Jay's 72g Bowfront

[jaywings19]

Well, I rushed home to find my Live Aquaria plant package waiting for me. After two hours of fiddling around with water, plants, and various equipment... I have my 72G tank planted. Below are some tank pictures.

The plant contents are:

Foreground
Dwarf Hairgrass (3x)
Anubias Nana (2x) - attached to rocks
Chain Sword (2x)

Midground
Java Fern (3x) - attached to driftwood
Cryptocoryne Wendtii (3x)
Water Sprite (2x)
Red Ludwigia (3x)
Wisteria (1x)

Background
Anacharis (4x)
Cabomba (4x)
Amazon Sword (2x)

Here are some closeups of each section. . .

Left Corner

Middle Left

Middle Right

Right Corner (looks like someone is being nosey)

 

[jakeroberts]

very nice tank. sorry i cant anwser your pearling questions

 

[Themuleous]

Nice looking tank it'll take a bit to fill out but its a good start. What are the tank specs? Lighting, Co2, etc?

Sam

PS - dont believe me on the pearling hey?

 

[jaywings19]

Nice looking tank it'll take a bit to fill out but its a good start. What are the tank specs? Lighting, Co2, etc?

Sam

PS - dont believe me on the pearling hey?

LOL. I believe you on the "false perling." Just happened to post this at the same time as the other thread.

Tank specs are:

72G US Bowfront

Substrate
Eco Complete

Lighting
260w (dual strip... 130w x 2)

Photoperiod Routine
4 hours (130w - one strip)
2 hours (260w - both strips)
4 hours (130w - one strip)

CO2 Unit
CarboPlus
Starts 30 minutes before lights on
Ends 30 minutes before lights off

Airstone
12" Airstone
Starts 30 minutes before lights off
Ends 30 minutes before lights on

Liquid Ferts
Only using Seachem Flourish for now
(the EI thing really confuses and intimidates me)

 

[lljdma06]

Welcome! It is a promising start. It's great to see a larger tank with all the bells and whistles. I honestly believe, however, that you can pretty much grow everything on your list very well with just one strip. One of my tanks also has like double the amount of light it really needs so I run one strip for 1/2 the photo period and then the other for the other half so there is coverage on all parts of the tank. I don't really ever run them both at the same time. 130W over 72g is more than sufficient to grown everything on your list with excellent results, especially with the CO2 you have and added ferts. The 260W is going to be overkill and it will be more difficult to control algae in the beginning, so I wouldn't even bother with that much light at this point, especially since this is a new tank and you don't have your maximum plant load yet. Once you get the hang of things, you can actually up the lighting and if your water quality is good (soft, etc) you can try some of the more truely difficult species that are available in the trade.

llj

 

[jaywings19]

Welcome! It is a promising start. It's great to see a larger tank with all the bells and whistles. I honestly believe, however, that you can pretty much grow everything on your list very well with just one strip. One of my tanks also has like double the amount of light it really needs so I run one strip for 1/2 the photo period and then the other for the other half so there is coverage on all parts of the tank. I don't really ever run them both at the same time. 130W over 72g is more than sufficient to grown everything on your list with excellent results, especially with the CO2 you have and added ferts. The 260W is going to be overkill and it will be more difficult to control algae in the beginning, so I wouldn't even bother with that much light at this point, especially since this is a new tank and you don't have your maximum plant load yet. Once you get the hang of things, you can actually up the lighting and if your water quality is good (soft, etc) you can try some of the more truely difficult species that are available in the trade.

llj

Thanks so much! I wasn't sure about the lighting, but I certainly didn't want to run both strips continuously. So I decided to overlap them for 2 hours in the middle. Would you really suggest just running 130w for the whole photoperiod? I didn't want to shortchange the lighting to less than 2 watts per gallon.

Also, I am using Seachem Flourish as my liquid fertilizer. I dosed it the day that I set up the tank (2 days ago). The label on the bottle says to dose once or twice per week. Should I be dosing every other day in the first couple of weeks to make sure there are sufficient nutrients? Or just follow the bottle instructions from the get-go?

One other question... how much of a water change should I perform weekly? Is 25% or 50% the norm for a planted tank?

EDIT: New improved pictures have been posted!

