Oz's 50 Gallon Planted Tank Journal

[Oscarsx]

Hello simply members, I've always been a planted tank guy.. when I got introduced to discus, I sold most of my equipment for planted tanks and got my self some fish... I started to miss my old hobby and decided to give it another shot.. I've been collecting small pieces of equipment here and there, and I'm almost complete.

I wanted to share my experience with you guys here on simply, It also helps me keep track of my progression hehe.:D

TANK:
50 Gallon TALL (36x15x22) w/ black stand

SUBSTRATE
I'm using POOL FILTER STAND as my substrate, also using root tabs to provide my plants with nutrients.
LIGHTING

48 inch Oddysea 260watt fixture. ( 9 hour photoperiod)

x2 6.5k bulbs
x2 10k bulbs

Filtration

Magnum 350 external canister filter (rated @ 100g)

Co2 Injection

I will be going pressurized, I purchased a aquatek regulator w/ electric solenoid and needle valve, Will be getting my cylinder this weekend

Dry Fertilizer Nutrients .

I will be dosing trace elements, with potassium and No4 to my tank, this should keep my plants good and healthy. I dose using the EI CHART, root tabs will be added to heavy rooters.




For now I don't have much to show, I set up my lights, substrate & filter system.. Once my Co2 gets up and going I will be adding the Ferts and a ton of plants, I'll keep you guys updated.

http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/pubupu4u.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-10-15_20-50-24_626.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-10-15_20-50-34_576.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-10-15_20-50-46_797.jpg

[Trier20]

Good luck!

[senior el roboto]

Good luck!
+1

[Oscarsx]

My drop checker came in today, I just finished setting it up
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-10-20_12-44-10_325.jpg

Also my cylinder came in today, It's a 2.5 gallon...
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-10-20_12-44-26_563.jpg


Waiting on some plants I ordered from a few members over @ planted tank.. Will update with plant pics soon! :)

[matt56]

Looks good so far. Need to get ideas on aquascaping for my angel tank ill be doing soon so definitely subscribing. Best of luck!

[damba]

Any idea what fish you will keep with the plants? I think Id go for some Corydras gossei, cardinals and a pair of Apistogramma panduro or trifasciatus.

I live in Eastbourne - the sunniest place in Britain. That isn't really saying much...
Coffee please - black and strong in pint mugs, for best results at least 6 a day.

[Oscarsx]

Looks good so far. Need to get ideas on aquascaping for my angel tank ill be doing soon so definitely subscribing. Best of luck!

Thank you Matt.


Any idea what fish you will keep with the plants? I think Id go for some Corydras gossei, cardinals and a pair of Apistogramma panduro or trifasciatus.

I live in Eastbourne - the sunniest place in Britain. That isn't really saying much...
Coffee please - black and strong in pint mugs, for best results at least 6 a day.

I'm getting about 15-20 cardinals, 6 sterbai and some assassin snails.. This 50 gallon is my grow out tank for ALL my plants, once It gets dense enough Ill be setting up my 120g and transferring everything over :)

[Oscarsx]

Picked this piece up for $13 bucks from my LFS
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/23/2u2e8a8a.jpg


Tied some java fern & some anubia (Will be ordering more and filling up the driftwood)
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/23/a8uvy4u3.jpg
- oz

[matt56]

Wow that wood is sweet and fits the tank nicely, not too big but not too small. Really nice center piece. What kinda plants you planning on going for?

[Oscarsx]

Thank you Matt, I have some dwarf swag, crpyt wendiiti and leopard val coming in, still on the search for a ton more plants tho :)

Going to use this tank as my grow out for all my plants, hopefully by the time my grow out discus project finishes I can throw both fish and plants Into my 120g

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Finally got some plants from TPT members, I did a small scape.... still planning on moving some plants until I get that "accomplished" feeling....

Going to order a few more plants and now I can finally just relax and watch my plants grow lol...

Since I have high tech set up, my plants will be growing like weeds and my tank will get filled in very quick.

http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-10-25_18-30-44_315.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-10-25_18-31-00_45.jpg

[matt56]

When that dwarf sag grows in thats gonna be a sweet carpet. Im debating wether or not to carpet my 55 with dwarf baby tears or dwarf sag, or maybe both whenever i get the chance to move the discus.

edit: whoa just noticed the angels LOL, thats gonna be awesome when you fill it in with more plants, love angels and plants.

[Oscarsx]

When that dwarf sag grows in thats gonna be a sweet carpet. Im debating wether or not to carpet my 55 with dwarf baby tears or dwarf sag, or maybe both whenever i get the chance to move the discus.

edit: whoa just noticed the angels LOL, thats gonna be awesome when you fill it in with more plants, love angels and plants.

