Help! Planted 150 Gallon

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Davidiator

Davidiator

Polypterus
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2017
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I am going to get a 150 gallon tank as soon as I find a good deal on Craigslist or some other site and I want to make it a planted tank.
I have always dreamed of a planted tank but could never get my plants to stay alive do to knowing NOTHING.

So the fish in the tank are going to be:

1 BGK
5 Clown Loaches
4 Pictus Catfish
10 Congo Tetras
7 Redline Rasboras
5 Mystery Snails

I want to know what I need for the plants... I will be getting glass lids and will be have full spectrum led light bars... I am thinking sponge filters (3-4) or maybe a Canister filter...

What else would I need and can I please have links?

Wildfya I would really appreciate your help here...

The substrate might be sand... I haven't decided yet.

The main plant I want is Red African Lotus and Amazon Swords

Thanks :)
 
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Get good lighting,some aquatic (and fish safe) fertilizer.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
As for substrate I would do a half inch of heavy earth with a couple inches of smooth grain sand over it.
Have u considered a couple golden clams?
 
I am thinking about clams... do they ever open?

Also the tank will actually be 55 gallons and will be stocked with 100 neons and 3 Bristle Nose plecos
 
If you’re going to go heavily planted, I’d recommend a good substrate like aquasoil or one of the similar brands. Even Eco Complete or Seachem Flourite will be good. If you want some of the grassy foreground plants, stick with the soil or finer grade planted gravels to help them root.

I would runnpressurized co2. It’s straightforward and you’d want a 10-20lb tank for a 150 with a good regulator. You can then run a diffuser into the tank or even plumb it to a canister. As for filtration, canisters are best and you would want to avoid anything that would gas-out your co2. Stay away from HOB or sumps if you can.

For lighting, it would depend on what kind of plants you want. Some of the more difficult stem plants will need intense lighting and you’d want to run 3 pendant LED fixtures over the tank or go with staggered 4x54 watt 48” T5HO lights. Stay away from the LED strips unless you want to load up on them as their intensity is lacking.

For fertilization, the following are the most important elements.
N: Nitrogen.
P: Phosphorus
K: potassium
C: Carbon.

Other trace elements, namely Iron (Fe) is important but not as much as the big 4 listed above. I recommend the EI (estimative index) method as it is the most straightforward and doesn’t require complicated testing and measuring. Look it up on google for more in-depth information.

When you start out, get a lot of plants. A whole lot. And get some fast growers to allow your tank to establish without excessive algae. You can remove some of these fast growers over time but they will act as nutrient sumps to keep algae at bay.

Lastly, where do you live? I have a nice 150 setup for sale along with a nice GLA CO2 regulator.
 
I live in the Post Falls and spokane area but where do you live? I will see on map if I should make trip to buy your tank
 
I’m too far. I’m in SoCal. Good ouck!
 
Oh, ya I ain't making trip there anytime soon.

Thanks
 
Davidiator said:
I am thinking about clams... do they ever open?

Also the tank will actually be 55 gallons and will be stocked with 100 neons and 3 Bristle Nose plecos
Click to expand...
The clams/mussels will move about the tank (sort of like a snail), u can feed them by crushing up flakefood and dropping it in the water column around them daily
 
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