# 55 Gallon: Third Time's a Charm



## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Hi guys, this will be my third aquarium with a soil underlayer. After battling algae problems for months due to nutrient imbalance and too much light, I decided to tear the tank down and swap out the dual T5-HO to a single and do things a little differently. I got a 1x54W HagenGlo, and am using an AC70 as filtration (might need to get a powerhead).

*Flora:*
Cryptocoryne, Retrospiralis (Cryptocoryne retrospiralis)
Cryptocoryne, Undulatus (Cryptocoryne undulatus)
Cryptocoryne, Wendtii, Red (Cryptocoryne wendtii)
Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum)
Rotala Indica (Rotala roundifolia)
Sagittaria, Dwarf Subulata (Sagittaria subulata)(10 plants per order)
Sword, Amazon (Echinorodus bleheri) Pot Medium
Water Sprite(Ceratopteris thalictroides)

I set it up yesterday. Here it is:










Not sure how I feel about the Spiralis...Dwarf Sag came a little tall, but once it starts running and sprouting new leaves I'm going to pluck the longer ones. Excuse the rock weighing my DW down.


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

What's up guys? Was away from my apartment for two days and was very pleased to see even more growth when I came back.

Has anyone noticed that uploading to Photobucket decreases the quality of your original photos? It's kind of annoying, but maybe I'm imagining things...

FTS...Please notice how big my Sword got on the left, will definitely have to move it soon; also a new leaf is budding out of that shoot, should have gotten a better picture of it:










New Dwarf Sag popping up (one of several):










New leaves on Crypt Undulata (on bottom):










Hornwort engulfed in algae:










How long do you think I should keep this in my tank? It's been two weeks, highly unsightly...

Duckweed, will have to keep an eye on it:










The four Pristella Tetra's that I bought on Thursday, loving them:










Right side of tank:










Thanks for viewing. I'm very happy with the way things are coming along.


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## cojack22 (Nov 20, 2009)

Looks great!


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## markhem (Feb 16, 2012)

Your tank looks great. I can see your growth is not a problem. I'm a noob, having a similar experience with my Amazon in low light 20 gallon soil based tank; its getting too big for its positioning. 

I'm planning on setting up a 55 gallon in pretty much the same way as you have. Soil based with, AC110 and T5. Do you know how many lumens your 1x54W HagenGlo puts out?

I was also wondering if you supplement with fertilizer tabs in the substrate? I made some Osmocote-clay-balls (Steve Pushak style), which seems to be working out. Just started my 20 gallon a month, and just starting to do EI.

My Pristellas have been very tolerant to all my mucking around in the substrate, moving plants and clouding up the water.

Thanks for any info you may have, especially the lumens.


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks for the words. I'll have to get back to you on the lumens, I'm not at my apartment until Sunday so I'll check the box then. Maybe you can find it online? I think the AC110 is a better choice than my 70. I can already see that I most likely need more adequate water circulation. 

As for fert tabs, nothing, not even Flourish dosings. Clay is a good choice.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Your tank is coming along very well! 

I'd keep the hortwort another few weeks just to be safe until the biomass of your other plants increases enough. That won't take long at the rate they are growing now.


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## markhem (Feb 16, 2012)

What I'm really looking for is real world LSI info for a 55 gallon tank. I have a used fixture I'll be using when I set up my own, not sure of the brand, that takes 2 48" T5 bulbs. I looked for the info on your lights from Hagen, but they have a number of similar lights and I couldn't be sure of the rating. So, I thought I'd ask you about your LSI and how its working.


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

After a water change. Moved the sword, as you can see. Did a pretty big algae clean up and left the filter intake out of the shot. My soil seems to be anaerobic in spots, as bubbles make their way out of it every now and then. Despite this, I don't smell anything sulfur-like, so I doubt it's too bad...on my old 10 gallon the sulfur smell was pretty bad from my substrate. I'm happy with the way things are working out in this tank, with the exception of the algae; the rock weighing down my wood is also extremely irritating, and I can't wait to pull it out (probably going to be another month, I'd say).


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## markhem (Feb 16, 2012)

Your Amazon looks much better tucked into the wood like that, and your plants are looking healthy too.


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks, Mark. I'm liking the Amazon over there as well.


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## BRUCE BOGMAN (Nov 9, 2006)

Look very nice . What is the cap you are using for the soil ?I really like it .Type and name please of cap..


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Quikrete All-Purpose Sand. If you get it, make sure you rinse it very, very well. This time around I didn't rinse enough and it's taking a really long time for the brown soot to come out. When rinsed well it should look like this:









I absolutely love it, perfect grain size.


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## BRUCE BOGMAN (Nov 9, 2006)

Marconis said:


> Quikrete All-Purpose Sand. If you get it, make sure you rinse it very, very well. This time around I didn't rinse enough and it's taking a really long time for the brown soot to come out. When rinsed well it should look like this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks, looks great and cheap too .How much did you use ?Also how much of a cap did it make? i was going to use black sand but after seeing a pic up close of yours i changed my mine.It looks more natural.Did you add anything to the soil or the bottom of tank before soil added ?Thanks


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

BRUCE BOGMAN said:


> Thanks, looks great and cheap too .How much did you use ?Also how much of a cap did it make? i was going to use black sand but after seeing a pic up close of yours i changed my mine.It looks more natural.Did you add anything to the soil or the bottom of tank before soil added ?Thanks


Yeah, I think it was like, $3.50 for 50lbs. I only used about 25lbs, and my cap is about 1.5" all around, maybe less. I didn't add anything to my soil...was going to add clay, but just went with the soil alone. I think my lack of rinsing adequately is preventing proper aeration of the soil, because I've been seeing more gas bubbles coming up than I did when I first used the sand (doesn't smell yet so I'm sure it isn't too bad down there). However, like I said, rinse, rinse, rinse...use a mask when you rinse it, too, because there is a lot of dust. It honestly is my favorite sand, because the grain size is literally perfect.


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Also, here's some shots from today:




























Never seen my Rotala grow like this:


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## BRUCE BOGMAN (Nov 9, 2006)

WOW .that is growing nice.That is some nice growth,growing in nice.Sword perfect there.


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Sorry if I am boring you guys, but I like taking photos of my tank. As you can see here, I removed hornwort from the right side, but left it on the left side. You can also see that there is no longer any algae on the hornwort either, which is good. Overall, algae has subsided immensely. I tried taking the rock off of the driftwood, but it still floats a bit...however, it is able to stay down with a lighter rock. Maybe another month of that and I should be good to go. I also pulled up that Rotala to try and get it to grow upwards, but I have a feeling the roots that I took out will just find their way back down to the substrate. This photo was taken after a PWC tonight:


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Hey, I don't have any pictures, but my water sprite is yellowing in a lot of places all of a sudden. I was away for four days and I also had to pluck four yellow leaves from the bottom of my Amazon sword. Any idea of why this may happen so suddenly? It's worrying me.

Thanks


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Got some pics, this was the best I can do:


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## Marconis (Mar 17, 2011)

Been a while...Have been dosing Cidex diluted to ~1.8% Glut, and KNO3 2-3 times per week to bring the green back to my plants and help curb algae. On Thursday I raised my light an inch and have already seen improvements.


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Looking very nice!


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