# My 150 Planted Caribe Tank



## zomac (Jul 31, 2005)

This is my log to of my 150 gallon planted caribe tank. Hopefully others in similar situations can read this and learn from some of my mistakes and get info for larger tanks with piranha and plants together.

Tank Size: 150 gallons 
Substrate: Lowes Playsand
Lighting: Current USA PowerCompact Orbit Fixtures 
Bulbs: 72" 3x96 (one empty) 10000K White/6700K White
Fish: 6 Caribe, 4 SAE, 2 Flying Fox, 2 Ottos, 1 Pleco
Plants: Dwarf Hair Grass, Java Fern, Water Sprite, Vals, Oriental Sword, Red Rubin Sword, Narrow Leaf Ludwiga
Ferts: Greg Watson Nitrate, Phosphate, Potassium, CSM Mix, Flourish Excel
Filtration: Eheim Pro III, Rio 1400 Powerhead 420 GPH, Internal 24W UV Sterilizer

View attachment 107391


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## killerbee (Aug 18, 2004)

Good Start. Good luck and the caribe's will eventually eat all the others. Mine did when i had them in a 113.

Edit: I have the same UV and it kicks ass


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## zomac (Jul 31, 2005)

Algae: Yes I still have algae and have battled it for a few weeks now. When I first started pluged in my lights I was under the impression that they could run about 10 hrs a day. That changed real fast. After a week of that I had cloudy water and green spot algae on the glass. Also the plants started to grow brown algae on them.

To try to fight this off I dosed more Excel, bought my batch of SAE's that included some Flying Foxes, and turnt the lights to 6 hours. This worked and I had clear water in about 3 days. The SAE's were pumped it up once the water was clear and went to attack on cleaning the plants. I also stopped dosing Potassium as I read this helps to feed the algae as well.

So I though I had it figured out so I did another water change, major pruning, and rearranging of plants. What do you know but the green/cloudy water came back again. I decided to go ahead and purchase the UV Sterilizer to help with the green water. After running it for 2 days my water was crystal clear again.

After cutting off the UV I think it broke down all my Micro's I was dosing. My Vals looked very bad. I have upped the Micro dosing recently and they have been showing alot of improvement. From now on I run the UV after water changes and then I dose the tank once I cut the UV off.


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## zomac (Jul 31, 2005)

killerbee said:


> Good Start. Good luck and the caribe's will eventually eat all the others. Mine did when i had them in a 113.
> 
> Edit: I have the same UV and it kicks ass


Thx. I love the UV also. I move it from tank to tank as needed.

I hope the Caribe are ok. They are very aggressive to each other and I'm sure to lose some. I am hoping to at least get a 3 monster fish out of the shoal.


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## killerbee (Aug 18, 2004)

> zomac Posted Today, 12:46 PM
> Thx. I love the UV also. I move it from tank to tank as needed.
> I hope the Caribe are ok. They are very aggressive to each other and I'm sure to lose some. I am hoping to at least get a 3 monster fish out of the shoal.


I meant the others the flying foxs, ottos, sae's, and the pleco. Caribe are very agressive. Hopefully it works out for you but i just wanted to warn you as i have already been there. If you are attched to the them it would be a good idea to take them out asap. I used to have 5 caribe and 1 red belly and they did fight alot but not one casualty with each other (usual battle nips and bites only). Just make sure you feed them everyday. IME it helped out tremondously. Again, i wish you good luck and can't wait till follow your progress


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

> When I first started pluged in my lights I was under the impression that they could run about 10 hrs a day. That changed real fast. After a week of that I had cloudy water and green spot algae on the glass. Also the plants started to grow brown algae on them.


A normal, healthy photo period is 10-12 hrs. Cloudy water.. Hmm sounds like it could be green water.. it is caused by a spike in ammonia usually.
Green spot algea is best taken care of by manually removing the spots from the glass, pruning all infected leaves, and dosing more phosphates, no matter what the test kit is telling ya.


> I also stopped dosing Potassium as I read this helps to feed the algae as well.


could you post the link where you read that? I have never heard that--would like to read it.


> After running it for 2 days my water was crystal clear again.


works great every time.. but seriously, watch the ammonia spikes. It spikes first, goes back to normal, then the GW comes
hope that helped some


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

Nice tank you got there. But what if you would add a backgound full of plants there. It would surely deepen the outlook.

So you have 280 W in a 150 g. That is a lot of light. Perhaps you need more plants, try big swords.
I do not think that cutting down Potassium is a good idea. It is better to try to balance the nutrients and keep fertilizing. When plants grow fast, the algae will diminish.

Regards,


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## black_piranha (Jan 12, 2006)

i have brown algae on my plants to and i try and wipe em off every once a week. what did u use to get rid of urs?


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## zomac (Jul 31, 2005)

Dipps: Sorry I meant that I reduced the Phosphates. I dont remember where I read that at but I will look for it. I think I overdosed it when I first got it.

Yes I had green water from high ammonia. The UV helped to clear it up. I did found some uneaten shrimp under my driftwood. I now feed, sit on the couch and watch, then remove food. I use to just come back later but I always get busy and forget to make sure they ate all the food.



> Nice tank you got there. But what if you would add a backgound full of plants there. It would surely deepen the outlook.
> 
> So you have 280 W in a 150 g. That is a lot of light. Perhaps you need more plants, try big swords.
> I do not think that cutting down Potassium is a good idea. It is better to try to balance the nutrients and keep fertilizing. When plants grow fast, the algae will diminish.
> ...


Yeah its alot of light. Now that I have everything settled in I plan on getting some more plants soon. Any suggestions of things you guys think may look nice or add to my aquscape. Im really looking for a grassy front, some more color in the middle and back. I plan on adding some more vals soon also.



black_piranha said:


> i have brown algae on my plants to and i try and wipe em off every once a week. what did u use to get rid of urs?


I dont want to talk like I have it all figured out becuase I may be back here next week with more algae again. I trimmed the leaves off that were real bad and my cleanup crew took care of the ones not so bad. I do think that the main thing that got the algae to stop coming back so fast was getting my dose schedule down better. It took awhile to figure out how much of everything to put in the tank. As soon as I ran out of Excel the algae started coming back. Make sure you keep some handy.


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## grounded jay (Jan 9, 2006)

nice tank


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

> Dipps: Sorry I meant that I reduced the Phosphates. I dont remember where I read that at but I will look for it. I think I overdosed it when I first got it.


If you have green spot, it is surely because of a lack of phosphates. I agree that more plants would benefit your tank as well



> As soon as I ran out of Excel the algae started coming back. Make sure you keep some handy.


Pressurized would be easier, and cost less than continually having to buy big bottles of Excell.


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## zomac (Jul 31, 2005)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> nice tank


Thx. I still have a ways to go. I am new to plants and it is a thrill to watch them grow just like the fish. Everybody use to be amazed at the fish I kept but they ask just as many questions about plants now too.


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