My 55g Planted Tank Journal: Phase II

FreshwaterJeff · 03-19-2007, 09:45 PM

March 19, 2007

After last Thursday's CO2 disaster, I decided it was probably time to start a new thread to track the progress of the tank rebuild, rather than have it be buried at the end of an 11-page thread.

Consider it a new beginning, if a painful one.

I spent about 6 hours yesterday breaking down the tank to the point of substrate-only still in the tank, then rebuilding, replanting, and refilling it. It was a lot of work, but I definitely found catharsis in the process. It was therapeutic, in a sense, in getting over what happened to my fish.

I set the CO2 back up today and dosed macro fertilizers on my Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule:

5/8 tsp Potassium Nitrate (nitrate)
1/4 tsp Mono Potassium Phosphate (phosphate)
3/4 tsp Potassium Sulfate (potassium)

On Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, I dose Plantex CSM+B mixture for micro fertilizers.

And now, some pictures:

The new tank set up:

A new plant: I think it's Alternanthera reineckii, but please confirm that if you can:

Another new plant: Compact Sword

Morimo ball, perched in the driftwood:

Anubias barteri v. coffeefolia, arranged on lace rock:

[For Reference: 55g Planted Tank Journal, Phase I: July 24, 2006 - March 19, 2007]

Plee_cO · 03-19-2007, 10:01 PM

totally sweet pics

Lonewolfblue · 03-19-2007, 10:16 PM

Looking really good. I believe you are correct on those plant names.....

Big Vine · 03-20-2007, 01:00 AM

Wow, Jeff...this looks great! I bet your hands are all 'pruny' now, eh?

BV

VirgoWolf · 03-20-2007, 01:55 AM

Yeah, I can only hope my tanks turn out to be half that good! Great new start!

MOsborne05 · 03-20-2007, 07:15 PM

Looks good Jeff! What are you planning on putting in it? I see you incorporated some rocks into the tank....................

FreshwaterJeff · 03-21-2007, 09:33 AM

Well, after two days of test runs, I think I've figured out what went wrong with my CO2 regulator and I think I've fixed it. I'm planning on running it through the weekend to make sure it's reliable before I put any fish in the tank.

Speaking of which, cycle-wise -- given that it's a decently-heavily planted tank, that I'm pretty sure I have a virtual army of MTS patrolling my substrate, that I haven't yet changed my top filter pad (even though I need to), and that the tank was cycled before the disaster -- so long as I add new fish slowly and keep an eye on my parameters, I shouldn't need to run out and buy a new batch of bio-spira (or otherwise re-cycle the tank), right?

I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to put in it, but I think it's going to be fairly similar to my old tank. The core idea is:

8-10 Pencilfish
7 Zebra Loaches
2 Siamese Algae Eaters

And then I'm not sure about feature fish and plecos. For the plecos, my initial instinct is: 2 L-134 Leopard Frog Plecos and 2 LDA-08 Gold Marble Bristlenose Plecos, just because I've kept both and enjoyed it thoroughly. But I could also see going the Hypancistrus route, or getting one L-134 and one L-204 (although that might mean adding more driftwood later on). I'm not sure.

For feature fish, I'm even less sure. I could very well go back to a trio of Rainbows, and I'm definitely going to have some kind of cichlid as the centerpiece, but I don't know what I want to do. I'm considering a pair of Rainbow Cichlids, but also considering a few pairs of apistos instead. And then again, Pure has offered me some angels. So, I really don't know yet - but I'd be thrilled to get others' input...

tom91970 · 03-21-2007, 10:21 AM

Looks pretty good. Hope you have better luck this time...

Lonewolfblue · 03-21-2007, 09:08 PM

You should be able to add fish slowly with no issues at all. The plants will help with that.

FreshwaterJeff · 03-22-2007, 09:17 PM

March 22, 2007

Well, as Avalon predicted (see BV's thread in the planted forum), I've got a little outbreak of green algae. I decided to test my levels, and I've really been overdoing it from a phosphate perspective.

Here's what I saw:

pH - I have more trouble reading my pH test - the color it turns out looks grey, not blue or green. It's closest to around 7.9-8.0, though (which means I'm not getting that much CO2 in)

Ammonia - 0.0 ppm
Nitrite - 0.0 ppm
Nitrate - 8.0 ppm (likely overdosing this as well)

KH - 100 ppm
GH - 140 ppm

Phosphate - 5.0 ppm

I'm going to do a decently-sized water change tomorrow, adding RO water, to try to bring down both the phosphates and the pH. I also think I'm beginning to trust my CO2 regulator (again, I think I identified the problem and that I've fixed it), so I might head to the LFS tomorrow to pick up a few new tank denizens...

03-19-2007, 09:45 PM	#1
FreshwaterJeff Super Fish Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,261	My 55g Planted Tank Journal: Phase II March 19, 2007 After last Thursday's CO2 disaster, I decided it was probably time to start a new thread to track the progress of the tank rebuild, rather than have it be buried at the end of an 11-page thread. Consider it a new beginning, if a painful one. I spent about 6 hours yesterday breaking down the tank to the point of substrate-only still in the tank, then rebuilding, replanting, and refilling it. It was a lot of work, but I definitely found catharsis in the process. It was therapeutic, in a sense, in getting over what happened to my fish. I set the CO2 back up today and dosed macro fertilizers on my Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule: 5/8 tsp Potassium Nitrate (nitrate) 1/4 tsp Mono Potassium Phosphate (phosphate) 3/4 tsp Potassium Sulfate (potassium) On Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, I dose Plantex CSM+B mixture for micro fertilizers. And now, some pictures: The new tank set up: A new plant: I think it's Alternanthera reineckii, but please confirm that if you can: Another new plant: Compact Sword Morimo ball, perched in the driftwood: Anubias barteri v. coffeefolia, arranged on lace rock: [For Reference: 55g Planted Tank Journal, Phase I: July 24, 2006 - March 19, 2007] __________________ 55 gallon Planted Freshwater Aquarium

