My Recently Redone 75 Gallon Whale of a Tank

Little-Fizz

Well if you are generally interested we can help?

I could run down some basics right now. The only issue with live plants is the cost of the equiptment. But once you have it all then you're good, besides replacing a light bulb here or there.

You'll need a light wattage of 2-3 watts per gallon, some fertalizers, and some live plants. I don't want to tell you you'll NEED a co2 system... But honestly I tried to do without one for a few of my tanks and it didn't work out to well. With the high wattage of lights and no co2 the plants are starved for 'oxygen' and algae (such as the black hairy ones) thrives.

MollyPlatySwordtailfish

how much would the basic equipment cost?

iamntbatman

It totally depends on what you want in terms of plants. There are many types of low-light plants that would do just fine with the lighting you've got, like Java Moss and Java Fern. There are plenty of plants, however, that require much higher lighting. The initial cost would be both the plants themselves and some decent lighting to get you started.

Here are some options:
Twin tube T5 High Output (I think this would be medium-low lighting, so you could grow things like crypts and Anubias. You'd want the 48" freshwater):
Aquarium Lighting for Freshwater and Reef Systems: Nova Extreme Compact SLR T-5 Fixtures

Twin Compact Fluorescent (this would be medium lighting):
Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Aqualight Single Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights

Quad Tube Compact Fluorescent (high lighting):
Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Aqualight Double Compact Fluorescent Strip Lights

As Little-Fizz said, CO2 is helpful but is probably essential if you go with high lighting. Also, depending on what plants you get, you'll want to dose different types of fertilizers. You could either use root tabs for your rooted plants or switch to a substrate designed for planted tanks. Plants that take nutrients directly from the water column would do well with a liquid fertilizer. Plants can look absolutely amazing - it's really a question of how much money you're willing to spend on it.

JHK30

nice tank! Looks like I have the same Swordtail and Platy.

fishman09

i would add a backdrop for sure, i will make your tank look amazing, also, very nice set up