My planted tank SA style...

[craigthor]

Got my substrate today. boy is this stuff dusty, spent 1.5 hrs rinsing flourite and my tank is still really cloudy. Here is my mix:

3 20 lb bags of Eco Complete Plant
2 15 lb bags of Flourite
1 15 lb bag of Flourite Red

Now to wait for my tank to clear so I can see it. May need to ad more but may want to get some more of the Eco as I want more black, have to wait to see what the wife thinks though as she really hates black and I have some already (paint 3 sides of the tank black, black lights fixtures, etc..)

Craig

 

[robmcd]

Wow man, way to do it up!!! Insane lighting, perfect fish selection (gonna need to upgrade tank size sooner or later with those brutes) for a big fish planted tank, and a little bit of all the best substrates! I really cant wait to see the finished product. Big ups on the project!!!

 

[craigthor]

Wow man, way to do it up!!! Insane lighting, perfect fish selection (gonna need to upgrade tank size sooner or later with those brutes) for a big fish planted tank, and a little bit of all the best substrates! I really cant wait to see the finished product. Big ups on the project!!!

My next tank will be an 8' 300. Will probably be a year or so as it will be when I build by next house and it will be a built in.

Craig

 

[craigthor]

Well, adding 2 more bags of Flourite right now rinsing is a pain in the as s. Can't see any of the Eco as it is finer then the Flourite so it is all buried but I don't mind. Hopefully when I get home the tank will be clear enough for pictures then my CO2 Reg should be here this weekend hopefully then all I wil need is the plants.

Craig

 

[robmcd]

I gotta feeling that this tank is gonna make the rest of us aquatic gardeners look like hacks. Maybe I really am a hack,with my DIY lighting and c02 and schultz aquatic plant soil. My close buddy uses that ecocomplete and from the way it looks and his immediate results, Im likin it. We belong to S.C.A.P.E. (socal aquatic plant enthusiasts), and it seems to me that they (mods) are just a front to push ADA products, esp substrates.

 

[craigthor]

Would doing several large water change help remove the sediment that is still in the tank? Everything is now layered in dust from my wet/ dry to my overflow, everything . I also have a total of 4 bags of Flourite, 3 Bags Eco Complete, 1 Bag of Flourite Red. About a 3- 3.5" Bed in there is that enough? I still have 2 more bags of Flourite Red I can use.

Craig

 

[robmcd]

Would doing several large water change help remove the sediment that is still in the tank? Everything is now layered in dust from my wet/ dry to my overflow, everything . I also have a total of 4 bags of Flourite, 3 Bags Eco Complete, 1 Bag of Flourite Red. About a 3- 3.5" Bed in there is that enough? I still have 2 more bags of Flourite Red I can use.

Craig

Just do it all at once. Your filtration should have it cleared up in 48hrs at the most. Are you layering that stuff?

 

[craigthor]

Eco is layered under the Flourit and the Reg and Red is mixed.

Craig

 

[craigthor]

More pics, the tank is getting better. I've been changing out 100 micron pads every 12 hrs or so with them tripled up. Pics of my 45" reactor hard plumbed to 1" pvc for the return then splits to 3/4" loc-line fittings with a Y and 2 Flex with big Outputs. I've removed 2 of my EcoTechs and kept just one for the slightest water movement in the top of the tank. Glass is still dirty but that will clean with time. I've got everything but my regulator and plants. The regulator has been shipped so I hope to have this almost up in the next week.

Craig

 

[craigthor]

Fish are changing here is the new wife approved fish list:

6- Dwarf Powder Blue Gourami
15- White Cloud Minnows
20- Sunset Platys
10- Dawn Platys
6-8- Cory Cats
Ghost Shrimp ?
Cherry Shrimp ?

Still have to convince her on the shrimps found out she really hated the Bas and the pike all along...

Craig