Isabella

Hi all of you who are interested in the progress of my 75 gallon tank

As I've been mentioning throughout my posts, I removed some of the plants I had (Old spiral Vals, Hygrophilas, Sagittarias, Hornworts, Water Sprite, and Water Wisteria), and was planning to re-plant my 75 gallon tank. Now it has already matured, and the substrate is settled and mature as well, so the tank can now - hopefully - sustain the growth of a little more demanding plants.

I've received one order of plants today (Friday), and will receive another one on Sunday. Today, I've received: 1 Uruguay Sword, Willow Moss (the Willow Moss is in a very bad condition!), 10 Jungle Vals, and 16 Crystal Vals (straight Vals). On Sunday, I'll receive: 2 Amazon Swords, 1 Red Rubin Sword, 3 Ruffled Swords, 1 Green Melon Sword, 10 Pygmy Chain Swords, 9 Crypts Balansae, 6 Crypts Wendtii Red, 15 Crypts Lucens, and Java Moss (hoping the Java Moss will be in a better condition).

Below are the pictures of the tank BEFORE and AFTER re-planting. The pictures are fuzzy because all the debris from disturbing the substrate are still floating around the tank and all is cloudy. They'll settle down in a day or so. So far, only the left side is planted. The right side will be finished when I get the rest of my plants on Sunday. Also, a lot of the plants that you see in the foreground (in the "AFTER" picture) will be moved around, and this is not yet the final look. I just shoveled all the plants attached to driftwood to the left side of the tank, to make space for the plants that will arrive on Sunday.

Below, are also pictures of unpacking the plants, floating them in room-temperature water, etc ... Last pictures are of the plants in the tank. Once again, all is still cloudy, and this is not yet the final look. I will keep updating this thread.

These plants may or may not survive in my tank without CO2 additions. I don't want to use CO2, but if they start dying, I think I'll buy a CO2 system (maybe from Rex Grigg of Plant Geek?).

Anyway, here are the pictures

The plants as they've arrived:


Floating the bags and acclimatizing and sorting the plants:

Isabella

The tank BEFORE re-planting:


The tank AFTER re-planting (right side not YET done!):




Uruguay Sword:


Straight Vallisnerias (Jungle and Crystal Vals):

Kevin

looking really good!...and to think its only half done

Isabella

Yeah, it may look good in the beginning. But what if the plants start dying? That's what I'm afraid of. All this money will go to waste if they die. I think that if they start dying, I'll resort to CO2

Kevin

you could overstock your tank...and not really have a problem
i've heard flourish works well...i used leaf zone to get my plants growing...and it worked for me

Isabella

You mean, Seachem's Excel? I already have Seachem's Flourish - this is a liquid NUTRIENT fertilizer for plants. Excel is a liquid CO2, or something like that.

And Kevin, I don't really want to overstock my tank. I can't do that to my fishies!

Kevin

no...i meant flourish...i know nothing about co2

i was pointing out that you had a lot of extra filtration w/ all those live plants...it was a bad way of saying it...and i know you wouldn't overstock your tank

Gozer_1

I'm SO jealous. I feel like I have a LONG way to go. I hope mine looks half as good when I get it going.

Isabella

Gozer, you said in your thread about the 45 gal. stand:

It's probably Current USA's Nova fixture. Current USA fixtures are very good When I was buying my light, my options were either Current USA or Coralife. In the end, I chose Coralife's freshwater fixture because it came with the lightbulbs that I wanted (7,600K spectrum).

Now, if you'll have 1.75 WPG of lighting + nutrient-rich substrate, then you'll have exactly the same setup as mine. I don't see why your tank shouldn't look even TWICE as nice as mine You can buy a lot of plants for a tank with Fluorite substrate and 1.75 wpg of lighting. My lighting is 1.73 wpg and I have Eco-Complete. You can easily have a variety of Cryptocorynes in your tank, certain Swords, various Vallisnerias, Hygrophila, Hornwort, Water Sprite, Water Wisteria, Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss + other mosses, Sagittarias, and probably many more (can't remember at the moment). That's plenty of plants to choose from and to create a beautiful aquascape You'll learn from your own mistakes and keep improving your tank until it looks exactly the way you want it to look.

I also thought that "Oh, I'm just going to buy the big bunch of plants, and that will be it." But that's not it, lol. You keep working and working, and working on your tank. It's a work always in progress Experiment with a variety of plants and see which ones will grow for you and which ones you'll like. I've thrown away many that I didn't like and that didn't grow for me. Others, I've bought more of because that's how great their growth is for me. Still others, I am just going to try now. Like I said, experiment a lot, and see what will work best for you.

