Starting after a long time

AtomicBatman

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2010
23
11
18
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Hey y'all, been waaaay out of the community for a long time. Decided to get back into it after almost 7 years. Starting my new double project.

project 1 is a 60 gal house tank
- plan is natural plants and central american cichlids
project 2 is a 65 gal plant tank

first some pics of my old tank from 7 years ago, it was a 55 gal mostly central american cichlids, brown sand bottom, and real plants.


the 60 gal is new from the store so I am cleaning it up and prepping it for the next few weeks
the 65 gal is very dirty, used, but is slowly being cleaned up. started today and hopefully will finish tomorrow.

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AtomicBatman

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2010
23
11
18
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Welcome back, sir. Why were you out of the loop for so long out of curiosity?
Joined the Army back in 2010, barracks life couldn't have a nice tank. Got married and lived in apartments for a few years that didn't allow tanks. Finally bought a house this past November and finally diving back into the hobby.
 

AtomicBatman

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2010
23
11
18
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Small update:

added 60 lbs of blank sand with a 10lbs fertilizer bang. Also installed the Fluval 406 filter.
lights in photo will not be used, just a temp for pictures. Looking into T5 lighting to help with plant growth and fish coloring.

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AtomicBatman

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2010
23
11
18
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Small update:

Added a black cotton background cloth to the back/sides of tank.

Was looking at having lighting situated by now, but I can't seem to find a 48' fixture for T5 lighting. Everything seems to be LED nowadays. So the question arrises is, will LED lighting be good enough for a planted tank? I am going to search amazon to see what I can find but after hitting up multiple fish stores this weekend I have come up with only LED lighting....

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Fat Homer

Mmmmm... Doughnuts
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Mar 16, 2009
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Small update:

Added a black cotton background cloth to the back/sides of tank.

Was looking at having lighting situated by now, but I can't seem to find a 48' fixture for T5 lighting. Everything seems to be LED nowadays. So the question arrises is, will LED lighting be good enough for a planted tank? I am going to search amazon to see what I can find but after hitting up multiple fish stores this weekend I have come up with only LED lighting....

View attachment 1235288
You'll need to do some research on which LED's work best on planted tanks, as the technology keeps advancing and newer systems developed...

Not to mention, some just dont have enough light or the right color light for helping plants grow and develop...

But otherwise, i completely agree that LED's seem to be what a lot of stores are pushing to sell now a days, especially around my neck of the woods...
 
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