Right Media For My Planted Caribe Tank ??

[zbaidy]

Hi I'm new to the aquarium scene. I have a XP4 that I will use to filter a 75G Planted Tank with 5 Adult Carib Piranha (overstocked).


I'm trying to figure out the right Media to use in order to have CRYSTAL CLEAR water.

What I have so Far:

Filter Pads

30Pp (2 pads), 20Pp (2 pads) and 1 Micro-Filtration pad


Bio Media

5 Liters Filstar Ceramic Rings


Chemical Media

1 Pack of Biochem-Zorb (Activated Carbon w/ Resin)



Do I have the right Media in place for "Polished" tank water ?

What else should I get or replace in terms of media ? Thanks for any help you can provide to this complete newb.

 

[cepon3]

IMO I would use sometype of extra filtration.. to keep my water crystal clear i use a sponge filter in every tank connected to an appropriate sized power head..

 

[ECarbonel]

aqua clear 110 might help

 

[jp80911]

I have an aquaclear 110 and it's very powerful I had to remove it from the tank. It's bending most of my plants. maybe something a little less powerful for your 75g.

 

[cepon3]

Let me elaborate more on my previous post.

To acheive Crystal clear water will come from a mixture of different filtering mediums, but the most important will be mechanical. Of course the basics of filtering will need to be in place already, such as a strong enough biological filter and maybe some type of chemical ie. carbon. If your doing a planted Piranha tank you will need something a little different that say an ac110.. This filter will ruin your setup and in the long run Create not so crystal clear water.. Your planted tank will need constant attention but balance can be achieved.. I have had 12" rhoms in planted tanks and everything went extremely smooth. Like i previously stated i would use some type of extra water polishing filter such as an internal sponge to a powerhead.. this will "polish" the smaller particles of dirt suspended in the water column. Over time in your planted tank you will notice the accumulation of brown debri around the bottoms of the plants which is both plant and fish waste unable to make it into the filter.. as your piranha move about the tank they will constantly kick this debri ino the water and you will almost always have a shabby looking tank.. An ac110 does not have adequate mechanical filtration to clean this from the water.. The stream from this filter will actually kick the dirt up into the water but not be able to remove all of it resulting in the "dirtty" water. THis is where the spong comes into play again. Cleaning this filter will also be easier to do then cleaning your main filtration system.. Secondly i will reccomend lots of water changes and maybe incorporate some type of pleco into the equation for keeping the plants clear of algae..