Mermaid wrote:
Hello all,
I am new here and as you can see from the title of my post I am ill with my
reef tank. I have a 75 gal reef set up that I could never get the handle on
and set up right. This has been going on for about 3 years. Before then I
had always been in freshwater (7 years). Thinking of coming back and
throwing up my hands with my reef which means I will be getting rid of a lot
of stuff. I plan to start a planted tank for which I enjoyed very much
before and was definitely less maintenance than my reef set up. My questions
a
1) Can I use my wet/dry trickle filter plus a magnum 350 canister filter and
that's all? Before I used a undergravel filter as well.
Unlike others here, I prefer canister filters for plant tanks. I like
to hook them up to a spraybar so the outflow is more diffuse and creates
a nice current through the tank without splashing. You need to choose
your prefilter medium carefully so that it doesn't clog from bits of
leaves and debris. The Fluval ceramic prefilter media works very well.
Everone else has pointed out the problems with trickle filters and CO2.
If you're not planning on using CO2, you can use Seachem's Flourish
Excel as a carbon supplement and use the trickle filter.
2) I still have my gravel left over from years ago. If I rinse it well can I
still use it. It is natural pea gravel. and how thick should I make the
layer in a 75? I had a 55 gal before.
Pea gravel is too large for plant roots. You want either a planted tank
substrate like Onyx, Fluorite, or EcoComplete or 2-3 mm or smaller
gravel (down to coarse sand). Someone mentioned potting soil, but I'd
only use an aquatic one like Farfeld's. I've learned from ponders that
peat-based soils can rot underwater. Better than plain gravel but
cheaper than Fluorite is a 1.5" layer of gravel mixed with laterite
clay, and another 1.5" of gravel.
Heating cables are another high-tech addition to a plant tank and Red
Sea is making them fairly inexpensively now. I'd use them if I had a
tank large enough.
3) I have a power compact unit for lighting. Will that do for plants or will
I need to supplement it with an additional light?
Reeftank lighting shold be plenty bright for plants. Switch out your
bulbs to something in a daylight spectrum like 5500-6700K. Actinic
light doesn't help plants much.
4) It has been so long, How long will it take to cycle a 75? Can I cycle
with plants or do I need to add them gradually?
You can totally cycle with plants. I do it all the time. Buy lots of
plants and very few fish. You probably won't even see an ammonia spike.
I typically start out a planted tank with about 50% of the substrate
covered and a few small fish and I've not seen ammonia or nitrite in one
yet. Some folks run planted tanks reeftank style - the "Dutch Aquarium"
and use no filter at all - only water movement. The plants take care of
all the nitrogenous waste. I add additional plants as LFS gets
interesting ones, and only a few fish at a time until the tank is full.
5) I have 4 powerheads. Are they useful in a planted tank? I can hook air to
them to aerate the water.
It's beenpointed out that aeration drives off CO2. Submerged powerheads
are very nice to gently circulate water if heavy plant growth leaves
dead spots in the tank.
6) I have had cichlids in the past and angels. What would be the limit
number or inch of fish in a 75? Or does it determine on how many plants you
have?
Ah, stocking. It seems at first that a planted tank could support more
fish, however the surface area for O2 diffusion is the same. A night
time power failure that leaves the tank reliant on passive 02 diffusion
is what really limits stocking. A standard FW formula is an inch/gallon
but I'd count angelfish as double their length since they're so deep
bodied and such serious piglets. Other good non-digging cichlids for
plant tanks are Bolivian rams (M. altispinosa), Rams (M. ramirezii),
Apistogramma spp., Kribensis (sometimes aggressive), and Keyhole cichlids.
7) Sorry, this may be a stupid question because it has been so long since
freshwater. Do I siphon the gravel with a planted tank or leave it alone
when I do water changes.
With a fine gravel, not much gets too far down into the substrate. Most
leave it alone. I'm the odd woman out here and gently gravel-vac the
top 1/2 inch or so of my planted tank substrates. I find algae grow
slower if I remove excess leafy debris and fish poop from the substrate.
8) I have a RO/DI unit for filtering water. Will it be useful for
freshwater?
Definately. It's clean and nitrate/phosphate free. You'll need to add
some sort of buffer to get to a stable pH and hardness. Kent makes one
called RO Right.
I am sorry this is so many questions and I am sure there will be more. Just
trying to determine if I want to make the switch or not. I even thought of
getting brackish fish but not sure what plants would tolerate salt of course
in low concentrations, not at a marine level.
Not many plants tolerate brakish.
Hope someone can help me or at least point me in the right direction. Maybe
someone else has gone through the same thing that I am thinking of doing.
I am sure many changes and techniques have changed since I was in
freshwater.
Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.
Thank you,
Paulette
--
Elaine T __
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