great! MAN I WISH I had that much room under my house!!! We have less than half that much, so there is no way my broke back butt is squeezing under there! LOL

You have picked out some very nice drift wood pieces too! The plants look nice and healthy too! Did you get them locally? If so it must be nice to have a LFS with plants a large drift wood that nice!

Anyway have fun with the 75g, and all the excitement that comes with beginning a new tank!

Take Care,
Drew

 

[Immortal1]

Thanks burr & Drew for the comments. Drew, the stand pipe drains down into the sump pit that is in the crawlspace under the house (second pic). From there it is discharged outside the house.

We have 2 LFS here that have HUGE amounts of drift wood on display. The one LFS does only freshwater which is really nice. They typically stock a lit of various plants and a huge assortment of fish. And when I say huge....

LOL

 

[andrewss]

very nice custom work! looks great

 

[The Dude]

Tank looks awesome and that setup is really nice! The driftwood really works well.. what do you plan to stock?

 

[Immortal1]

Thanks Dude. Will likely move my black skirt, serpea, and phantom Tetras from the 20H to the 75 once it settles down. Planning on adding some emerald green rainbow fish and some rams once the tank has been running smoothly few months. The 20H will likely get a bunch of tiger barbs (wife's favorite fish) to go with the various cory cats, bushy nose, and panda garra's.

As for plants, don't know yet. Still working thru building a co2 system. I did just get a Current USA Satellite + Pro for the 75 - wow, that is a nice lite!

 

[Immortal1]

Seems I might have a bit of an odd ball plant in my tank. According to the LFS, I have an Anubias Nangi (back left corner, right behind the Red Dwarf Lilies). Have done some research on this but did not find much information. Anybody here on the Forum have anything to add about this plant? Was kinda surprised when I noticed the flower forming.

 

[Immortal1]

Small update - wood work is basically finished. Still need to add a few more coats of polyurethane in certain areas, but you get the basic idea.

 

[Immortal1]

Small update - Got FISH!!!! Tank now has the following;
1 Bushy nose pleco
3 Big mystery snails
5 Black Skirt Tetras
6 Albino Cory Cats
6 Black Phantom Tetras
9 Serpea Tetras

Lot of fun watching them school around in various groups.

Should be stepping up to some pressurized cO2 in a week or so - wish me luck

 

[Immortal1]

New tank mates!!! Picked up 4 rainbow fish today from the LFS. Really like the coloring on the males - especially under the brite LED light. From what I can determine, these are Desert Rainbow Fish - Melanotaenia splendida tatei

 

[sprint_9]

Do you happen to have the name and town the fish stores are in. Im also in Iowa and dont have many options where Im at.

 

[andrewss]

impressive display area in the living room!

 

[Immortal1]

Sprint
Place called ROE in Rock Island, IL
Aquatic Enviroments in Davenport, IA

Andrew, thanks!

 

[Kindafishy]

Wow, some local compatriots!

Teske's has some interesting fish as well. They have locations in Davenport, IA and Moline, IL.

 

[Immortal1]

Finally decided to post a small update. Been working on learning to grow plants and added a few more fish. Dwarf lily is growing like mad for some reason. Still trying to figure out why they call it dwarf, lol. Regardless, on to the pic

 

[Immortal1]

https://youtu.be/-qJUtMNr3Io

Finally got around to shooting a decent video of the tank with my cell phone (sorry for the quality). Kind of a progress video to look back on

https://youtu.be/doXfS75XKDk

Kinda a nice video of the various fish in the tank.

 

[Immortal1]

Been a bit of time since I updated this thread so I figured I had better add a new pic. Everything has definitely grown in. Been trimming the Amazon Sword back atleast once a week. The crypts in the front right corner have filled in nicely. My java fern in the front left corner is nice and green. The wisteria in the back left really should be pruned back a bit but oh well