# Well I have started it finally



## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Nothing special-But figured I should keep alittle record of my setup here-Here is where I am at in my first planted tank-

Old setup-









Flourite being put in-









Water put in-Whoops-Should have done a better job dumbass-









Now I have a diy reactor/diffuser-whatever it's called-Would one be better off to just buy one new-Or no?









I'll be adding more pics monday too-Thanks for looking-


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

cool man. looks good so far. you could have put some bioballs in your DIY reactor and it probably would help dissolve the CO2 better. what's your plan with the hardscape, plants, etc.?


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## RAZ31 (Jan 9, 2007)

AK I have flourite in my tank also. It took 3 days for water to clear w/2 ac500`s and 1 mag 350 full of floss. Plus I washed the hell out of the stuff.
The fiters would clog in 30 min.(mag clogs that fast anyway) .Good luck bro keep the pics coming


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Genin said:


> AK I have flourite in my tank also. It took 3 days for water to clear w/2 ac500`s and 1 mag 350 full of floss. Plus I washed the hell out of the stuff.
> The fiters would clog in 30 min.(mag clogs that fast anyway) .Good luck bro keep the pics coming


Thanks Sir for the info- These pics were when I first got it going-The filtration has been changed-But not to it's full potential right now-Once this sh*t clears-I will put on a killer filtration system on it-But I dont want to use them to clear this crap out-i got alot of manual labor to do this sunday on this tank to get it prepared for the plants arriving monday-But I finally got off the dead ass and got it going-


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## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

hardscape is like the driftwood and rocks. flourite is a PITA no matter how many times you wash it. looks good tho and with the shallow tank you can save on lighting. goodluck with the tank


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

welsher7 said:


> hardscape is like the driftwood and rocks. flourite is a PITA no matter how many times you wash it. looks good tho and with the shallow tank you can save on lighting. goodluck with the tank


Well no real drift wood will go in there-The piece I have is way to big to even begin to fit into their-But I will be placing a few pieces a fake in there-Dont really have n eother idea's other than that-

Lighting will be a nova extreme t5 setup-Running four 54 watt bulbs-


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

AKS,
flourite is supposedly a very good substrate so you should be fine once your plants start growing but like they have said flourite is supposedly really dusty. What I did with my planted substrate which slightly clouded my tank was put foam around the intakes of a couple of maxijet powerheads and placed them in the tank. within 12 hours it was crystal clear, no water changes needed. give that a try.

on a side note, why not use real driftwood. the plants will grow better onto it than plastic and real always looks.... well, more real.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Genin said:


> AKS,
> flourite is supposedly a very good substrate so you should be fine once your plants start growing but like they have said flourite is supposedly really dusty. What I did with my planted substrate which slightly clouded my tank was put foam around the intakes of a couple of maxijet powerheads and placed them in the tank. within 12 hours it was crystal clear, no water changes needed. give that a try.
> 
> on a side note, why not use real driftwood. the plants will grow better onto it than plastic and real always looks.... well, more real.


I will have to give that a try sir-Thanks for the suggestion-I have been told it's decent-But dont have experience with ne of it-

I should have it all in order by monday-Hopefully-

And the only reason I'm not useing real driftwood is because it's too damn expeensive up here-I refuse to pay thier prices- If i knew where to order real then I would but I dont-

I have one piece of driftwood that came with my newer 90 gal but's it's too big for the 33 gal-And I really dont want to break it up-It will make for a damn nice piece when I get the other 90 gal up and running!!!


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

have you tried online sources, like bigals or dr.fosters and smith? my favorite is to post in the classifieds, i bet someone has extra driftwood to get rid of.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Genin said:


> have you tried online sources, like bigals or dr.fosters and smith? my favorite is to post in the classifieds, i bet someone has extra driftwood to get rid of.


LOL-Yeah I have looked-Can't tell whats real and what isn't though-

I may just have to due that-But I could only imagine trying to send that heavy sh*t up to hear-Who knows I may just do this as a last resort though-


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## reefteach (Sep 26, 2004)

I like the pictures. Thanks.
Keep us updated.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

reefteach said:


> I like the pictures. Thanks.
> Keep us updated.


Thanks Sir-I shall be posting pics in acouple days-

On another note-How does one find out how many watts per gallon he is running?


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## reefteach (Sep 26, 2004)

reefteach said:


> I like the pictures. Thanks.
> Keep us updated.


