# 80 gal planted photo journal, help and advice is welcome!



## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

here is a photo journal of my 80 gal start up, it will be moderate to heavily planted.... not sure if this is the right section to post this.....

i purchased the tank off of a local listings website, got a canopy, stand, tank, giant driftwood, filter, heater and some chemicals all for 200$ great deal if i dont say so myself



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setup:
using rena xp3 canister filter, have a canister heater atatched to the output water, very nice i might add
lighting: i have the coralife large light under the canopy running 4 smaller two side bulbs, 65w 6700 daylight, one bulb has gone out, but i keep it on about 12 hours a day so far ( i know its not the best for algea with high ammonia at first but it has been actually fine so far)
substrate: used playland sand (90lbs) after washing it thoroughly
scenery: few pieces of driftwood, rocks gathered from far up a canyon river near by, black gravel, and river stones all were tested for chemicals before added to the tank, and boiled for a few hours to wash out any tangents...
fish: 2 small bushnose plecos, about 20 feeder goldfish

my tank has been cylcling for 3 weeks, i did not go the fishless route, sorry you fish lovers, i know its sad but i have used feederfish, had one group of about 28 smaller feeder goldfish since their dirty, i over fed them quite a lot and they all died within two weeks, now its my second batch of feeder fish, and only 3 of them have died, the rest left seem healthy and happy and imune to the tank, no fish have died in the last few days



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so now i have added plants, i planted quite a few, i would say about 7 different species and about 15 plants in all together reside in the tank



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my readings after three weeks of cycling with fish and over feeding the tank are:

ph 7.6
ammonia 0.23ppm
nitrite 0
nitrate 10ppm

in the last three weeks i have done 5 water tests they have all been about the same there was a small spike of nitrate but now its lowering, ammonia seems to be dying down a bit, but too slowly

my questions are:

my birthday is on thursday ( 5 days away ) and my girlfriend is planning on taking me to buy my fish, i am planning on some south african chiclids since i will have plants i want some blue german rams, maybe a variety of rams, and some peacocks, but i want my ammonia to be at 0 when i purchase them, im thinking of doing a 35% water change today, adding about 8 gal of my friends established tank water, and dumping almost all my feeder fish, and feeding them lightly until thurs, do you think this will dramatically drop the ammonia?

so far i have only done one water change, my syphon i ordered off amazon took forever!!

my other question is for the planted geeks on here, please help since i have only had 3 tanks before, i attempted a 20 gal planted which ended brutally after i attempted a diy co2 system and algea exploded
i have a lot of plants now, and i plan on buying a co2 canister cystem since my diy last time was horrible i rather spend the money on better results and not ruin my tank, i have put too much time into this already to lose it to algea..... so my question is, i dont have substrate with nutrients, just sand in the bottom of the tank, play sand for children, i figure there has been so much fish crap and food on the bottom it has some nutrients, im using the general flourish liquid ferts once a week but is this all enough with co2 added to have a flourished tank??

thanks for all your help and please provide comments, it is much appreciated!!

stay tuned for more pics soon!!


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

also what kits do you reccomend for a co2 setup, im going for low price but decent quality

thanks!


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

man i like that piece of woood!!!
as far as ammonia issues, i would suggest you get some more plants, egeria densa, willow hygro, other stems that can help suck them crap out of your tank quick =) floaters work too!

as far as co2 goes, i know little to nothing..i got my set ups off craigslist so you might want to try as well... hoep it helps


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

petsmart _pro _lol


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

Ha ha yeah I worked there years ago lol thought it was funny at the time, now I can't change it 

So I know there are mixed feelings about liquid beneficial bacteria, but if I got some tetra smartstart would that affect my plants?


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## backflipfrontflip (Jun 17, 2011)

Cool looking tank!


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

k so its been a few days, here is an update

planted tank as of last week, not many plants, dirty goldfish (found new home for goldfish)



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and here it is as of tonight....



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so i here is the update, added co2



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tweaked the diffuser, got rid of the bumble counter, put on a fluval ceramic diffuser, its made to only treat 20 gal how it comes out of the box, so i got a different constant diffuser....the aquarium enthusiast at the "Aquarium" here locally in utah reccomended it, he has the same simple yeast contraption on his 50 gal, says it fills it quite nicely.... i would have gone pressurized but dont have the cash flow with a baby on the way..... on my next tank i will....



