90g Planted cichlid tank setup questions

[TheLorax]

It's planted! I'll probably make a new thread about what happens with the cichlids when I get fish later. Thanks for your help! My main worry right now is algae, the lights seem very bright... I'll pick up a BNP soon, any other tips? I plan on setting the lights for 7 hours a day.

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[LS2012]

Wow! That's a great start
Definitely more plants in the corners. All my fish leave willow leaf and vals alone. Those plants would look pretty in the BG and corners.
Looks really nice! What ferts are you using? Root tabs? The rocks around the plant bases were a smart move. It looks like you put moss near the dividers? That should grow in nicely. Can't remember.. Which light did you get?
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[TheLorax]

Thanks! Yes, I poked holes in the divider and tied moss on with fishing line. I ended up getting two fuge rays. I think I am only going to use one though. Since it is right on top of the glass, it is super bright. Two made the tank almost look washed out and I am paranoid about getting algae. I planted in eco-complete so I thought I wouldnt need ferts for the first few weeks? I bought root tabs but I haven't used them yet. I know I should get more plants for the corners. I went to 3 LFS and didn't find much other than amazon swords, anubias, and java fern. I'll try others today.

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[LS2012]

Thanks! Yes, I poked holes in the divider and tied moss on with fishing line. I ended up getting two fuge rays. I think I am only going to use one though. Since it is right on top of the glass, it is super bright. Two made the tank almost look washed out and I am paranoid about getting algae. I planted in eco-complete so I thought I wouldnt need ferts for the first few weeks? I bought root tabs but I haven't used them yet. I know I should get more plants for the corners. I went to 3 LFS and didn't find much other than amazon swords, anubias, and java fern. I'll try others today.

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Nice work on the moss!

Original fugerays or fugerays planted+? Original fugerays have a lower par. Planted+ have a par higher than original and lower than ray2. I still haven't seen the "official" par for planted+. I have the current sat+ and finnex fugeray planted plus on my 28inch tall pt. My tank is 48 long, so I have 2 48 in fixtures, sat+ on front half, finnex on back half (where theres more plants) with about 8 inches in between the fixtures. Are yours side by side or front/back? And didn't the fixtures come with legs to raise them off the glass?

Again, I'm not an expert, and hopefully others will correct me if my info is inaccurate..

I waited too long for a lighting upgrade, should have used ferts sooner and didn't wait long enough for plants to get established before adding my fish. These were costly mistakes that I wish I could have avoided!!

I don't see why you couldn't use root tabs and the correct ferts in your tank now. The healthier and stronger your plants are, the better. I'm pretty sure Eco complete will absorb ferts to be dispersed as needed. If youre not using co2 and dosing ei, and are going to use pps pro, dry ferts mixed with r/o or distilled water will only give your tank what it needs each day. If you are worried about algae (and aren't we always?) then monitor the tank and adjust photoperiod and ferts as needed. When a pt has light, ferts your plants will thrive. Couldnt you also add pothos now to get an established water root system in advance of adding fish? Hope this helps, Laurie



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[TheLorax]

I have the regular fugerays, they are 48" and one is further back than the other. They do have legs but it looks like they screw on and would not allow me to keep the glass top. I guess I'll see if I can attach them and put it on top of the glass. My tank is not as deep as yours, so it seems like light is getting to the bottom fine, but I'm not an expert. I will experiment with the lighting. I'll also add the tabs as soon as i get more plants. I've read about the pothos, but I'm not sure I like the idea, I guess it looks kind of ugly/messy to me. When you say you introduced fish before the plants were settled, do you mean the fish suffered due to water quality, or just that they tore up the plants? From what I've read, I feel like with more plants it would be safe to add just a couple fish to start out as long as the temperature is stable, since they will speed up cycling.

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[LS2012]

When you say you introduced fish before the plants were settled, do you mean the fish suffered due to water quality, or just that they tore up the plants? From what I've read, I feel like with more plants it would be safe to add just a couple fish to start out as long as the temperature is stable, since they will speed up cycling.

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They tore up the plants, ate them and dragged them around the tank. Fish weren't ever in jeopardy, just my wallet

Prior to setting up the 110, I had a 46g bowfront with a few plants, 1 Bujurquina, my Australoheros pair, the L240, young clown loaches and baby Myersi. Filtration was 2 eheim 2217s and a 750gph hydor powerhead. The 110 was an upgrade for my growing SA collection.

The loaches went into another tank with my young Dambas. I sold the myersi. While setting up the 110, I did the BG, substrate, scape and plants. Then used one established 2217 to start the 110 w plants only. Ran the tank like that because i was afraid of a mini cycle harming my fish. The other filter was still on the 46 w/the other fish. In the interim, I had purchased another Bujurquina, my chocolate pair and group of geos. They were in a qt for over a month, since they were all wild caught. Once the water was stable in the 110, I started adding my fish a few at a time, then added the second 2217. Imho, I wouldnt cycle with the fish you're considering, especially Chocolates, Geos or Thomasi.

Do you have more than 1 tank, so you can use established media?

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[TheLorax]

Yes, I've been thinking about this dilemma. I don't think I'm going to get a chocolate, not now at least. The schooling fish I want are cardinal tetras, so I could start with 5 of those and add more slowly, but they might be too delicate. I was surprised to find crenicichla notopthalmus at my LFS, but i dont want to risk them on an uncycled tank. The other fish would also either be too delicate or dig too much before the plants settle. The geos I'm waiting for will be like 1" so maybe they won't be able to do much. I might get a blue acara or the BNP first. I don't have another tank right now.

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[LS2012]

Yes, I've been thinking about this dilemma. I don't think I'm going to get a chocolate, not now at least. The schooling fish I want are cardinal tetras, so I could start with 5 of those and add more slowly, but they might be too delicate. I was surprised to find crenicichla notopthalmus at my LFS, but i dont want to risk them on an uncycled tank. The other fish would also either be too delicate or dig too much before the plants settle. The geos I'm waiting for will be like 1" so maybe they won't be able to do much. I might get a blue acara or the BNP first. I don't have another tank right now.

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Any friends that could help with seeded media? Or chemical cycling? There's a ton of info on mfk about fishless cycling, take a look.
Oooh, baby geos! How exciting. And don't underestimate the sifting abilities of a Geo, regardless of their size!

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[jeremoose]

The only thing I'd be moderately concerned with is what light temperature the regular Fugeray's are, I hope you don't get an algae farm on your hands! Please keep us updated with pics.

 

[TheLorax]

Update: I added more plants (Vals and crypts) and root tabs. The plants have all been doing well. I then started with a few cardinal tetras and a couple albino BNPs. Only one out of the 7 died in the first 4 days. I then got a male and female dwarf pike, and that's when the tetras started disappearing. Didn't expect them to be so vicious. They both seemed healthy but then the female disappeared. Looked everywhere after a week and no sign of her. Weird. I am now pretty much fully stocked, got 6 orange-head geos, a new female pike, and a chocolate cichlid. I also have a blue acara in quarantine. Geos have been in the tank for 4 days and no floating plants! They are 2.5-3.5 inches. I might not keep them though, they are not colorful like the ones I've kept before, I think it's the black sand. We'll see if they color up. If not, I'll give them away and get Heckellis.