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Planted Aquarium maintenance ?

6K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  Mikaila31 
#1 · (Edited)
I picked up a 72g bowfront and am now finally getting everything ready to set it up and get it going, but i have a few questions. I am going to be aquascaping it with some driftwood to add in it.

Here are my qusetions:

1. I plan on having a grass plant on the tank bottom. Like this tank here:


Now i know on my old aquarium when i would do a water change i would syphon the gravel and such but when i have a grass type plant how do i go about doing that since i wont be able to get down to the gravel and trying would probably reck the plant?


2. How many of you use a UV seteralizer? I have been told it makes the water more clear and kills micro organizmes and bateria in the tank. What are your thoughts on this? also what is a good one to gowith for my 72g. Im using a ehiem filter so i would probably want to go with a inline one.

3. Since i am using a canister filter i thought about a inline heater also so i could get rid the intank one i currently have. How efficient are these? Would a 300watt be sufficient or would i still need a in tank to? This is the one i was looking at: ETH 300 In-Line Heater 300W f/16mm-5/8"Hose

4. As far as ehiem filter media goes do i really need anything? My first plan was to just use the sponges and then just a bunch of aquarium flawss. Is that ok? i see these bio balls, carbon, etc that you can get but am woundering if there are really needed.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
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#2 ·
1. to vacuum with a grass just wave your hand around in the grass to get all the left overs and poop out of the bottom then suck it up while its floating in the water

2. i personally dont use one but if you want to go really fancy like its in your living room id do it. inline ones are good, cant recommend a brand though

3. that heater sounds fine, i would let it run for a few days and if it never gets it up to the right temp then add a in tank heater to it, maybe a bit smaller.

4. in the filter sponge and floss would be fine but i would add one cart of bioballs or ceramic rings.
 
#5 ·
start finding out what plants you use and get ready to drop atleast 200-300 on lighting and another 400-500 for a professional c02 system. dont forget all the chems for ferts either~~~
Using a GLO 2x54 t5 set-up and plan do do a DIY CO2 after i get everyhting up and running for awhile. Using seachems flourish and AquariumPlants.com's own: Freshwater Planted Aquarium Substrate. Not planning on being to high-tech. Just want to get the hang of things first and get the basics down.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Co2

These are pictures of my tank, 75 gallon planted, has been setup for 2 years, I have always used a DO IT YOURSELF system with CO2 REACTOR. As you can see, my plants are lush and beautiful. I use 1 bottle, an I change it out every 2 weeks. A CO2 system does not have to cost a ton of money to be effective....even so, you can go to the expensive system at a later date. You can find the CO2 REACTOR @ DRSFOSTERSMITH.com 36$....look in the center of the pictures you can see the reator.....this tank produces a lot of plants, I give away an sell to local shops all the time......to start out, spend the money on a great lighting system.....good luck...
 

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#9 ·
This a picture on my tank, 75 gallon planted, has been setup for 2 years, I have always used a DO IT YOURSELF system with CO2 REACTOR. As you can see, my plants are lush and beautiful. I use 1 bottle, an I change it out every 2 weeks. A CO2 system does not have to cost a ton of monet to be effective....even so, you can go to the expensive system at a later date. You can find the CO2 REACTOR @ DRSFOSTERSMITH.com 36$....look in the center of the pictures you can see the reator......good luck...

What does the reactor do?
 
#12 · (Edited)
as you can see in the pixs, from the bottle to the reactor, on the back of the reactor is a small power head, on the front, there is a chamber , the gas is pulled in it and the power head creats a tornado, mixing 99% of the gas with the water an it's dispenced out the front bottom through a small gap.....needs to be cleaned once a week....there is also a product to mix with gravel that works great. I have it in my tank. It's called FIRST LAYER PURE LATERITE, 1oz per gall, a box of 55oz $15.49 also from above web site, I have 2 boxes in my 75 gallon...how much are ya going to spend on Flora Base, ALOT.....as for lighting I have 260 watts, 4-65 compact floresences 6400k
 
#13 ·
.....as for lighting I have 260 watts, 4-65 compact floresences 6400k
Sorry if I'm a little skeptical. But do you have pics of your lights? At 3.5wpg you should be wayyy above the abilities of DIY CO2. On top of the fact that your tank's size is also beyond the abilities of DIY CO2. Do you run 260 all the time or just for a photo period? If its not that then IMO you have to be losing alot of light somehow, perhaps using a really inefficient fixture. Or you dealt with a ton of algae when you set that tank up and somehow managed to balance it.

The red sea reactor isn't anything special IMO. I have one, its not currently used. There are better, cheaper things IMO.

I agree on the OP's tank that 1.5wpg of T5's is going to be beyond DIY CO2. T5's break the WPG rule. 1.5 WPG of HO T5's is more than 1.5 wpg of CP florescents. I also agree with Jack Middleton on pressurized CO2 setups, they are not that expensive. You don't even need to go for the cheap fire extinguisher to stay around $200. I have 2 pressurized setups and both w/ silonoids. Total cost to be setup with tanks filled and drop checkers was roughly $180 and $230. The cheaper one actually runs off a 20oz paintball cylinder its cute but not the best quality system IMO. The price above includes the cost of the cheap parts I swapped out for glassware. The more expensive one uses a 5lb tank and is all shiny metal and brass. They both cost the same really since there is about a $30 difference between the cost of the paintball canister and the cost of the CO2 canister. Canister also costs more to fill. The more expensive setup has the ability to feed 3 different tanks if I wanted it too. It currently only feeds one. To provide CO2 to a 2nd and 3rd tank would cost $40-55 for each tank depending on how nice of parts I wanted.
 
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