New 125 gallon Planted tank in the works!!!

[briankgarrison79]

I really execited about getting this tank up and running.
I've built riser under the regular stand to get the height I was wanting. The tanks with stand and riser is 5'10". A canopy is in the works. Still planning it out on paper on how it should look.
For the substrate I used the following: Cat's tails litter (natural clay no additives). peat, lava rocks, black sand to hold all of that stuff down, and regular small gravel on top.
For the background I used a ocean blue plastic background.
Filtration, I'm using 2 Fluval 404's and shortly once I get some parts my magnum 350 with a micron filter (changing it once a week).
As for heaters I used 2 of marineland's stealth heaters.
Have not filled tank yet, need more ro water and need to brace the sub floor in my basement a little bit.
I'll post my pics shortly. Still at work.:bandana:

[briankgarrison79]

Tank and stand.

[CAGE-RATTLER]

Nice tank .............. looks like your down to 100 gallons now with all that substrate in there .... lol.

[KIWI13]

what kinda lights do yo uhave under the hood???? a planted tank of this size is gonna need CO2 fertilising too and its gonna take a bit to establish, but all said and done, this is gonna be a fun project.........

Good luck

Jason

[Jarrod]

Wow Brian!!...that's gonna be a SWEET setup when you get it all setup and running...can't wait to see pics of it when you get it done!!

[briankgarrison79]

Here shortly, I'm going to build a canopy with 4 72" VHO Coral Life Triometric lights in it. As for the co2 I'm currently looking for good deals on pressurized. I'm wanting a milwaukee regulator with bubble counter, solneoid, and Co2 Reactor 200. I'm debating on what tank size to go with though. I'm considering 10lbs or 20lbs, I think I have enough room in the cabinet.

[briankgarrison79]

pic2

[briankgarrison79]

pic 2 was the riser I built.
Pic 3

[briankgarrison79]

pic4 substrates

[briankgarrison79]

pic 5
yeah I know those are some ugly gold fish. They are breaking in the tank for me. Hopefully next week I've order my plants. Just wish the water would clear up some. It's been runing for a week now. Cloudy water.

[Suzanne]

so... what's happening?

[Dood Lee]

pic 5
yeah I know those are some ugly gold fish. They are breaking in the tank for me. Hopefully next week I've order my plants. Just wish the water would clear up some. It's been runing for a week now. Cloudy water.

FYI, in case you ever decide to undertake another project such as this: with a setup like yours (high tech and all), the planted tank will usually cycle itself. Usually, people setup the tank and plant when there is no water (as it is very difficult to plant when the tank is full). If you put in a large enough concentration of plants, the tank should cycle itself, and usually faster than either using fish or a fishless cycle.

[Suzanne]

also, biospira really does work!

[Dood Lee]

also, biospira really does work!

There's that too. Nothing can beat instant cycling.

[hexed]

I never heard of biospira?

[Dood Lee]

Biospira is that Marineland product that contains actual live beneficial bacteria. You fill the tank with water, pour in the biospira, and then add your fish. It's suppose to be an instant cycling method.

[hexed]

Thank, I never heard of it before. I wonder if my LFS have it :)

[briankgarrison79]

Yeah, I still like doing it the old fashion way on cycling the tank. I've got on order a 10lb co2 tank, regulator, difusor, vho bulbs, and vho ballast kit. Just waiting on them to come in now. I've now removed all of the gold fish, stirring up the substrate and making the tank too cloudy. I've got some kribs in there now, a breeding pair at that.:D

[Suzanne]

most LFS's don't carry it because the shelf life is very limited - it has
to be fresh and stay refrigerated at all times - I ordered mine directly
and it was delivered overnight - order extra for the first few wc's

[04cobratorchred]

My LFS wanted like 80 bucks for just enough to do my 90gallon tank. Needless to say i just waited to process out and saved the money.

[marilyn1998]

i cycled my 90 gallon with biospira and the 1" gravel from my old tank. In 3 days I had both .25 ammonia and nitrite. i expect the nitrates soon.

It was MUCH faster, the levels peaked at lower amounts and the fish werent stressed. ( I added salt and prime.)

My LFS sold enough for the 90G for $17.95. I would use it again.

[ItsGeoff]

i think we sell biospira for like 10 buckls for the small pouch ( 20 gals ) and i think its 16-17 for the big one. i forgot how much that treats but it does work.

for cycling the planted tank you should have loaded it full of fast growing stem plants. they will suck up all your ammoinia and nitrates faster then you can realize. you should set the tank up, plant it the same day or the next day, wait 24 hours and add fish. there will be an attempted bacteria bloom but the plants will keep it all under control.

[iowadiscus]

I have a 125 planted tank with 14 discus in it right now. I usually only have about 10 but Im trying to get a couple more pairs. Any ways heres what I have and its working out great. I have two emperor 400's and a cascade 1500 full of bio balls. The cascade is turned way down and pushes water through my uv sterilizer makes my plants move and keeps the crap on the bottom moving up pushes it up a little more. I have 1.5 inch rock bed with half being flourite the other being very small rock. You could do all flourite but I dont really like the color that much. THen I have a black back ground. I have two 36" 96watt coralife power compacts. I kept my lights that come with the tank and put 50/50 bulbs in them. Everyone told me this wasnt going to be enough light. I will post pictures later you tell me what you think. I personally wanted nothing to do with co2 injection I have way to much money in fish to kill them because something went wrong. So I add flourish twice a week and flourish excel everyday. I add the flourish after I do my water changes. Which alot of people disagree with me about. I only change 25% water twice a week. My tank is very clean. I FEED VERY HEAVY AS WELL. I have a Ekomixo Automatic feeder that feeds 3 times a day and I feed frozen twice a day. My fish seem to be out growing others in my area that have bought from the same store and are very think and beefy one might say. I have 25 neon tetras and 5 cory cats 1 candy pleco. and one gold nugget pleco. I also have 3 chinese algea eaters. NEVER PUT THEM IN WITH DISCUS! Im getting my out and getting ride of them. Im going to put 5 otocinclus in there. I dont feel I have enough algea in my tank for all these so I feed algea waffers. I will try to post a pic tonight when I get home from work. Do what you think seems right you will have people tell you all kinds of stuff if it dont sound right then becarful. I hope I helped