# Just set up tank, planting questions



## iwentdoodie (Dec 5, 2006)

Hey. Have a 75 gallon tank that I just set up. Substrate is pea gravel, and I'd really rather not change it out at this point (toooo much work.) My filter is the usual (for newbies) hang on the back Bio-Wheel filter. My lighting is from shoplights (160W) for now due to, well, being broke. I plan on upgrading to 220W or more of DIY lighting from AH early next year.

I'm wanting to try a moss wall, but will it work with the HOTB filter and no C02? Also, will I be able to grow swords or any other plants in the tank with a moss wall (if it will work with the filter,) or would the moss be too much with no C02 injection?

Any other plants you can reccomend, or a way to have a nice background without moss?

And in non plant related questions...where the heck can I find large lava rocks? Everything I find is tiny and would look...weird by itself in the tank, which as of now has no focal point whatsoever.

As for fish, I plan on african cichlids, if that matters at all.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Welcome to APC!  

With just over 2wpg you should be able to grow a good variety of plants (CO2 would help a lot...) and swords and moss should be no problem.

I think your main issue is going to be managing plants with African Cichlids. In general they see plants as a salad bar except for a few plant species (Anubias, Vals among them). However a guy named Travis has a superb fully planted tank with Malawi Mbuna Cichlids so you may want to do a search and see how he does it. By the way, while African Cichlids will do ok with pea gravel, they seem much more at home with finer substrate (I use sand). Certain species build nests in the substrate for breeding and other just love to aquascape the bottom to their liking. This is more difficult for them to do with pea gravel.

Another choice for background would be painting the outside of the glass black or blue with acrylic paint or use black/blue poster paper. Black (my preference) is a highly visually effective background.

I look in local landscaping/gardening stores for rocks. You may want to try one of those.


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## iwentdoodie (Dec 5, 2006)

Well, I decided I might as well inject CO2. My pH is fine for the fish I want (8.2-8.4) but I gather most plants don't want it that high. I'm still concerned about the HOB filter with a moss wall, however.

I know the cichlids will munch plants...I'm just hoping I can keep them happy enough for long enough that they won't eat all of them. I'd like to get it planted and everything set before I add the fish, so maybe the plants will have a fighting chance.

No places around here carry large aquarium safe rocks. Then again, I only know of three aquarium safe rocks for sure (lava, limestone (if your pH is lower,) and slate.) If there are any others I'm all ears.


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## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

This probably won't help you in the least bit but the lfs i go to has a huge amount of all sizes of lava rock. if you're on the east coast and anywhere near Pittsburgh, PA. let me know.


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## iwentdoodie (Dec 5, 2006)

cydric said:


> This probably won't help you in the least bit but the lfs i go to has a huge amount of all sizes of lava rock. if you're on the east coast and anywhere near Pittsburgh, PA. let me know.


I wish. Live in Texas.

My LFS has the rock from Feller Stone, but it's not what I'm looking for  They go from that to slate and zebra rock (which are $5/lb) and glass rock ($7/lb.)


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

There's also petrified wood and river stones that I know of which will work in your tank.


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## iwentdoodie (Dec 5, 2006)

Well, my tank just freaked me out.

Last night when I tested, pH was 8.4, nitrites +1ppm, ammonia at 1ppm. 

Tonight, ph was 7.8, nitrites at .5ppm, and ammonia at .25ppm. Tank is 79 degrees.

So..what the hell. Is it finally starting to cycle? I know the bacteria will cause pH to lower, but will it REALLY make that much difference? I even tested twice, at two different points in the tank (one near the filter outlet, one on the opposite.) Nothing changed in the tank except I topped it off (maybe 2.5 gallons.)


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Are there any fish/plants in the tank at the moment? It sounds like the tank is cycling but that won't happen without a source of ammonia (fish or some type of decaying organic matter).

By the way, a tank that's well planted from the beginning doesn't go through a cycle (the plants suck up all the nitrogen compounds)!

And I wouldn't worry about the pH; it'll tend to fluctuate as it does in nature, especially if the tank is cycling.


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## iwentdoodie (Dec 5, 2006)

Nothing in the tank except a PVC pipe covered in rocks for a cave, and two smallish zebra rocks. I added ammonia when I first set the tank up.

No fish or plants yet, as I wanted to wait until it had cycled.


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## Satirica (Feb 13, 2005)

If you are planning on planting the tank, the smartest thing to do a couple of massive water changes to get rid of the ammonia the fill the tank with plants. Planted tanks don't need to be cycled as long as they start out well stocked with plants.


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## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

I see you've got a moss wall and are planning on keeping Africans. I haven't had any luck keeping moss with my Africans (all Malawians). It's not that they eat the moss, but they take perverse pleasure in shredding it and scattering it to the four winds. This may be due to the fact that it harbors small amounts of algae that they are attempting to graze, but in any case, moss has never lasted long in my tank (at least not where I originally planted it ).

I would be very interested to hear how your experience goes


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