I can't wait until my dwarf swag starts to take over my tank ^^.
Some old plants are melting and new ones coming in. Not much of an update but just to show my new rescape.

Moved all plants to the left of the tank and ordering some rotala of all kinds and a tiger lotus... (my wife's fav plant)

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Few pics
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/28/anuruby4.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/28/rudabanu.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/28/me8usazy.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/28/aty4yzab.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/28/ezy6esa6.jpg

- oz

[camuth8]

That tank looks great. I can't wait to see it finished. :)

[MKD]

Looking good Oz. i assume you hace T5 lights, are you turning all 4 on the same time or 2 at the time? i think 4 @ the time is way too much lightunless you hang it high above water. good luck and cant wait to see update pics.

[Oscarsx]

Looking good Oz. i assume you hace T5 lights, are you turning all 4 on the same time or 2 at the time? i think 4 @ the time is way too much lightunless you hang it high above water. good luck and cant wait to see update pics.

Thank you both, yesir all 4 lights are turned on for 9 hours a day. It's about 28 inches above substrate. I'm getting high light, but then I have my co2 and Ferts to go with that. ;)

- oz

[Oscarsx]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/07/ypypane4.jpgNothing much going on, haven't gotten around to buy more plants, this Monday I should receive a nice plant package

Plants are growing like weeds, new growth everywhere. I have runners coming from my dwarf swag and new stems from my wisteria, I should double in plants in a few weeks. Few pics
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/07/9unypaqy.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/07/eqagyqur.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/07/azame5ut.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/07/a5u2y5u6.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/07/7upyha8a.jpg

- oz

[Elyse]

Hey Oscarsx,

That's an awesome CO2 setup! If you don't mind me asking; Where did you purchase the system and how much did it cost?

Thanks,
Elyse

[Oscarsx]

Hi elyse,

Co2 regulator with solenoid and needle valve = 55 plus shipping (used from planted forums)
2.5 co2 cylinder off Craigslist = $35
Diy co2 reactor = $15

100 + 20 for misc things that I needed like drop checkers, 4dkh fluid etc.


And I believe this cylinder should last me around 4 months, refill should be around $10.


- oz

[Oscarsx]

Just remember all my equipment is used, brand new I would been in the $200+ range.

- oz

[Elyse]

Used? Wow! Good Finds! =D

[Oscarsx]

Did some trimmings over the weekend, I doubled in dwarf swag, cut the runners and planted them on the right side..

Also my water wisteria was finally coming in the submerged form, so I cut the stem and re planted with about 3 new stems.

Will be getting more plants this up coming weekend hopefully, few pics enjoy.
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-11-11_16-49-43_201.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-11-11_16-50-00_898.jpg

[bonginator]

I am very curious to see how the pool filter sand works for you. I have a few low light plants in one discus/community tank I have but no CO2. I have been feeding them with a wet fertilizer after water changes. The growth isn't great so I can't wait to see your progress. Nice looking piece of wood! Fits the tank perfectly.

[Oscarsx]

Wet fertilizer as in liquid form? The only downside of using pool filter sand is the fact that it does not have ANY nutrients for your plants, I use root tabs to provide nutrients to my heavy routers, all my crypts, and sags are growing very healthy.. Of course they all have tabs under them, without I would be having dying plants all over the place.

- oz

[bonginator]

Yes - as in wet form. The plants are doing fine with the low light and no CO2 but I don't get much growth out of them except one floating plant that I don't know the name of. Someday I would like to do a planted tank with CO2 so I will be interested to see your progress...

[Oscarsx]

Invest 10 bucks in root tabs and you won't be disappointed. As for co2, you won't regret getting it, best investment I've made so far.

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Did a final rescape, I'll let these plants settle in now.. Filled in all of the left side, next is doing all of my right side with stem plants and maybe some more crypts.

- oz

[Oscarsx]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/19/u8uby7uj.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/19/2e7yje6y.jpg- oz

[Oscarsx]

I was thinking of getting rid of my planted tank, decided not to.

Small update... My water started turning green, so I ordered a uv sterilizer... Water has gotten a lot more clearer :)

- oz

[Oscarsx]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/27/eputy7ev.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/27/agyzu5a8.jpg

- oz

[Jeff O]

Very interested to see how it turns out!! Whats the name of the taller plant to the right of the wood?
-Jeff

[Oscarsx]

Very interested to see how it turns out!! Whats the name of the taller plant to the right of the wood?
-Jeff

That my friend is a banana plant, it grows like weed!

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Two days after putting in my uv sterilizer
For anyone wondering the brand name is "green killing machine"
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/11/28/upyja3eg.jpg

- oz

[decoy50]

I have that same UV. It got bad reviews everywhere I looked, but it was cheap so I gave it a shot - worked great too. Once your water clears, buy some more plants to soak up all the extra light & nutrients in your water column and you won't get green water again. Any type of fast growing floating plant will work and just remove chunks of it when it starts to take over.

