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Early planning stages of 55 or 75 gallon tank

3K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Lonewolfblue 
#1 ·
Ok heres my plan

Ph: 7.4 (might be different with driftwood and CO2)

Fish:
10 Zebra danios to cycle with tons of cultured stuff for the tank (cultured driftwood, cultured gravel, cultured ornaments, cultured filter media)
4 Bolivian rams are added next
3 otos once the algae starts to grow (i am going to try to culture algae in the sunlight with a separate tanks and rocks)
6 panda cories are next
I am pretty sure i can fit more, i like small schooling fish, any suggestion on tetras?

Plant stuff:
one 2 liter DIY CO2 System
2-3 wpg
Corkscrew vals
Java moss
Java fern
Amazon Sword plant
and some other plants, i was thinking of that plant that looks like a banana
I will use 40 pounds of eco-complete gravel and 20 pounds of sand

Filtration:
Either a canister filter or bio-wheel HOB filters
a powerhead with a spounge attatchment

Heater:
TBA

My plan:
Wash gravel etc add water, place plants in desired areas. Let the tank filter overnight. Next day add in CO2 system, let the tank sit overnight. If everything seems stable after all that i will add in 6 zebra danios from another tank and 4 new zebra danios. Add cultured stuff when i add fish. then i start to cycle, i might use some bio-spira if i can get my hands on it cheap. once done cycling add 4 bolivian rams, wait 1 week, add 6 cories, wait one week, if algae grows i will add 2 or 3 otos in there, then add the tetras. All done :)

Criticism is fine here, i like the truth
 
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#2 ·
sounds like a good plan to me, let us know if you use bio-spira i am interested to see how well it works out cause i am going to try it when we go up to a 55g.. I have already started building the stand and will finish it this week sometime and hopefully next week get the 55 setup..


Good luck...
 
#3 ·
well im not getting my 55 gallon until 4 months..... the more time i have to plan, the better, i think it will be you who is telling me if the bio-spira works :)

i'll get you some oto pics, i already have 2 in my 20 gallon, let me just find some of there pics....



that is my good ol' oto
 
#5 ·
100% algae eaters, they are herbivores so they probably wont eat leftovers, mine dont eat anything i give them, they only eat fresh grown algae in my tank, the dont eat algae wafers and dont eat fresh vegetables, dont feed them meat, its not needed in there diet, they are suckermouth catfish so they suck onto the walls
 
#9 ·
musho3210 said:
my next question is can i have sand in a planted tank?
You can but you also have to stir it frequently.:wink2: Or else you'll end up rotting the plant roots when the sand becomes compact.:blink:
 
#14 ·
There is nothing wrong with Eco Complete and Cories, I know a couple people that even breed them with Eco in their tanks and they look fabulous. The barbles of the cories are effected by Nitrates more than anything else and other water quality issues. I have them in a tank with regular LFS gravel and their barbles are longer than I thought they could get.

As for Sand, Malaysian Trumpet Snails are the best bet to keep it stirred up and prevent dead pocket but sand alone is not recommended for plants. The sand will compress around the plant roots and unless you are willing to stir the entire tank the roots can suffocate in the sand. If I could afford to get Eco I would use nothing else in all of my planted tank and possibly my non planted ones also.
 
#15 ·
Eco and Cories is absolutely no problem. I have cories in my planted tanks with Eco, and they are doing just fine.

Also to add, from reading the original post, a single 2L bottle DIY CO2 will not be enough for a 55G or 75G. You would need at least 4 for good CO2 levels, or you might end up battling BBA.

And yes, if you don't stir sand, it will compact and suffocate the plants roots. But from what I heard, if you have crypts, they do fine is sandy or muddy substrates, where other plants would not survive.
 
#16 ·
musho3210 said:
Unrulyevil said:
if you have something to say go ahead and say it, i can take critisism :)
Well.. usually ... sand is not the best thing to use in the tank as sand is not big enough to let the gases out from all that bacteria in it. Which means that time to time you'll have to do something with it (sand) to avoid rotting and bacterial dis balance in it.

Gravel is way better, since it allows for normal gas exchange and cultural and bacterial grow.

Ohh btw you said that you will use CO2? Than I think you want a planted tank? right? why would you use CO2 in the regular tank?

So .. if you want planted tank DO NOT use sand! Use gravel and add some vulcanite in to the gravel for better grow.
 
#18 ·
Unrulyevil said:
So .. if you want planted tank DO NOT use sand! Use gravel and add some vulcanite in to the gravel for better grow.
I have 1 tank with all Volcanit and it really looks good. Eco is better, but for looks, I like the look of Volcanit better. And it's a really good choice for a planted substrate.
 
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