 

[lljdma06]

Welcome! It is a promising start. It's great to see a larger tank with all the bells and whistles. I honestly believe, however, that you can pretty much grow everything on your list very well with just one strip. One of my tanks also has like double the amount of light it really needs so I run one strip for 1/2 the photo period and then the other for the other half so there is coverage on all parts of the tank. I don't really ever run them both at the same time. 130W over 72g is more than sufficient to grown everything on your list with excellent results, especially with the CO2 you have and added ferts. The 260W is going to be overkill and it will be more difficult to control algae in the beginning, so I wouldn't even bother with that much light at this point, especially since this is a new tank and you don't have your maximum plant load yet. Once you get the hang of things, you can actually up the lighting and if your water quality is good (soft, etc) you can try some of the more truely difficult species that are available in the trade.

llj

Thanks so much! I wasn't sure about the lighting, but I certainly didn't want to run both strips continuously. So I decided to overlap them for 2 hours in the middle. Would you really suggest just running 130w for the whole photoperiod? I didn't want to shortchange the lighting to less than 2 watts per gallon.

Also, I am using Seachem Flourish as my liquid fertilizer. I dosed it the day that I set up the tank (2 days ago). The label on the bottle says to dose once or twice per week. Should I be dosing every other day in the first couple of weeks to make sure there are sufficient nutrients? Or just follow the bottle instructions from the get-go?

One other question... how much of a water change should I perform weekly? Is 25% or 50% the norm for a planted tank?

EDIT: New improved pictures have been posted!

With the plants on your list and the size of your tank, 1.8WPG isn't really a shortchange on lighting. Once a tank reaches a certain size, it takes less light to get the same growing effect as say 1.8WPG in a 30g tank. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you did eventually have to adopt EI to get this tank balanced. I would highly recommend running only one strip at this time, otherwise the potential growth and algae issues could be overwhelming for a first-timer.

I tend to run lower-light systems so I don't really work much with ferts and when I ran high-tech systems, I used the EI method pretty much all the way, so I'm not a real expert on ferts.

People who follow EI tend to do 50% waterchanges a week. I do between 25-65% 1-2x a week depending on which of my four tanks I'm doing. 50% would be quite a challenge on a 72g bowfront. By the way, how deep is the tank? I've got a 36g bowfront, and I can barely handle the depth, which is only 21", but I'm quite short.

Nice photos.

llj

 

[jaywings19]

With the plants on your list and the size of your tank, 1.8WPG isn't really a shortchange on lighting. Once a tank reaches a certain size, it takes less light to get the same growing effect as say 1.8WPG in a 30g tank. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you did eventually have to adopt EI to get this tank balanced. I would highly recommend running only one strip at this time, otherwise the potential growth and algae issues could be overwhelming for a first-timer.

I tend to run lower-light systems so I don't really work much with ferts and when I ran high-tech systems, I used the EI method pretty much all the way, so I'm not a real expert on ferts.

People who follow EI tend to do 50% waterchanges a week. I do between 25-65% 1-2x a week depending on which of my four tanks I'm doing. 50% would be quite a challenge on a 72g bowfront. By the way, how deep is the tank? I've got a 36g bowfront, and I can barely handle the depth, which is only 21", but I'm quite short.

Nice photos.

llj

Yeah... I adjusted the photoperiod like you suggested. I have a single light on for 5 hours apiece... instead of the overlapping 2 hours period in the middle.

Well, I've tried reading that EI article several times and it still confuses the heck out of me. If someone is willing to tell me exactly what I'd need to purchase/dose for my 72G tank, then I'd be really appreciative.

If not, then I'll continue to dose with Seachem Flourish every other day for the first couple of weeks.

I was going to get a few more plants tomorrow... like the Corscrew Val and maybe another type of Sword. Should I keep planting? Or just let things be for a while?

To answer your question... the 72G bowfront is about the same height (22-23"). I have no problem doing large water changes... the python is a blessing! I'm not that tall, but my reach is okay. The only hard spot to reach is the very middle area along the back edge.

 

[jaywings19]

Starting to get disappointed. Most of my Cabomba is turning brown. I also noticed some of my Water Sprite is also browning. Not sure what to do at this point.

 

[nry]

EI is actually simple:

Buy the 3 chemicals listed in the article
Buy some tiny measuring spoons, perhaps from a decent kitchen accessory retailer
Check the article and it will tell you how much of each chemical to add to your size of tank and when to add it
Add chemicals as stated

Ignore the rest of the article unless you want to research things a bit more

Remember the 50% water change though - if EI isn't for you then it may at least be worth considering Tropica Plant Nutrition Plus instead of a 'normal' off the shelf liquid fertiliser as it has all of the EI chemicals in (albeit I think at a lower dose).