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and here is a sneak peak at the new additions....



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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

im assuming due to not enough nutrients, maybe too much light, i have a type of algea growing.... looks like its just started, can anyone tell me what type this is, and what to do to resolve it?



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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

still a work in progress, had a small party last night with some close friends, and it was the centerpiece of the evening, everyong kept commenting on my hard work and how it accents my condo  gotta love when you feel like you have achieved something like this you slave hours over..... plants are already starting to bloom, i have stems coming out of my java ferns, and this small plant, not sure of the name, its in a potted container, which brings me to my question, is it best to take plants out of their potts, or let them sit in there for a while under the substrate to use beneficial nutrients....



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## Kevin Jones (Apr 4, 2004)

are you using a ceramic diffuser with a yeast-driven CO2 reactor? I can't imagine that working well at all


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

i think you might not be pumping enough co2 -- i'm running 2x 4quart containers (from the dollar store) for a 20g tank. 

not gonna bore you with ppm crap - but it's sufficient for my needs. 

with a tank like yours i'd def run pressurized - you'll have more benefit and it'll save you money in the long run. 

good luck. looks like a lot of hard work.


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

also - cichlids (except rams) are bad for planted tanks - they will dig up your substrate and uproot your plants.


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## Elrodg (Sep 17, 2011)

I have a tank with 12 cichlids and not a single plant uprooted. That's usually only the case when fish are fully mature and if there is a female in the tank.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

i am not running enough co2, algea is still there, and my plants are eating away, but i dont have the time yet to make some more canisters..... maybe this weekend.... but i got rid of my ceramic difuser, i obviously dont have close to enough pressure to use that, so i have a decent airstone, bubbles remain super small and efficient, so far so good, just need more..... i continue to use liquid ferts every day, and am adding a little extra dosage to decrease algea, anyone know a good cheap site to order dry ferts??? and i only have rams, a few different types but i will only be getting plant safe fish  i have learned in the past most chiclids dont do great with plants


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

i buy my ferts from aquariumfertilizer.com - cheap and will last a while too. 

also, straying away from the usual 2L soda bottle - i use huge canisters from the dollar store. looks better and a lot bigger. i have archaea diffusers but it needs a lot of pressure to work --- i use the end of a chopstick for a decent diffuser in my 20G tank. just whip out the dremel and go to work.


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## Elrodg (Sep 17, 2011)

The chopstick method just doesnt put out a fine enough bubble.


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

agree - but without enough working pressure it'll do in my case.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

kinda confused on the chopstick method... lol i dont have a dremel, will it suffice if i just break off the tip and jam it in the end of the hose? does the co2 actually go through the chop stick or does it just create a buble squeezed out of the hose to be small? i found a certain type of airstone that seems to do pretty good... im planning on going to the dollar store and getting some supplies for some co2 fixtures!

thanks for your help nap83, cant wait to see more updated pics of your project!


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

i seem to have trouble when i just "break off" the tip -- it causes me to puncture the stick and always leave a big hole where the bubbles go through.. i dremel them to size and shove it at the end of the tube. i even go as far as putting silicone on certain parts so i could only get one point of output from the diffuser. makes the bubbles really tiny.. not as small as ceramic ones but it'll do the job.


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

petsmartpro said:


> thanks for your help nap83, cant wait to see more updated pics of your project!


it's been 80% planted -- still waiting on one more package to come through, all plants are in transition stage so the pics are nothing to write mom home about.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

UPDATE

so i only have one small container running diy co2 which is pathetic and pretty much worthless for an 80 gal tank... but look at this growth in only about two weeks!!

before:



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after:



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no plants were added except for two floating moss balls, which you can see one in the after pic...

i decided to add two more yeast 2ltr bottles to the mix, just to help maintain until i can afford pressurized which will most likely be next year, i also took out another of my 67k 65 watt bulbs so now im only running 1.6 wpg so should help with my algea....