You mean like : ( watts of lighting over the aquarium) / (gallons of water in the aquarium)=WPG

a 100 gallon running 200 watts = 2 WPG


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Like-A 33 gal long-running four 54 watt bulbs


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Does the light fixture fit perfectly over the top of the tank? Can I see a pic of your setup, and your lights? 
You would be running 6.5wpg over that tank with 4 54w PC bulbs. That's quite a lot. My tank has 3wpg. Prepare to add lots of ferts and CO2 to keep up with the light. I suggest having tons of plants in the tank from the start. For sure


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Does the light fixture fit perfectly over the top of the tank? Can I see a pic of your setup, and your lights?
> You would be running 6.5wpg over that tank with 4 54w PC bulbs. That's quite a lot. My tank has 3wpg. Prepare to add lots of ferts and CO2 to keep up with the light. I suggest having tons of plants in the tank from the start. For sure


Sure thing-I will upload them after I get to work today-Give me a couple hours and you shall have pics sir-


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

yeah 6.5wpg is hardcore. If possible with your light fixture, You should set it up so that most of the day you are only powering half the light. then you can have a burst peirod where the full wattage is going in.

aside from lighting details yeah things are looking to come toghether.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

BlackSunshine said:


> yeah 6.5wpg is hardcore. If possible with your light fixture, You should set it up so that most of the day you are only powering half the light. then you can have a burst peirod where the full wattage is going in.
> 
> aside from lighting details yeah things are looking to come toghether.


HEHE-Love the Avatar sir-









Yeah I guess it's a bit much-I might try that if I get my ass into a pickle here!!!! But I guess once I get everything figured out-It shouldn't be that hard-Just going to be a slow process for me-thats all-


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Here ya go sir-Certainly not the greatest pics-But you can get the idea n ehow-
Sorry about the mess-I'm redoing all kinds of tanks at the moment-

















Certainly not the way this is going to stay-i will sort everything out tomarrow and replant everything-Just had to throw them somewhere for now-


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

On another note as well-I just ordered the whole line up of Flourish as well-Everything they have to offer-Plus some other goodies as well-I'll have pics as soon as the order arrives-


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Cool, cool. Is that really a 33 gallon? looks huge in the pic, like a 75


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Cool, cool. Is that really a 33 gallon? looks huge in the pic, like a 75


Yep it is sir-33 gal long-Same as a 55 gal-Just not as tall-

Another ? for some one-

I have alot of dust still tryin to settle-I now it's not good for the plants-But I have an ac 402 to keep things moveing-So hopefully it wont destroy my plants-Is there ne thing else I can do to help this sh*t settle?

He he sorry dippy Sir-You are probably talkin about my 90 gal in the background their-That will be my reef tank that I will be settin up in the next couple weeks-


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Disturb the gravel bed as little as possible, do water changes, keep filter clean. That is all that will help it. --besides rubbing or knocking it off








You will always have tons of dust in the gravel. I have a sludge layer on top of my substrate, in places I can't really get to lol

I suggest getting that CO2 pounding, (30-45ppm) and make sure you are always @ .5-2 ppm phosphate, and 10-25ppm nitrate ASAP. If you are @ or near .5ppm phosphate, and 10ppm nitrate, add some. You won't believe how fast plants will take it up, ESPECIALLY in 6.5wpg.
If any of that Heteranthera zosterifolia made it, it is a great indicator plant for low iron. The leaves will be white looking, and in a few days it will start to turn black.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Disturb the gravel bed as little as possible, do water changes, keep filter clean. That is all that will help it. --besides rubbing or knocking it off
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Alright-So does this mean once it has settled that I wont beable to do normal gravel vacs-Or do I just go ahead and do"lite" maintence-

Alright so It's all about time right now-Just gotta let it do it's thing-Gotcha-On another note i will be hooking up that ehiem tomarrow as well-So that should kick that dust in the ass-I believe i will also put on a mag 350 to polish up that water too-
Co2 will be also getting setup tomarrow-The best i can ne how-I'm sure their is going to be some f*ck up's here and there until I get this figured out-

Stupid ? here-The (30-45ppm) you talk about-How do I set that up exactly-Is this where that little bubble counter comes into play?

I got the rest-Just have to keep up with testing my water params-Not too sure on what plant that is sir-Still need to do some major research on that department-Some of the plants made it just fine-And a few I couldn't make heads or tails out of-LOL But not many went to waste at all-I just need to get it all planted into the right spots tomarrow also-


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## Apott05 (Jul 19, 2005)

good luck man. im excited to see how it turns out. Could this possible be your first tank ever with a more natural looking gravel? You should grow plants with your famouse blue green and yeller mixture. haha. anyways have fun with that.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Apott05 said:


> good luck man. im excited to see how it turns out. Could this possible be your first tank ever with a more natural looking gravel? You should grow plants with your famouse blue green and yeller mixture. haha. anyways have fun with that.