 

[jaywings19]

EI is actually simple:

Buy the 3 chemicals listed in the article
Buy some tiny measuring spoons, perhaps from a decent kitchen accessory retailer
Check the article and it will tell you how much of each chemical to add to your size of tank and when to add it
Add chemicals as stated

Ignore the rest of the article unless you want to research things a bit more

Remember the 50% water change though - if EI isn't for you then it may at least be worth considering Tropica Plant Nutrition Plus instead of a 'normal' off the shelf liquid fertiliser as it has all of the EI chemicals in (albeit I think at a lower dose).

Okay... I am still somewhat confused as far as the chemical names and the dosing "mix" routine.

As far as the macro nutrient days... would this be the same as if I was dosing with Seachem Nitrogen/Potassium/Phosphorous liquids?

As far as the trace nutrient days... would that be the same as if I was dosing with Seachem Flourish?

Right now, I'm only dosing with Seachem Flourish every other day... so I am guessing that my tank might be short on the macro nutrients.

Sorry if I sound ignorant on this, but I just don't trust myself with dry/powder mixes and such. I was never a good chemistry student in school.

 

[jaywings19]

Well, it's been a week... time for a photo update. I tried my best to get the same size and positioning for the photo.

ORIGINAL SETUP ON DAY ONE

CURRENT SETUP ON DAY EIGHT

Yes, some of my Red Ludwigia and Anacharis decided to uproot themselves. I'll put them back in place on Sunday when I do the water change. I have to give my Discus credit for being such good sports during this process.

I'm not doing EI (per se), but my fertilization routine is similar. I'm simply using Seachem Flourish on "trace" days... and Seachem Potassium, Iron, and Nitrogen on the "macro" days. I'm dosing slightly more than the bottle recommends.

One (potentially) strange observation is that the plants on the left side are doing great. As you can see, the Cabomba and Water Sprite on the left-middle are sprouting upwards nicely. However, the Water Sprite (far right) and Chain Sword (front-middle) are turning yellow/brown.

Not so coincidentally, the CO2 output is in the back on the far left (you can see the white chord). Has anyone else had results like this? I'm not sure exactly what action (if any) needs to be taken in order to get similar results from the plants on the right side of the tank. Up the CO2? Move the CO2 further to the center? Other?

I have anchored my 3 Java Ferns (driftwood) and 2 Anubias Nana (rocks) using string. How long does it usually take for these plants to anchor themselves to these objects? Are the Java Fern roots supposed to be dark brown/black? The rhizomes seem to be healthy... just wasn't sure about the surrounding roots.

Might stop by the store to get some Corkscrew Val this weekend. They were out of them last week when I was first setting up the tank.

Anyway... thoughts, comments, and criticisms are welcome.

 

[jaywings19]

Well, here is an updated picture on Day 16.

I rearranged a few plants based on their relative growth (I'm looking at you Cabomba and Water Sprite!). I can't believe how fast those two plants have shot up to the water's surface. I also wanted to centerpiece the pair of Amazon Swords since they were getting covered up by the Water Sprite and Wisteria. I had to ditch some Anacharis and Ludwigia on the right side because they were rotting. I ended up replacing them with two Onion Plants (on the right), two bunches of Moneywort (far left and dead center), and some Italian Vallisneria (far left).

My Java Ferns aren't doing too well... black spots/holes.

I will probably do a little more aquascaping next water change. The right side is a bit sparse compared to the left side.

Got a bunch of new tankmates this weekend:

(12) Ottos - in my opinion, the best algae fighters
(6) Corydoras Sterbai - getting me dizzy swimming across the front glass
(4) Clown Loaches - awesome scavengers stirring up the substrate

CURRENT SETUP ON DAY SIXTEEN

I'm kind of disappointed that nobody has replied to possibly answer some of the questions I had from a week ago. Please see my previous post.

 

[Biulu]

Sorry Jay, can't answer on the CO2 question as I have no experience with it. About the anchoring: in plants root and stem/leaf growth go hand in hand. So, as long as there is no new leaf growth, you cannot expect your plant to anchor well, as new roots will not have developed either.

The growth in your tank has been considerable! It is nice to see the plants develop so quickly, and filling out.

 

[Themuleous]

Tanks coming along nicely re the CO2 it could well be the positioning of the diffuser. Try putting it close to the filter outlet, so the bubbles get blow around the tank, that might help. Would also just be those plants are weaker.

Sam