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i hooked up up to a t valve and planned on runnning them into my intake on my cannister filter (xp3) but i cant get the hose to fit, so i figured just to attach an airstone under the filter, i quickly realized the pressure was much greater then my other small cannister who produces awesome tiny tiny bubbles, so they just force big bubbles through the airstone, i tried another t valve with two airstones in the tank on the end directly from the t valve and got only one airstone with all the pressure creating big bubbles.... so im make shifting a bubble ladder, which i superglued, waiting a full 18 hours for it to cure before i stick it in the tank....

here is one of my lil guys (forgot the species) enjoying some blood worms 



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enjoy, input appreciated, more updates soon!!


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

i used to run my outtake for my co2 in the intake of my xp3 and the burps were unbearable... just a warning. when i switched to eheim, i never got burps for some odd reason... but the xp3 was an annoyance.

looking good either way.

on my old 75G, the easiest solution for me, rather than running 2-3 bottles of 2L soda was one of those big methanol bottles they throw away from the hospital. looked a lot neater for a tank your size. now my sister in law got it for me since she works as a scientist there but she told me that it's all dumped at the recycling bin --- just had to boil them well before use of course.










holds pressure well too.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

thanks nap, i always appreciate your input, cant wait for your update on your tank, love the clean organized style you have, my next tank will be similar style to yours, this one was put together very quickly on a small small budget so its "messy" for now until i can afford to clean it up....

i still have a little brown algea, eating away at the leaves, i took out another one of my 67k bulbs, now im running 1.6 wpg which should slow down the algea, especially with this co2 added, but if you check another one of my threads, im having issues with my co2, it was too much pressure for an airstone and not quite enough for a ceramic diffusor so i glued the tip of an airstone intake to a ladder for the co2 to climb, but i quickly noticed the bubbles are large and jump the ladder quickly to rise to the top of the tank.... so do you have a diffuser, maybe glass, cheaper, that you would reccomend??


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

oh and those methanol bottles look like they would work great, my mom works at a local hospital, i'll have to see if she can get her hands on some...


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## nap83 (Feb 7, 2006)

i'm on the same boat as you - i'm having algae problems since i was not home and my diy co2 failed... on a new tank, it hit me with a curb ball... 3 days is a long time for high light and no co2 on a transitioning tank  

updated pics soon when i get everything settled in. good luck with yours.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

yikes thats not good, luckily it was only three days but still..... yeah my algea is starting to go away, still a work in progress running low light for now until i can get my co2 figured out, look forward to the pics!


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## gladiator008 (Oct 11, 2011)

I have the same cannister kit but I had the Bubbler in the tank it didnt work// or i didnt see any dramatic results... *Kevin JOnes* may i ask what you are using???


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

well i just ordered some limewood diffusers for the co2, i was using lee's fine sandstone for the diffuser but only one large buble would come out extremely fast, it wouldnt disperse small bubbles so i hope the limewood will work better so now that i hopefully have my diy co2 solved for now until i can get pressurized

anyone know a good cheap online site to order dry ferts, and what to order? nap what would you reccomend bud?


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## gladiator008 (Oct 11, 2011)

PetsmartPro what is in the soda bottles you have set up and how is it fixed to release in your tank...


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

i have 2 cups sugar 1/4 teaspoon yeast, filled with 75% water, its setup through a t valve both connecting through one tube to a hagen ladder for now, just ordered limewood stones, hopefully that will work better then the classic airstone who just bled out huge single bubbles at a time..... the hagen lader doesnt work too well big bubbles just fly up the ladder and go to the surface without diffusing


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

thought i'd share a few pics of my algea, any identification?? i think its just new tank algea, but i noticed as i reduced my lighting to around 1 wpg it died down.....



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here it is building up on my floating moss ball



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i thought moss balls prevented algea? ha

and here are the size of my bubbles on my co2 ladder, too big i believe all their good for is to disrupt the surface of my water, so i ordered limewood stones hopefully those will work with two 2 ltrs hooked up to t valve, reg airstones it was too much pressure for and they would just bleed out large bubbles



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## Elrodg (Sep 17, 2011)

petsmartpro said:


> thought i'd share a few pics of my algea, any identification?? i think its just new tank algea, but i noticed as i reduced my lighting to around 1 wpg it died down.....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


[/QUOTE]

