90 Gallon planted

[slandis3]

Well its been over a year ago we broke down and sold the 400g we had. Still have the 180 in the house full of the cichlids we got from WuSue. I got a deal from a guy I work with on a stocked 90g reef with a bunch of extras. We tossed the idea around about setting the 90 up and keeping the reef. In the end we decided to go planted. I have never tried a planted tank before so though why not. Heres what I have so far.


90 gallon RR using both the 1" and 3/4" lines as drains. It has a Aqua clear aquatics sump, mag 18 return, small pan world for a water change pump. The thing to the right of the tank is a 6' tall bio-reactor. Its ran on the mag 18 return and a big Fluval air pump. Lights will be 4 54w T5 65k bulbs. Substrate will be a mix of flourite and echo-tech topped with sand. Not sure what plants I am going with, probably something really easy to start.  The reacto looks cool and I am hoping that if I decide to run Co2 at some point it will serve as a good reactor. So here are some pics of where I am right now, tank is running with vinegar water in it now to help clean it.

[lazylivin]

I think it wants to be a reef tank and feels conflicted. 

[Tony]

Haha, lazy.

I'm eager to see what it's going to look like.  What sort of plants are you wanting to throw in there, and what are you using for substrate?

[slandis3]

Not sure on the plants right now, I am going to mix flourite and echo tech. I have been trying to read up on everything to make sure I do it right from the beginning.

Lazy, I set it uo so it would be real easy to switch over lol.

[Tony]

Just make sure not to throw a bunch of amazon swords in your tank.  I mean, you can if you want, but you will need to dose iron.  Those things are damn ironmongers.  It's retarded how much of it they will suck out of the water.  Otherwise their leaves will yellow, and start decaying in the water, which will cause 7 kinds of hell for your bio balls because they are so fibrous.  Just a friendly heads up from someone who has been there and done that, haha

[slandis3]

Ok anything else to avoid? I am probably going to order most of the plants online since most places around here have not so good selection. Were looking to add small fish after the plants are in and doing well.

[mbettman]

I thought fish waste helped the plants...

[slandis3]

They may, everything I have read so far says add them later really not sure why. Ill probably throw a Cory cat in just to get something in there.

[discus513]

I have some stone, granite slabs, and slate left over from when I did fw if your interested lmk.I may have some other stuff to but I'll have to look.one of the nicest looking pants imo is the long leaf anubias pant, also there is a freshwater auction coming up soon where you could pickup a ton of pants and fish cheap in Hamilton, it's all home grown stuff so it is a lot nicer than store bought

[Tony]

+1

The anubias family is quite hardy, and several of them will shoot up little blooms for you periodically as well.  They will look sort of like a calla lilly.  They come in different sizes and shapes, but the barteri and nana are cheap and easy to get a hold of, be it online, an auction, or even your lfs.

They say hold off a little bit because you don't want to stock your tank full right off the bat.  The nitrogen cycle needs to be established in the tank.  Fish waste is ammonia, which is converted to nitrites, and then converted into nitrates.  Nitrates are what the plants will absorb, but the first two are still harmful to your tank if it is not well enough established to handle the large influx of fish and therefore waste that comes in with them.  Planted tanks can be extremely healthy so long as you properly trim the plants, as they will soak up and use quite a decent quantity of nitrates in the tank.  You will still need your water changes obviously, but plants are great for water quality.  Just make sure you read up on anything you plan on putting in the tank.  Some of them need phosphorus, others need iron.  Healthy plants make a healthy tank.  Unhealthy plants often make an unhealthy tank.  Just be sure to snip off anything that yellows beyond repair, starts to become transparent, and anything that decays or starts to break apart.  Planted tanks are not very difficult to keep, but you do need to make sure you keep up with pruning.

You are fine to add fish with the plants though.  Just don't load up your tank to it's capacity.  Just like any other system, work your way up and you will be fine.

[slandis3]

Definitely let me know when and where the auction is. I am still not sure on what I am going to put in as far as the aqua scape yet. I have been looking on the planted tank forum and getting some ideas.

[Tony]

Here is a picture of one of my anubias in bloom 

[slandis3]

Thanks for the info and tips, I am assuming when pruning plants do you guys use regular scissors or any special tools? 

[slandis3]

Thats cool, I hope to get it to that point someday lol

[Tony]

Regular scissors are fine.  You'll get there.  It's not as hard as you would think.  I personally think planted tanks are easier than outside plants =P

[discus513]

And both are much easier than reef tanks, and I think if I remember correctly you had a bad a$$ reef tank Mr slandis3

[slandis3]

lol thanks, I miss the 400 just don't miss the cost of upkeep. I should have kept the tank and made it a big planted tank lol.

[slandis3]

Well I threw a few cheap plants and 2 small cheap fish in to see how things go. I got bio balls out of the 180 in the house so the cycle should get a good start. I got started on the hood and changed the bio reactor around a little. So far all seams well. The light are 6 32w 65k T8 bulbs with a chrome reflector. Still not sure how we are going to decorate it just threw some things in for the fish to hide in for now.

[Tony]

Looking good   Are those micro ferns in the center of the photo?

[slandis3]

Not sure what they are lol. It supposed to be a grass, I can't find where I wrote down what its called. Ill post up what they are called when I find that paper.

[Tony]

Either way, with grasses and micro ferns alike, keep an eye on your overflow, as they like to break the old shoots loose periodically and tangle up before, and after your return pipes.  Not hard to manage, and well worth it for their look, but it can cause your water quality some random fluctuations as they start to decay that might puzzle you if you don't pull them out.  Definitely some of my favorites though

[slandis3]

So how difficult are discus to keep? Still kicking around what fish I want to end up with. If we do all smallish fish we are thinking of getting a dozen or so neon tetras and a bunch of small colorful fish. But if we go with larger fish besides discus what else will do well in a planted tank?

[discus513]

Breeding discus sucks, lol keeping discus is not that hard in my opinion.the only issue with keeping discus in a planted tank is discus like higher temps than most plant's can handle.so if you decide to go with discus it will limit your plant selection.another good alternative is angels or rainbow fish, both do very well in planted tanks and come in a variety of colors and will be fine in normal temps.the Tetras are always a good choice and yes the neon's are very cool but there are other very nice Tetras as well like the bleeding heart tetra which is really cool.if you do decide to go with the larger fish like discus or angels roseline sharks are a must imo, they are cool along with a couple loaches and a pair or two of rams. If you go with the smaller fish I would get a large group of cherry red shrimp established in the tank before I got the Tetras in there which will offer a nice sustainable live food source for the Tetras and also a clean up crew to help keep down the snail population, which in the bigger fish the loaches will eat the snails.snails can be a plague in a planted tank and with getting in live pants you will defiantly have snails.I would also suggest staying away from chain stores and even be very cautious of lfs when it comes to both pants and fish, there is a ton of local Breeders that will have allot better stock with a lot less problems.

[Steve]

Kept Discus for years with tetras and cory cats and loaches. Tank had amazon swords, banana plants and I think Capuronii Bulbs which grew up the back of the tank and started shooting flowers out of the tank. Kept the tank around 78 degrees maybe a little cooler than some for discus and a little warmer than some would recommend for plants but it worked for quite a while. The discus were Pigeon Blood, seemed very hardy. Ate mostly prepared foods but also some frozen brine and bloodworms.

[slandis3]

Ok so speaking of temps, what do most of you guys keep the temp at? I think I am running about 78, kinda stuck in reef mode lol.