75 gallon planted tank setup

ClamIAm · #1 04/05/2007, 04:41 PM

So I have finally begun setting up a tank dedicated to keeping plants and macroalgae instead of adding them in to other things. Here are some pics of the setup, I'll definitely add more once things start going.

There's the substrate. I used a mix of dry aragonite, live aragonite, and some mineral mud for good measure.

Despite washing the dry aragonite pretty well, this is what happened when I filled it with water. It took about 12 hours to become clear.

Here is the tank when it was clear enough for me to arrange the rock and get a picture. I'm also going to be adding some more rock from a different tank in a couple months, and the center is going to be left open for grass.

And since I'm not much of a technical genius, here's the protein skimmer I got for free but have not yet been able to get operating properly.

KUDA · #2 04/05/2007, 05:32 PM

Looking good so far!!! Can't wait to see the finished product.

Dwarf Seahorses · #3 04/05/2007, 06:00 PM

What type of lighting and circulation are you going for? Aren't skimmers pretty useless in planted tanks?

ClamIAm · #4 04/05/2007, 06:58 PM

I'm not sure if I need the skimmer, but I got it working so that's good news. Right now there is about 900 gph in circulation and 4x65 watt power compact lighting, I may upgrade these later if I feel it is needed.

Lpabsolute · #5 04/05/2007, 08:35 PM

Can't wait to see how this SetUp turns out. What are you planning on keeping????

ClamIAm · #6 04/05/2007, 09:53 PM

I have some shoal grass coming this weekend, and I also have some caulerpa from another tank that will be moved over. Other than that, I will be hunting over the summer for whatever interesting macros I can find.

ClamIAm · #7 04/08/2007, 02:33 PM

Update:
The shoal grass has arrived yesterday and is in the tank.

Since this tank is at home and I'm heading back to school I'm going to leave it for the next month and hopefully I'll see some growth when I get back.

Samala · #8 04/08/2007, 04:43 PM

Are there any fish in the tank? Any other source of nutrients for the plants? Without enough nutrients you may not see much growth when you return from school.

>Sarah

graveyardworm · #9 04/08/2007, 08:02 PM

Lookin good. He mentioned he used some mineral mud as part of the substrate. It may be okay for the month, If there's no other livestock yet I would leave the skimmer off, especially since you're going away for a month anyway.

ClamIAm · #10 04/09/2007, 11:24 AM

No other fish yet, but I will add some when I get back. Leaving the skimmer off may be a good idea though. Do you think I should do anything else to provide nutrients before that?

Samala · #11 04/09/2007, 02:47 PM

Ah, the mud, I had forgotten! You may be just fine with the skimmer off until you return then.

>Sarah

bigbadbasile · #12 04/16/2007, 11:02 PM

i have some caulerpa prolifera that looks pretty cool (like grass) that the shedd aquarium originally gave me as well as some feather caulerpa and cheato. send me a pm if you want some, i see that your in illinois.

matt

ClamIAm · #13 04/19/2007, 06:08 PM

I actually have a bunch of caulerpa prolifera in a different tank that will be going in here in the near future. Feather caulerpa could be a good addition though. I'll get back to you if I'm interested.

ClamIAm · #14 04/21/2007, 10:35 AM

Some of the leaves have started to turn brown. I think this initial die-off may be due to a cold snap the weekend that it was shipped, so I'm hoping that it recovers. I may also be moving a couple fish into the tank tomorrow to give it a nutrient boost. Any other suggestions?

ClamIAm · #15 05/19/2007, 09:26 PM

A couple of new pics:

There is the prolifera I have transplanted from the ever-growing population in my leaffish tank.

Here's an updated pic of the whole tank. I still can't tell whether the shoal grass is doing well, but it appears that the initial die-off is over. I've seen all kind of stuff come off the rock, including several types of algae. I also have added a peppermint shrimp and sailfin blenny from another tank but neither one was interested in being photographed at the moment. I'm still looking to add some killifish or mollies to simulate a caribbean grass bed environment.

sunfishh · #16 05/23/2007, 12:40 AM

Nice tank

ClamIAm · #17 07/02/2007, 08:25 PM

It's been a while since I've updated, so I figured I'd add a few new pictures from the past month:

Some Gracilaria I got to add some color other than green, which is also the purpose of this:

I think it is Halymenia, maybe H. formosa? It's been growing pretty nicely in my tank so far.

I finally caught the sailfin blenny out in the open and not shooting across the tank for food so I took the rare photo opportunity. This fish has a great personality.

Here is the latest shot of the whole tank. As you can see the C. prolifera has probably tripled in size from the amount I put in there. You'll also notice some silvery-gray fish which are sheepshead minnows. There are 7 in there, 3 males and 4 females. These things move constantly, I haven't even come close to getting a good picture of them. I've actually seen some spawning behavior from them which is pretty cool. There were also a couple of mollies in the tank when this was shot but I moved them out to a freshwater tank because they didn't seem to be enjoying the added salt/aggressive fish.

ClamIAm · #18 08/05/2007, 03:37 PM

Not really macroalgae related, but I've got myself some baby sheepshead minnows. I'll try to get a pic but these guys are pretty small right now. They seem to enjoy feeding on the cyanobacteria I've had growing on the sandbed and the adults aren't eating them like I thought they would, so these guys look like they have a good shot of growing up.

ClamIAm · #19 11/15/2007, 05:16 PM

New pictures! Sorry they aren't super clear, I didn't have a whole lot of time to get good photos.

The whole tank:

Right Side:

Middle:

Left Side:

I've added two new species of macros, Chaetomorpha and Botryocladia. The Caulerpa declined for a period when red slime took over a lot of the tank, but has since started growing again and looks like it grown beyond my last picture. I haven't seen a whole lot of growth from the Gracilaria or Halymenia. With Christmas coming up I am thinking about upgrading my lighting. Do you think an upgrade would be useful? I currently have 4x65 watt power compacts. If this isn't really enough, are there any suggestions on what sort of lighting would be ideal?

Redbellyjx · #20 11/16/2007, 11:47 AM

wow you have some nice corline growth in the tank too. Looking good so far. Im tagging along for this thread to help me when I set up my seahorse planted tank

yrema · #21 11/22/2007, 01:51 AM

looking good, clam!

btw, what are those small fishes in the middle?

Oh and does your blenny bother your macroalgae?

ClamIAm · #22 11/22/2007, 11:54 PM

The coralline growth has been great. I think all of the rocks in there came from an SPS display tank that was taken down when the store closed, I know for sure that at least the big one on the left did. The fish in there are sheepshead minnows, Cyprinodon variegatus, which were collected from Florida. They tend to live in inland brackish bodies of water, but they have done just fine in here, they've even bred a few times. I have so many inverts and stuff in there however that anytime I've seen babies they probably get eaten within a few days.

The blenny doesn't bother the algae, but the killifish do pick at it. It hasn't really slowed growth too much though.

skeeter-doc · #23 11/23/2007, 09:16 AM

looks good clam, what part of IL you in?

ClamIAm · #24 11/29/2007, 01:01 AM

I'm from the Chicago suburbs, although these days I actually go to school in Wisconsin. Unfortunately most of my tanks are at home so it gets kinda boring without them.