You will have a problem with them unless
You replace them every three weeks. They develop yeast colony's very quickly. 
I switched to an airstone inside an old gravel vac connected to my cheapo powerhead.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

yeah already ordered a limewood airstone..... should be here any day


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

update

so i decided to move the plants around a bit, space them out, give them more of a change to grow. im planning a new aquascape next weekend, buy some substrate, maybe some forground plants, what do ya'll reccomend??

today i did some upgrades on the tank, added root tabs, checkvalves on all my tubes for diyc02, superglued some java fern strands to some smaller driftwood peices




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then i replaced my hagen co2 ladder with a limewood sandstone which isnt really bubbling quite yet like i want it to



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here is the overall tank of what it looks like now, remember its not scaped yet, not fully, not happy with it at all for right now just letting the plants fill in a little more until i scape, im thinking of giving it a left focal point, relocating the large driftwood in the middle to the left side, which will be a pain, its massive, weights like 60 lbs and relocating most all plants to the left side.....



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here is the left side closer up



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right side



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side of the tank



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random pleco shot 


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

So even tho I turned the lights down algea still spreads, any identification? Cause, fix?







weird black fuzz on driftwood...

Brown hair "pubey" algea










So I added a few new members to the community, some peacocks bumblebee gobies and of course discuss










Here is tank as of now, I have DIY yeast co2 but only three 2 ltr bottles so I started adding liquid co2 but how much is necessary with the yeast pumping? All of my amano shrimp died and the two dragonblood peacocks died, I'm assuming it's because of the heat, turned it to 81 f degrees for discuss but could it be the added flourish excel or liq co2??


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

Bump* help please??


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

two of my buddies 



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recent pic, before trim, 80 gal diy two 2ltr co2, ferts dosed every other day, root tabs, ect, running about 2 wpg right now for growth 7 hours daily....
picture is kind of from the side, that way i could fit the entire tank in one shot, hard to see all the plants, looks much heavier planted in person..



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## Green Thumb Aquatics (Jan 1, 2012)

the black algae on the wood is usually from too high of light for the amount of CO2, excell or glut dosing will help, but will not completely cure it.. you need to go pressurized or run more bottles, you need to switch out one at least every week, and run one to the ladder as they work great for yeast style CO2 and run the others to the intake if you are running a canister filter..

also, reason your fish/shrimp died.. are you running airstones at night, if not you should, CO2 is not ment to be run at night, when plants actually use oxygen rather than CO2, this will make the CO2 in the water more toxic to the fish, the airstones cause surface aggitation will help to release the CO2..

setup a timer and run the air right when lights go off, till about 2 hours before they turn on to let the CO2 build up again

the brown "pubey" algae looks like its from low flow, try to position your filter output to get a good circulation, and maybe throw in a powerhead, which also can be used as a CO2 reactor... you could have one of each of the bottles going to a different source, from a guy who ran a 75 gallon with about 4WPG for months on DIY yeast style, that is def way to go.. IMO you should be running more like 5 bottles of yeast and change out 2 every week, I was running 6 for the most part on mine.. now I am pressurized on most of my tanks and would not have it any other way..


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

thank you green thumb, i have gained much more knowledge since then

here is a much needed update tank use to look weak without the co2 all my tears died, along with some of my fish, i recently lost both discus, and now im starting the tank back up

this time correctly, i added pressurized co2, im running about 3bps to 4bps with low surface agitation, and my results are pretty good, plants took off, im dosing a little bit of ferts during the week, but not much due to lack of funds, but im still not seeing the pearling like i want to.... here is an update

added pressure!! here is my diffusor into my intake









Shot at 2012-05-29

before my co2









Shot at 2012-05-29

and after.... like magic baby









Shot at 2012-05-29

i believe its just java moss, not quite sure, but i have this annoying plant that hooks on to it and grows like crazy, does anyone know what that is? i think it may be duck weed, how do i get it off? every time i pull it off it comes back fast!

here are current tank shots









Shot at 2012-05-29








Shot at 2012-05-29








Shot at 2012-05-29

my amazon has gotten huge!! look at the stems branching off, taking over my whole 90 gal









Shot at 2012-05-29








Shot at 2012-05-29

random








Shot at 2012-05-29


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

my huge amazon has a runner who started out small and two days later BLAM! its huge!! taking over whole tank, how do i cut this correctly??









By cakenutz at 2012-06-09


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