[Oscarsx]

I've used this brand since I first got into planted tanks.. I reduced the photo period and raised the tank lights a few more inches. My water is clear now.. I definitely do want some floaters tho, red root floaters are next in line! :)

- oz

[rainforestexperience]

what happened to the angels and rams?

[decoy50]

Red root floaters look great. Frogbit does too. There is always people selling both of them by the handful on aquabid.

[Oscarsx]

what happened to the angels and rams?

I got rid of them, I started messing with my co2 levels, wanted to get the right ppm and not harm any fish at the same time.

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Red root floaters look great. Frogbit does too. There is always people selling both of them by the handful on aquabid.

Agreed, members at my forums give those suckers way... Well see, I don't feel like getting over run yet

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Uv sterilizer cleared out my tank, got a few plants and now the wait game.

Need new bulbs, one of mine went out and I had to put one of my reef bulbs on..
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/a4etasen.jpg

- oz

[bogia99]

Uv sterilizer cleared out my tank, got a few plants and now the wait game.

Need new bulbs, one of mine went out and I had to put one of my reef bulbs on..
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/01/a4etasen.jpg

- oz

look like your planted tank come along nicely. If those leaves start turning yellow, I would think about adding iron fert. It was a wise decision to remove all fishes at this point.

[Oscarsx]

Thank you, you know I just noticed that. My wife took the picture, I'm at work so when I get home the lights are off. I'm sure it's just the lighting, i will check them out tomorrow on my day off. Those guys are reproducing like crazy and shooting runners everywhere, i might have to do some trimming and take off a load of the mother plants. Will update tomorrow thank you.

- oz

[Oscarsx]

No yellow, it was just the lighting :)
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/03/eta7ydyb.jpg

- oz

[sl3epaholic]

nice

[matt56]

Wow that dwarf sag is looking awesome. Really starting to take hold.

[Oscarsx]

Wow that dwarf sag is looking awesome. Really starting to take hold.

It's taking over! I need to do some trimming soon.

- oz

[jjgunshot]

Very nice fish :)

[Oscarsx]

Very nice fish :)

As of now I have 5 ottos and 2 bn plecos.. Adding fish is way down my list. I'm prioritizing my plants atm, once I have a good scape ill be adding some fishes

- oz

[Oscarsx]

I trimmed some of my dwarf swag and move them to the back right of the tank, i have some bacopa growing in the front now, once it comes in it will look good:)

- oz

[Oscarsx]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/06/e8ebama3.jpg

- oz

[johnny911]

nice

[johnny911]

How many gallon is the tank?

[Oscarsx]

50 gallons tall.

- oz

[Oscarsx]

My day off, so now I can take pics of some of my progress.
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-41-57_331.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-44-39_228.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-42-24_578.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-44-12_932.jpg
some new plant growth
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-43-26_896.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-43-40_823.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-43-45_885.jpg

and my algae clean up crew, I have 5 ottos, they do an amazing job.
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-43-55_309.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-08_13-42-50_620.jpg

[matt56]

Whoa that banana plant looks awesome almost like a Lilly pad. I need to get some of those to put in my african dwarf frog tank they would LOVE that. I have a ton of super long hair grass covering up the back panel of my frog tank so that the ends float on top of the water, and the frogs love to hang from their arms on the grass. I can imagine they would get a kick from sitting half submerged on that big leaf. Also why i have only anubias variants in it since they have big leaves the frogs and my beta love. Whered you get the banana plant?

[Oscarsx]

Unfortunately I'm having problems keeping my anubia algae free. I'm running a high tech set up and they are getting way too much light, starting to get some blue green algae on them.

As for my banana plant, i got mine from my LFS. It was in poor condition, I even got some snails in my tank because of it. I've cleared most snails and my plant recovered very well... Grows new leaves every 2-3 days..

- oz

[matt56]

I see, yeah the anubias and hair grass does well in my tank with minimal algae from having low light and whatever algae there is i kinda just scrape off so the power filter traps it. I put a bushy nose pleco in about a year ago when he was a baby and did a great job of the algae but now hes much bigger and cant really suck on the hair grass anymore, so thinking about putting a couple ottos in, only thing thats stopped me is not wanting to fool with quarantine because dwarf frogs are especially sensitive to disease, and it would kill me to lose one of these guys ive had em so long.

