[Adam T]

Hello all,

this is my first attempt at a hi-tech planted tank. I had spent months reading and looking at tanks, and was torn between doing another reef tank (which i've done for years) or trying something new. The flowing lines and tranquility of the nicer planted tanks I saw won me over and here I am. The tank has only been set up for a week and I can already say with confidence it is going to be more challenging than any of the reefs Ive done in the past. I've been fighting with my solenoid and diatom algae, but I think I'm winning finally.

So here's the tank:

It has a long way to go, but I'm pretty happy with it as a first try at aquascaping. I think when the Blyxia and HC grow in and I give the stems a good trim it should look pretty smart!

Specs:
tank: 65 gallon all glass

filter: fluval 306 canister

lights: 4x 39w t5 ho's (two fixtures right now, but I going to order a coralvue 4 bulb ho t5 with 7 1w dimmable leds) 3 geisemann 6000k's 1 aquaflora.
I spoke with the vp of coralvue (who is also involved in maxspect) and he told me that the Maxspect Razor 8,000k model should be available in the us the last week of January, so depending on how much I like the coralvue t5 I might try and go the LED route... we'll see.

co2: 1 bps azoo regulator with solenoid on timer and a 5lb tank on 1 hour before lights and off 1 hour before lights

ferts: ada green brighty step 1&3 (3 for iron and more potassium), brighty k, and special lights, flourish excel daily; and brightwell trace and flourish weekly

Substrate: eco complete, fluval stratum

hardscape: black lava rock, ghostwood (pain the butt, it took two weeks to sink and 4 before it stopped horribly leaching tannins... it still yellows the water a bit)

water changes: 10% daily (Ive always preferred small regular water changes)

temp: 76 f ph: 6.6

Plants: HC, cryp parva & wendiiti, cabomba (green and red), red myriophyllum, micro swords, rotalla (2 kinds), blyxia japonica (has been flowering under water which is pretty cool), and some luwidgia. Will probably add some glosso this weekend to fill in the front a little.

Planned fish: school of something small either threadfin rainbows, green micro rasboras, or ember tetras (I'm open to suggestions!), hatchets, and a small group of dwarf cichlids (appistogramma or rams)

some more tank shots:

I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions. Thanks for looking!

 

[Assassynation]

That looks great! Is that the 65gal with the 40B footprint?

 

[Adam T]

yeah its a 36"x18" its just 24" tall instead 18" or w/e a 40b is.

 

[DBridges]

That's the same tank I have. I loved that it was taller rather than long.

If I read your description correctly, you have your CO2 set up as 1 bubble-per-second, yes? If so, I would raise it to 3 or 4 bubbles per second. With that amount of lighting and plants, you need to pump in a fair amount of CO2 to keep levels at roughly 30ppm.

Looking good so far!

David

 

[Adam T]

That's the same tank I have. I loved that it was taller rather than long.

If I read your description correctly, you have your CO2 set up as 1 bubble-per-second, yes? If so, I would raise it to 3 or 4 bubbles per second. With that amount of lighting and plants, you need to pump in a fair amount of CO2 to keep levels at roughly 30ppm.

Looking good so far!

David

Thank you!!!! I knew I was missing something with this tank. I couldn't understand why I am not getting faster growth. I have ordered a drop checker, but have been using the ph of the tank as a gauge in the interim. I buffer the water to 7.0 before I add when I do water changes and even then the tank was not going lower than 6.6-6.8. I'd like to see it around 6.4 so maybe upping the co2 will help with the diatom and lower the ph a bit.

thanks so much for your input. I feel like this a crucial time for the tank and for my long term interest in planted aquaria. If it bombs Illl be real tempted to go back to reef tanks, but I want it to work out because I really do enjoy both the look of the tank and the maintenance that goes in to it.

 

[DBridges]

Just be patient with it. My first planted tank was a high tech set-up, and I learned a lot that has been very useful to me on my current tank. If I had any advice, I would say making sure you have plenty of CO2 should be your #1 priority for good growth.

David

 

[Adam T]

Im going a new direction with this tank. I am going to allow planted tank forum members to vote on every aspect, from lighting to livestock. Step one is lighting. You can vote on what fixture you would like to see on the tank at

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=202662