75gal Fw planted.

Just getting out of the frog hobby. Too many allergies issues and going through a divorce. Too much to deal with. keeping my 75gal stand and figured I would set up a FW tank. Still on the fence or whether I will do a planted tank or not. Any suggestions for inhabitants? Its been forever since I have done fresh.

I am selling everything off and just keeping the stand I built for the 75gal. I am looking to set up either a 75gal or 90gal if I remember correctly they have the same footprint.

I have the old overflow from my 75gal reef tank so i might just buy a 90gal and drill it myself and silicone the overflow where ever i want it.

Thinking a nice Discus community tank with tetras, corycats and maybe a few angels.

For filtration does anyone have any good suggestions for canister / biofiltration? I would like to do the majority of filtering under the tank out of sight.

Sub-straight would most likely be eco earth unless someone suggests something else for the plants I list.

Lighting I am going to use my 4 bulb HO T5 unit. Should be enough for most plants.

I need to do more research on CO2 injection and stuff but should be easy enough.

Browsed the data base and came up with a short list of plants I liked. Please, feel free to offer other suggestions. I need more green background suggestions.

For background I was thinking Limnophila aromatica, Creeping Jenny

Midground / showpieces i was thinking either tiger lotus or red rubin sword.

Foreground mostly Utricularia graminifolia with a few rocks to break up the ground. Maybe some Eriocaulon sp. 'cinereum near the edges and or Lawn Marshpennywort.

Would any of the ornamental shrimp species be ok with the types of fish listed?


Really digging this pair of Discus http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/aucti...cus&1328290192

Back D!!

I was thinking about doing a large planted FW tank, but I think I would get killed if I did another tank now.

Welcome back stranger! I'm sure you can use a sump system again for FW.

Thought about a sump but figured canister filter would be a lot quieter.

Yes, but a canister is much more maintenance.

Canisters are definitely the way to go for planted tanks. Just keep in mind that nothing from reef tanks will apply to freshwater, so purge your biases now. I really like Eheim filters, they are really pricey and over-engineered, but very reliable and silent.

Lights are good, substrate I feel you have a lot of leeway with, even plain sand can work well. Fish are fine, but go really, really minimal on livestock. If you look at the really amazing planted tanks, they are stuffed with plants and only a few tiny little fish, like a shoal of 10 tetras. It's really easy to overstock which will make it a constant battle to keep algae from outcompeting your plants. For instance I have 1 goldfish and 1 pictus cat in a 75 and can't get any plants to grow long term. My nano with 5 microrasboras never has algae and the plants flourish, all other things are the same.

Big fish like discus might have similar problems (not as bad) as goldfish. They are awesome fish, but will make more problems than a small shoal of little fish.

Sorry about your divorce, that sucks. Glad to see you back here

Ok here's the official list so far!

I plan on using my 75 gal stand that used to be for the macro tank.

Heres what I got planned out,

Tank: 75gal if i can find one local thats not perfecto or topfin. Need to take a trip up to aquarium adventures.

Lighting: My old odyssea 4 bulb t5 unit. Should be more than enough light.
I will use all giesemann bulbs. 1 Aquablue+, either 1 or two Middays and an atinic depending on colors. I don't want a ugly yellow tank.

Background: is going to be aqua terra's rainforest 3d background
http://www.aquaterra-intl.com/images...ainforest1.jpg

Whats nice about this background is there will be space behind it for heaters, ph and temp probes, filtration and ect.

Substrate: Black diamond sand and eco complete ( I would really like to get the brightwell stuff but could not find it for sale any where.

Filtration: Eheim Ultra G series 160 which is rated for up to 160 gal at 330 gph turn over
Aquarium Filtration & Water Quality: Eheim Advanced Canister Filters
I will also plumb in a RO filter canister to use as a prefilter filled with filter floss and carbon as needed.

Co2: Still not sure what brand but probably Milwakee unless I find something cheaper: http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Inst...8307258&sr=1-1
and either a 5 or 10# aluminum Co2 tank

Livestock: Originally I planned on doing a discus and tetra tank but after doing more research on discus I changed my mind. Instead I am going to do small schooling fish and shrimp.