[Oscarsx]

1 week update:

Starting to get some green spot algae on my glass and on my higher plants, will be rising my light fixture at least 6-10 inches from the tank, plant growth is really good.. my banana plant is growing all over the place, will be trimming it soon so I can get the desired height growth.
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-15_11-53-11_483.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-15_11-53-31_236.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-15_11-53-45_839.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-15_11-54-15_546.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-15_11-54-51_445.jpghttp://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-15_11-53-56_782.jpg

[Oscarsx]

Also, I'm growing out 11 angelfish on my 20 gal.. Will be picking at least 5-7 and tossing them into my planted tank :)
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2012-12-15_11-55-15_78.jpg

[Oscarsx]

I picked up a peacock eel and a Germany ram, and some rummy nose tetras.. Very nice growth. I moved up the lights about 9 inches from the top of the tank to prevent algae growth.. Very good results.. Here is a few pics enjoy.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/7ypygety.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/yjyhejeg.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/e4yzyje2.jpg

- oz

[Oscarsx]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/une4ehym.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/uzu4u2ub.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/2egury6a.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/2e4ypenu.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/symy5yqu.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/a9y5uvyb.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/ny4epyqa.jpg

One of my two plecos, they're very shy
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/tyza7usa.jpg


- oz

[Oscarsx]

Here's my 10 rummy nose tetras in QT with my angels..
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/23/sa8y7u3y.jpg

- oz

[manzpants92]

saw your tank on the plantedtank forum a while ago. nice work

[Oscarsx]

Thank you! I've added some more fish over Christmas, will post some more pictures and maybe a video.

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Short video, enjoy.
http://youtu.be/3lxW4333f84

[matt56]

Man its looking great! I love how it looks like the ram is schooling all the fish around lol.

[Oscarsx]

Man its looking great! I love how it looks like the ram is schooling all the fish around lol.

Thanks!, yea my wife was telling me the same thing lol..the ram likes to keep them in check :bandana:

[Oscarsx]

I did a rescape last weekend, trying to make more room for newer plants.. Will post a more detailed update in a few weeks once everything settles in. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/08/y3umudap.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/08/4e4e2u6e.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/08/9ase3apu.jpg

- oz

[Oscarsx]

plants are doing great, growing very well.. I have some plants coming in tomorrow, will post new pics soon. :)

few pics enjoy.
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2013-01-13_15-15-44_174.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2013-01-13_15-15-52_229.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2013-01-13_15-16-00_82.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2013-01-13_15-17-39_815.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2013-01-13_15-16-37_307.jpg
http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2013-01-13_15-17-26_635.jpg

http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s382/dominguez122908/2013-01-13_15-18-58_369.jpg

[matt56]

Love the ram. More plants never hurts :). Its looking really lush on the left side!

Edit: What happened to the banana plant?

[Oscarsx]

The banana plant started take over and started to shade my other plants causing them to grow funny.. I tossed it, I kinda regret it now but I can always get more in the future.

- oz

[matt56]

I see, ive never had plant growth like that before, always been kind of intimidated of co2 though.

[Oscarsx]

When I started doing pressurized co2 I was like that also, I came close to gassing up my fish a few times, I just did a bunch of research and did some DIY projects, now my co2 level is almost perfect.. Yea I know what you mean tho, if you do end up getting one you won't be disappointed

- oz

[Oscarsx]

I received a new shipment of plants, some ludwigia repens, Stargrass and some rotala colorata.. They are still settling in, I hope within a few weeks I see good growth out of them.

I also finally decided to transfer my angels over to my planted tank, they're still small but I don't except much of them. Hopefully they don't get stunted too much and get some decent growth.

Enjoy the pics.

- oz

[Oscarsx]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/8agany7u.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/y7eda6et.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/a2y3u8u5.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/zezegaty.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/ny5yvuhu.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/be9a7yzy.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/u2e4uza3.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/ejupeteh.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/nysyje4u.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/21/taryty3y.jpg

- oz

[matt56]

Nice looking angels, you been raising them? Really starting to look like a busy tank now, and i love how bright the rummies heads are. Also the purple on that plant is killer whats its name?

[pauline]

The plant layout in your tank is very nice. Also a nice looking blend of fish.

[Oscarsx]

Thank you both, as for the plant its called alternanthera reineckii "Rosaefolia"

- oz

[Oscarsx]

Nothing new, just really good plant growth.

I recently picked up a 120 gallon so ill be transferring everything over slowly.

Enjoy the few pics.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/27/5e2asuha.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/27/9amu6ute.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/27/haqedeje.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/27/ahu2yre4.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/27/qa3y4y3u.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/27/maduhubu.jpg

- oz

[matt56]

Just when the tank was filled in. Time to buy some more plants ;).

[camuth8]

Just when the tank was filled in. Time to buy some more plants ;).

LOL.

Nice blend of plants and fish. :)

[Oscarsx]

I'm making my new tank a discus tank in the near future. I probably won't keep posting updates until I get some discus in there... Anyway here's a pic of how it's sitting right now :)

- oz