Funny thing being is that pic of the gold on that gravel-Shows better coloration than ne one elses gold mac-I'll keep it-If it makes my fish look that damn good-How could one complain-

Yes this is my first setup with a more natural gavel-And honestly I dont like the way it looks either-

Thanks for the kind words-


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

No gravel vacs in a planted tank, just the stuff that is on top of the gravel gets vac'ed out. 
CO2 ppm in your tank can be determined by reading your pH with your KH. Here is a chart to find out what yours is. I'm going to guess and say that a pH of 6.3-6.4 will be about right for your tank.

You can pm me or something about plant names, and placements. I'd be happy to help


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> No gravel vacs in a planted tank, just the stuff that is on top of the gravel gets vac'ed out.
> CO2 ppm in your tank can be determined by reading your pH with your KH. Here is a chart to find out what yours is. I'm going to guess and say that a pH of 6.3-6.4 will be about right for your tank.
> 
> You can pm me or something about plant names, and placements. I'd be happy to help


Yeah I was wonderring about them-Glad i asked-LMFAO-I would have screwed that up-Thansk for that link-I'll have to check it out after I get home-That actually helped out alot-Greatly appreciated man-

I will most likely take you up on that Sir-I dont think it's going to be an easy task getting these planted-Names-Yeah I'm just horrible at them-Guess I better get use to them-


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Ya, apart from kicking up tons of dirt and debris, gravel vacing in a planted tank can cause an ammonia spike that can cause free floating algea to grow. That is better known as the infamous and dreaded green water lol


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Ya, apart from kicking up tons of dirt and debris, gravel vacing in a planted tank can cause an ammonia spike that can cause free floating algea to grow. That is better known as the infamous and dreaded green water lol


I got a 9 watt uv steralizer I could add to this setup as well-Would this benefit me Dippy?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Heck ya.. Problem solved


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Heck ya.. Problem solved


Kewl-









Greatly appreciate your help-Along with everyone else that is going to make this happen for me-This will not go unoticed at all-


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

How's it going, AK?


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

yea hows it going ak?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

slowly but surely guys-Problems at the begining-Due to some dry rotted air line hose-Nightmare figuring out how to setup the regulator-But got it under control-


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)




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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

are you useing silecone for your CO2 lines?


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

BlackSunshine said:


> are you useing silecone for your CO2 lines?


Say what sir?

Silecone? I have no clue if the line used is a sileconed base or not-


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

dont use silicone tubing..the worse tubing to use for co2

make sure you use polyurethane


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

SNAKEBITE said:


> dont use silicone tubing..the worse tubing to use for co2
> 
> make sure you use polyurethane


LOL-It's green if that helps-


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

is it kind of light green-blueish(clear light green) looking? if so i believe thats silicone

you should be able to get some polyurethane tubing between i dont know $0.50 to $0.70 cents a ft.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

SNAKEBITE said:


> is it kind of light green-blueish(clear light green) looking? if so i believe thats silicone
> 
> you should be able to get some polyurethane tubing between i dont know $0.50 to $0.70 cents a ft.


Yeah it is-Just remember as well-I cant touch your prices-I would love to get it for that-but I will check into it soon-


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

post some pics darnit!


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Genin said:


> post some pics darnit!


In due time sir-I'm still battleing a cloudy tank right now-


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## TFMBIGDOG99 (Mar 19, 2006)

Fight AK, and if you got a Diatom Filter laying around, thats a quick fix.


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## SNAKEBITE (Oct 7, 2006)

hows it going ak?


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

hopefully the cloudiness will go away throughout time


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

I hope you didn't throw in the towel on this one AK. Give us an update.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

AKSkirmish said:


> is it kind of light green-blueish(clear light green) looking? if so i believe thats silicone
> 
> you should be able to get some polyurethane tubing between i dont know $0.50 to $0.70 cents a ft.


Yeah it is-Just remember as well-I cant touch your prices-I would love to get it for that-but I will check into it soon-
[/quote]

PM me. its taken care of.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

UV filter or diatom filter will do the job with the cloudy water in a few days or so


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Little problems going on-Nothing major-

Greatly appreciated BS-But i have since then gotten it tooken care of-

I had a problem with my regulator-But I have gotten that fixe as well-So in the mean time I have lost most of the plants that was sent to me-But have some survivors left-Had to rip most of the tank apart due to my sic "horned mac"-Almost lost him-So he is now in this tank with no lights on-And it causeing my tank to go downhill fast-But once my mac heals up-I fully intend on getting it set back up right and haveing a go at it again-Just trying to save whats left of the tank for now-


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

geeze AK, that's too bad that all that stuff went wrong. good luck getting it started back up after the Mac is better.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

I have limited my plants down, but at trimming time, I have so much to get rid of still.. LMK ok?


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