03-19-2007, 10:01 PM	#2
Plee_cO Little Fish Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Daytona Beach, FL Posts: 153	totally sweet pics __________________ 55g:1 Albino Tiger oscar(about a foot long) 10g:saltwater nano:live rock, clean up, scarlet cleaner, frillfin goby, and many many plans for this tank(pending income retainment) 5g: saltwater nano: nothing but saltwater and substrate, oh and a little starfish i found in the ocean behind my house

03-19-2007, 10:16 PM	#3
Lonewolfblue Super Fish Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wenatchee, WA Posts: 1,283	Looking really good. I believe you are correct on those plant names..... __________________ 5.5G Crypt tank, 10W CF Screw-in. No filter, and air wand for circulation 26G Medium Planted Community - 65W CF Lighting - Emperor 280 Bio-Wheel 55G Aggressive Community - Filstar XP3 75G Heavily Planted - Pressurized CO2, 520W Lighting, Filstar XP3 with spraybar

03-20-2007, 01:00 AM	#4
Big Vine Super Fish Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 3,895	Wow, Jeff...this looks great! I bet your hands are all 'pruny' now, eh? BV __________________ "The more it eats, the more it excretes." 75 gal. - 11" tiger oscar

03-20-2007, 01:55 AM	#5
VirgoWolf Super Fish Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,908	Yeah, I can only hope my tanks turn out to be half that good! Great new start! __________________

03-20-2007, 07:15 PM	#6
MOsborne05 Super Fish Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Gibsonburg, OH Posts: 1,584	Looks good Jeff! What are you planning on putting in it? I see you incorporated some rocks into the tank.................... __________________ Morgan

03-21-2007, 09:33 AM	#7
FreshwaterJeff Super Fish Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,261	Well, after two days of test runs, I think I've figured out what went wrong with my CO2 regulator and I think I've fixed it. I'm planning on running it through the weekend to make sure it's reliable before I put any fish in the tank. Speaking of which, cycle-wise -- given that it's a decently-heavily planted tank, that I'm pretty sure I have a virtual army of MTS patrolling my substrate, that I haven't yet changed my top filter pad (even though I need to), and that the tank was cycled before the disaster -- so long as I add new fish slowly and keep an eye on my parameters, I shouldn't need to run out and buy a new batch of bio-spira (or otherwise re-cycle the tank), right? I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to put in it, but I think it's going to be fairly similar to my old tank. The core idea is: 8-10 Pencilfish 7 Zebra Loaches 2 Siamese Algae Eaters And then I'm not sure about feature fish and plecos. For the plecos, my initial instinct is: 2 L-134 Leopard Frog Plecos and 2 LDA-08 Gold Marble Bristlenose Plecos, just because I've kept both and enjoyed it thoroughly. But I could also see going the Hypancistrus route, or getting one L-134 and one L-204 (although that might mean adding more driftwood later on). I'm not sure. For feature fish, I'm even less sure. I could very well go back to a trio of Rainbows, and I'm definitely going to have some kind of cichlid as the centerpiece, but I don't know what I want to do. I'm considering a pair of Rainbow Cichlids, but also considering a few pairs of apistos instead. And then again, Pure has offered me some angels. So, I really don't know yet - but I'd be thrilled to get others' input... __________________ 55 gallon Planted Freshwater Aquarium Last edited by FreshwaterJeff; 03-21-2007 at 09:35 AM..

03-21-2007, 10:21 AM	#8
tom91970 Super Fish Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Crockett, TX Posts: 1,210	Looks pretty good. Hope you have better luck this time... __________________ My tanks: 2.5g betta, 10g planted, 10g nano reef, 14g planted, 29g, 30g, 55g (empty) and 55g planted http://jpotx113.4t.com/index_1.html "The sun shines down on a lonely town Where the fish all smile 'cause they know us" -- Everclear

03-21-2007, 09:08 PM	#9
Lonewolfblue Super Fish Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wenatchee, WA Posts: 1,283	You should be able to add fish slowly with no issues at all. The plants will help with that. __________________ 5.5G Crypt tank, 10W CF Screw-in. No filter, and air wand for circulation 26G Medium Planted Community - 65W CF Lighting - Emperor 280 Bio-Wheel 55G Aggressive Community - Filstar XP3 75G Heavily Planted - Pressurized CO2, 520W Lighting, Filstar XP3 with spraybar

03-22-2007, 09:17 PM	#10
FreshwaterJeff Super Fish Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,261	March 22, 2007 Well, as Avalon predicted (see BV's thread in the planted forum), I've got a little outbreak of green algae. I decided to test my levels, and I've really been overdoing it from a phosphate perspective. Here's what I saw: pH - I have more trouble reading my pH test - the color it turns out looks grey, not blue or green. It's closest to around 7.9-8.0, though (which means I'm not getting that much CO2 in) Ammonia - 0.0 ppm Nitrite - 0.0 ppm Nitrate - 8.0 ppm (likely overdosing this as well) KH - 100 ppm GH - 140 ppm Phosphate - 5.0 ppm I'm going to do a decently-sized water change tomorrow, adding RO water, to try to bring down both the phosphates and the pH. I also think I'm beginning to trust my CO2 regulator (again, I think I identified the problem and that I've fixed it), so I might head to the LFS tomorrow to pick up a few new tank denizens... __________________ 55 gallon Planted Freshwater Aquarium