3-4 Killifish https://www.azgardens.com/p-843-kill...eri-clown.aspx

8-12 Galaxy Rasbora https://www.azgardens.com/p-872-galaxy-rasbora.aspx

4 Oto's https://www.azgardens.com/p-160-alga...gae-eater.aspx

5-6 Corydora either dwarf https://www.azgardens.com/p-825-cory...y-catfish.aspx

or Green https://www.azgardens.com/p-1941-cor...y-catfish.aspx

6 Blue Tetra https://www.azgardens.com/p-881-tetra-blue-tetra.aspx

and a handfull of Crystal red shrimp SS or better Crystal Red Shrimps SS Grade ****** On Sale! ******

A hand full of Blue tiger shrimp Orange Eye Blue Tiger Shrimps | Extremely Rare Dwarf Shrimps

and if I can find one Black King Kong or BKK Black King Kong Shrimps for sale (BKK)

I don't plan on buying any of that from AZ gardens as they have a bad rep. Just using them as examples.

Plants: Its a pretty long list so Ill just give a few examples.

For show pieces I was thinking:

Tiger Lotus Jade https://www.azgardens.com/p-1037-tig...ium-plant.aspx

Tiger Lotus Red https://www.azgardens.com/p-1038-tig...ium-plant.aspx

Eustaralis https://www.azgardens.com/p-66-euste...ium-plant.aspx

Red Flame sword https://www.azgardens.com/p-1144-red...ium-plant.aspx

And then some short carpeting moss or hair grass for the front.

and of course a nice stump piece of driftwood and a few rocks.

I am hoping to get the aquarium some time this weekend and start working on the build this week. Guy won't be here until sat to pick up the frogs so I should have plenty of time to get it ready.

Sounds good! Those Shrimp are tiny, so don't be too disappointed if they kind of disappear in the tank. As for the CO2, I would first see where you can fill it up. For me, the closest place was a sporting goods store, but they could only fill 20oz paintball bottles. The next place was 15 minutes away, but they just traded filled bottles for empty ones, so you lose your brand new shiny tank for a grungy old POS. A 30 minute drive would yield a beer brewing store that would fill my tank while I waited so I got to keep the tank. But because the drive was so long, I wished I'd upgraded to a 10 or 20 lb tank instead of my 5 lb one, so I wouldn't have to go as often. Or better yet, got the system that connects to paintball bottles. Just some things to consider, so you can maximize your convenience.

Thanks, there's an air gas about 11 miles from here. They can refill it there. As for the shrimp I imagine them to be around the size of sexy shrimp. I only had 3 in the 75 before and was pretty easy to find them. I am hoping that they will be able to reproduce over a long period of time and multiply. Thats why the largest fish in my tank is a tetra.

I got a handfull of the ordering out of the way. Just need new probes for my ACJ.

Sand, co2 tank, eco complete and a few odds and ends I can find local.





approaching my 1200 self imposed limit quick.

Kewl. It's just as easy to piss through money on a planted tank as it is on a reef tank, so good luck staying under $1200

worse part is I am rebuying all the little **** I just got rid of a few years ago

I wish you lived closer. I'd save you some money on that stuff.

Heres a very loose idea for what I have in mind for this tank. Maybe a little different branching. Haven't found a piece I like yet.

Left side heavily planted with a stump and branch hanging out over the open area.

Tall grass in the back, xmas moss , java fern or some crypts maybe in the dark areas , tiger lotus, dwarf hair grass and a pasture of Utricularia graminifolia out in the open bright area.

background



Loose sketch (I know I gots no skillz)



Blue circles are returns / recirculation. Blue square is filtration inlet made of steel grating covered in black foam pad to keep the skrimpz in.

that should look really good! I like that background. At least you don't have to worry about salt creep on it!

O...M...G...it's DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!

well I for one can not WAIT to see this come together....everything you do is over-the-top AWESOME!

welcome back D.

(sorry you're going thru a rough time sweetie)

A little bit of the driftwood came in. Still waiting on another stump from ebay.

Thoughts? Let me know what placement you like better.










Heres the other stump I am waiting on

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The guy buying the frog tanks won't be up here until next friday now. I still haven't heard back from amazon about the broken background...I can't really do much else with the tank until its replaced. Will give me plenty of time to build the canopy I guess. I will have the lights elevated 12" or so.

how do you weigh them down?

I like them on either side. It's gonna be great!