Large planted tank set up

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wes1234

Feeder Fish
Jan 20, 2018
4
1
3
45
Hi all im new here and i have a 6x2.5x2.5 tank with 4x2x2 sump which ive had as a marine reef tank for the last 5 years due to a power outrage i lost pretty much everything devo so after a few months ive decided to switch things up a bit and go fresh again which is easier for me since i live in rural area hard work for a marine tank buying everything interstate . So my plan is to do a planted tank ive drawn a picture of my set up at the moment id like to know the best way of converting it over to fresh ive got the tank running at the moment with water and vinger cleaning it

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Welcome to MFK! You have come to the right place

In your drawing, it appears that the return is coming out from the same side of the sump as the drain from the overflow is going into, but the return pump is in chamber 4.

I would be interested in seeing some pictures of your setup.

Have you given any thought to what you will be stocking the tank with? SA Biotopes make great looking planted tanks.
 
elting44 said:
Welcome to MFK! You have come to the right place

In your drawing, it appears that the return is coming out from the same side of the sump as the drain from the overflow is going into, but the return pump is in chamber 4.

I would be interested in seeing some pictures of your setup.

Have you given any thought to what you will be stocking the tank with? SA Biotopes make great looking planted tanks.
Click to expand...
elting44 said:
Welcome to MFK! You have come to the right place

In your drawing, it appears that the return is coming out from the same side of the sump as the drain from the overflow is going into, but the return pump is in chamber 4.

I would be interested in seeing some pictures of your setup.

Have you given any thought to what you will be stocking the tank with? SA Biotopes make great looking planted tanks.
Click to expand...

hi sorry the water drops into chamber 1 from the over flow goes out number 4 to return to tank and the tank is viewable from three sides as its a dividing wall . i was thinking discus with maybe groups of tetras and neons but i want it stocked with plants i bought 2 large pieces of drift wood the other day and 100kg and 3mm and 6mm gravel, i have an idea in my head but need to switch it from salt to fresh with the sump and suggestions with the sump set up and substrate .i got the gravel but think might do something else maybe soil and cap it ill post a pic up later its filthy at the moment ill drain it today
 
To me salt and fresh water set ups are basically the same, except for the salt.
I'd just add water, filter media, substrate, and plants and go for it, just the way it is.
I use sumps, planted refugiums and protein skimming on my fresh water set ups, so if those were a part of yours before, use them now. If not all, use what you have.
Neons and discus may be a problem (neons can be discus snacks), cardinals or other tetras and discus may be better, not quite so edible. And cardinals like the warmer temps, discus prefer.
 
duanes said:
To me salt and fresh water set ups are basically the same, except for the salt.
I'd just add water, filter media, substrate, and plants and go for it, just the way it is.
I use sumps, planted refugiums and protein skimming on my fresh water set ups, so if those were a part of yours before, use them now. If not all, use what you have.
Neons and discus may be a problem (neons can be discus snacks), cardinals or other tetras and discus may be better, not quite so edible. And cardinals like the warmer temps, discus prefer.
Click to expand...
So u use a skimmer on your fresh water tank as well . I had the skimmer in chamber 1 . Chamber 2 had live rock. Chamber 3 had deep sand bed and macro algae and 4 had heater return pump
 
Protein skimming is not as easy in fresh water because fresh water is less dense, so need more aggition to create foam.
The first time I heard about protein skimming was an article in TFH mag by Joe Gargas called (something like) Foam Fractionation i a discus hatchery, back in the 80s and then I made my first one..
Below is a video of my DIY biofractionator in a fresh water koi pond.
koi pond fractionation
And in fresh water they only foam when condition occur, for me the heaviest foam in the pond was in spring.
But even if it doesn't foam, its saturating the water with well needed oxygen.
 
If you plan on running pressurized co2, you’ll have to plug your overflows and ditch the sump. The agitation from the sump will gas out your co2.

If you don’t plan on a high tech setup and want to go the walstad route, you can use mineralized top soil and cap with sand or gravel. Good top soil will provide much of the nutrients with Pitassium (k) being the only fertilizer you may have to dose.

Keep in mind that fert, including carbon, have to be in balance with your lighting. In other words, if you do not run co2, limit your lighting. If you plan to run co2, then increase lighting and ferts.

I recommend spending some time on plantedtank.net. I spent a good deal of time on the planted side of the hobby before I came back to large cichlids. I’ll tell you that it was time well spent. It changed my whole way of scaling out aquariums.

Good luck. Btw, very nice tank dimensions!
 
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