180g renovations

[fishman76092]

I got my new plants in....and unfortunately most were melted. Only the HC and the Lud. glandulosa was in good shape. The Pogo. stellatus is mostly melted-Im going to try to save it.

Here are some new photos-took my almost 4 hours last night.... I wanted to create a lot of swimming space up front with mostly background plants.

Not my best photos:
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e344/fishman76092/DSC03650.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e344/fishman76092/DSC03653.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e344/fishman76092/DSC03654.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e344/fishman76092/DSC03651.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e344/fishman76092/DSC03655.jpg

[rolloffhill]

That wood looks good in there.

[EAST_TX_RN]

Gee, I love all of it, the plants, the wood, and the fish! Thanks for the photos!

[bra8ndy8]

I love the Cardinals.....but have never seen any....where do you find them?

[ElijahTurtle]

Is that blyxa japonica by the HC? or something else?
I wanted to get some blyxa rather than the dwarf sag I have. Looking good!!! :dance:

[lellison]

wow, really amazing tank. Looks great!

[poel_19]

looking pretty rad!!!

[fishman76092]

It is Blyxa. Rift to Reef in Lewisville had a bunch last week.

[kewlkatdady]

what is the background...
At first I thought is was a bubble wall or just a bunch of bubbles..., but then I noticed it wasn't...so what gives.

[Jim2982]

That looks awesome. And this might be a dumb question, but I've always wondered how you clean the substrate with plants? Or is it even necessary?

[fishman76092]

The background is DIY concrete. Here it is without anything in it. I built it about two years ago.

[Jim2982]

Nice work. Can you be commissioned to build for lazy people? ;)

[kewlkatdady]

man...I love the BG...looks great.

[sap]

Were did you get that driftwood?

[fishman76092]

ebay

[Catherine]

Whoa! That is a heck of a nice tank! I really love the background, how much work was it to do? It looks fabulous.
How much volume do you take out on waterchanges and how often? On my 135 discus, I do about 50% weekly, and it takes a LONG time.
I have had FABULOUS results ordering plants from www.aquaspotworld.com (http://www.aquaspotworld.com) and they arrive after about a week, in perfect shape everytime. I highly recommend them, their quality is first rate and the prices the best I have seen anywhere.
C

[fishman76092]

The background wasnt very hard. The tank weighs a ton now with 2 bags of concrete on the back of it.

Here is the link:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_aquarium_background.php

I dont do many water changes on this tank. Once its established again, I wont change the water for six months or so-just let the plants do the work.

[blueskybetta]

:)The tank looks great!

[AndrewH]

Dang that's looking good. What did you do with all of the "old" plants that were in there?


...And this might be a dumb question, but I've always wondered how you clean the substrate with plants? Or is it even necessary?

There's never a dumb question ;)

When you have a heavily planted tank, all the plants do the work for you. The plants use nitrogen (a.k.a. ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) as food. There's no need to do a water change in a heavily planted tank if the entire system is balanced (meaning all the water parameters are within the lower limits).

[Jim2982]

So with a heavily planted tank, all I'd need is a HOB filter or something? Or is that not even necessary? Just keep topping off the tank when it gets low? Well, if the plants use the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates as food, then I guess the HOB would essentially hurt the plants since it takes all those things out of the water, right?

[AndrewH]

Most people do top off the tank when evaporation kicks in, but you still need to run a filter of some sort. I know fishman has an XP3 (Rena brand canister, canister used to help keep the CO2 dissolved) on his 180 gallon pictured above unless he changed it recently.

The logic is, the plants are the primary filters (using up the toxic stuff in the tank that the fish produce), but if the plants die (say you get a plant decease) you'll need something in place that'll handle the entire tank on it's own without having to wait 24-48+ hours to "jump" start one from scratch while the toxic levels in the tank climb outta control. Also having an additional filter in place will help you control the balance. The filter bacteria will get anything the plants don't and also will help when adding new fish, etc.

Another draw back to plants, is there are only so many fish that are ok with them. Some will eat them while others will uproot them, etc.

[Jim2982]

OK, that makes sense. The plants act as a filter, but you need a canister or something as a backup. Thanks for the info.

[AndrewH]

You're most welcome (I learned most of it from fishman :D)

You can use other means of filtration, but if you have a heavily planted tank with lots-o-lighting you'll probably need some sort of CO2 system (at least greatly benefit from a CO2 system). Most filter systems (HOB, Wet/Dry, Sump, Power head, etc.) will cause excess water aeration, which on a non-planted tank is what you want, but if you're injecting CO2, it'll be wasted. So a sealed, canister filter will prevent that.

[fishman76092]

Andrew, absolutely correct.....although some disagree with the 'plants do the work theory'. I personally agree with it. The XP3 is more for clarity than anything. It gets pretty nasty as there is a lot of detritus in that tank. I clean it weekly. Without the cleanings,the water gets a bit yellow and murky.

But you cannot argue with not having to change water in these tanks-when you test your water 6 months after you did your last change and the nitrates are next to nothing.

[AndrewH]

See, that just shows you're a good teacher ;). (and thank you btw for all the great advice throughout the years)

Yeah, if you step back and look at nature it isn't too hard to see how it's getting done in your aquarium. I completely agree with the plant theory. I'm sure there's more to it than what I know, but simple as: fish produce waste the plants use as food, the plants produce waste the fish use as O2 and food :D. Win, win!

I assume the yellow murkyness is from the tannins of the dead plant matter. Like in a swamp?

[fishman76092]

Thats my assumption too. The driftwood too...