What would be better to get first?

[thrillbillie12]

Wow, that's a really good start!! I love the driftwood and how your fish are all at different levels in the water. Your tank will look wonderful when its done That's a lot of fish in this size tank, esp all the angels. You must have to do ALOT of water changes.

And you're absolutely right, black substrate will look great in this tank. Its just my opinion, and others may have different ones... I would start with substrate blend, black sand on the bottom - because the sand will sink below Eco anyway. Then a 20 lb bag of Eco on top. 1.5 inches deep isn't enough. FYI, black Eco complete isn't totally black. Here's a pic of my substrate. You can see some pieces are sort of Terra cotta colored. From a distance black is the primary color, but if your face is at the glass you can see the color difference.

What kind of ferts are you using now?

High tech is out of my range of limited knowledge. But many members here have high tech and a lot of knowledge on the topic. For now, since its low tech, and sort of tall, a sat+ will maintain your plants, but you won't see tons of growth. What kind of growth have you seen with your current light? You may be better off with a finnex planted+



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Thanks. Currently I do two fifty to seventy percent water changes a week. The tank Its self is roughly 80 gallons. I have a Rena xp3 on it fir filtration. I'm also going to be looking into a fulval c3 I believe it is.

For ferts, not much. This is also another area I've been doing a lot of research into. After the lights and substrate get upgraded, I've decided to go with dry ferts.

Plant growth is there, but not a lot. I mean some of them just took off, my larger Lilly pad grows like a monster. The swords grow decent. Even the hair grass is growing, not very fast tho.

I'll take some pics of the plants and post then into this thread if it helps.

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[thrillbillie12]

2nd - upgrade substrate, as low or high tech, a good substrate is a good substrate. Eco-complete is okay, but I have much better luck with dirt capped with sand in terms of ease of growth. With Eco-complete, you will need to add root tabs and ferts and all that fun stuff from the get-go. With this, I'll also say that you should learn about how to fertilize a planted tank and the nutr

I have looked into this, but I thought that I read that it's not very safe for the fish. Something about its gotta be wet started so the doesn't leak harmful things into the water.


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[thrillbillie12]

And long term goal for plant stick would be a carpeted bottom. I would like to have it" tall and bushy" in the back. If that makes sense. And just various mid ground plants to give it a little bit of color.

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[jstehman]

Eco complete should be fine for fishes. But realize if you mix it with sand, the sand will settle to the bottom. I had this happen in my 90 and I got anaerobic pockets in my substrate.



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[HybridHerp]

I've never had a problem with fish and organic potting mix, and to prevent anerobic conditions I keep hundreds of MTS per 10 gallons lol


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[LS2012]

Thanks. Currently I do two fifty to seventy percent water changes a week. The tank Its self is roughly 80 gallons. I have a Rena xp3 on it fir filtration. I'm also going to be looking into a fulval c3 I believe it is.

For ferts, not much. This is also another area I've been doing a lot of research into. After the lights and substrate get upgraded, I've decided to go with dry ferts.

Plant growth is there, but not a lot. I mean some of them just took off, my larger Lilly pad grows like a monster. The swords grow decent. Even the hair grass is growing, not very fast tho.

I'll take some pics of the plants and post then into this thread if it helps.

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Pics are always great! Your pt, planning and research is further along than I would have thought when reading your first post. The members who have replied to your thread have given great advice. I've learned a lot from them as well and have avoided a lot of mistakes. I've also learned nothing happens quickly with planted tanks, so I think you're making a smart move to do your research first.

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[thrillbillie12]

The new Lilly pad that came off my first one.
[ATTACH]988817[/ATTACH]

Does anyone know what the clover looking plant in the middle is?


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[thrillbillie12]

And after some research, I'm going to go with the capped dirt bottom. I know that for the plants I do have, I'm not providing what they need. I don't like doing this with fish, and I love how planted tanks look. So I think that the dirt bottom will differently help till I can get the better lights and look into co2.

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[A_K_Kicker]

You won't regret it. I've kept dirt in my tanks for almost 2 years now and haven't had a single problem. If you have any q's about the dirt set up members here are more than willing to walk you through your first time.

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[thrillbillie12]

You won't regret it. I've kept dirt in my tanks for almost 2 years now and haven't had a single problem. If you have any q's about the dirt set up members here are more than willing to walk you through your first time.

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The only question I have is this.

I have a spare 40 gallon tank. But I only have one filter. So, can I drain the water from my tank to the spare(like how I did when I had to re seal it). Clean the tank out, put in the dirt and sand cap, hard scape and plant, then fill and drain say three times. Then start filling with new water as I add old tank water.

Is this method safe to do?

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