With time, you may find that you want more and more plants, and faster plant growth. That's when you may want to switch to CO2. While I am content with slow but healthy plant growth (such as the one I have now), I think I want to try CO2. The good news is that you CAN use CO2 under 2.0 of wpg. So if you ever want to upgrade your tank to CO2, you just get the CO2 system, and don't need to get higher lighting (unless you want higher lighting and higher-light plants later on)

Anyway, good luck with your tank

P.S. I think another reason I want to try CO2 is that with CO2 you have faster plant growth. Faster plant growth means the plants use more nutrients and they do so faster. And that means there is less nutrients left for algae to grow on. So, that's basically a measure of algae prevention too. I don't want algae anymore. I hope CO2 will help with that. ( Next to my algae eater, of course ).

bhcaaron

Funny, most that I've read about have started as freshies and gone to salties. I want a saltie and have not thought of freshies really. But, every time I see pics like yours I think maybe that will be my next project... next IF I can ever get my 1st started lol.

Isabella

Hey Aaron

See, freshwater planted tanks are: (1) cheaper to set up, (2) easier to maintain, and (3) just as beautiful as saltwater reef tanks (in my opinion). I am not saying reef tanks are not beautiful, because they are. In fact, they're amazing. But right now, I know really nothing about them except for the fact they're very expensive and that proper water parameters are much harder to maintain in saltwater tanks. That seems pretty serious to me.

Besides, I've always loved the greens. I always find myself enjoying lakes, moutains, and forests better than the sea/ocean. Maybe that's why I am inclined towards planted tanks more Or, maybe I am not so much into the sea because I have it close by, and been to the beach far too many times. But I don't have mountains overgrown with forests around me. And we always want what we can't have, don't we Maybe, somehow, psychologically this is another reason why I like planted tanks better.

I don't know. It's just something about the greens, lol When I look at a beautiful densely planted wild-looking tank, I feel so calm and relaxed. I feel as if I were looking through the window to some lush wild forest. Ahh ... I just love planted tanks and will stop at nothing to get my tank looking the way I want it to look - be it now or 10 years from now

OK, enough of the planted tank sentiments! I'm sure you get the "general idea", lol.

P.S. If you ever get a planted tank, and do your homework well beforehand, you'll see how much you'll love it.

bhcaaron

I'm thinking I will eventually. I know that underwater life is unusual in general, but, I love how foreign the deep oceans can be. If I can only have a reminder of that in my room... that is my "ahh". I love the oddness, the unfamiliarity in its shapes. Everything we consider normal is challenged. Things that look like plants that are actually animals and some of them actually move to hunt food. Blobs of such indescribable colors that move and are alive. Trees that don't actually sway and filter water. Clams that give off sparks... It is the closest I'll probably get to an alien environment. It is beauty indescribable. I guess I can understand why some people love Picasso lol.

Looks like we both have our work cut out for us in our passions lol

Isabella

Ahhh ... I totally understand you! Yes, that's a great way to put it. I couldn't have said it better. See, like I said, BOTH saltwater and freshwatwer tanks have their charms Both are beautiful to me, and both are unique in their own ways Most importantly, both are about a piece of wild nature in your own home

P.S. And yes - LOL - I guess I could say that the whole planted tank hobby has taken me "by passion", haha

bhcaaron

I guess with me it goes back to the whole Sci-Fi thing. I've always wanted to travel the stars and I've always related the vast ocean to the vast universe. Also intriguing how some colors will only be found naturally in the ocean and space.

Gozer_1

I think one of the best places on Earth is where the forest meets the ocean. I'm not much on the vast ocean but I love the view and I love the forests for the trees. SO, I want both. I want ocean sunsets and a view of mountains but I want to lay down in the grass in a forest meadow too. I'm going to set my planted next to my reef and be as close to the beach by the forest as I can get in the Colorado mountains. Funny thing is the SW has blue actinics and the FW will have pink FW bulbs. Awwwww. Atleast then when I'm spending hours "workin on my tanks" they'll be close together. lol

bhcaaron

hahahahah That would be an awesome place to live Ocean/Mountains/Forest/Valley SIGH

Gozer_1

Yeah It's called the northern California and Oregon coast line. lol Even up to British Columbia. Vancouver is supposed to be a beautiful city.
(I know Washigton is nice too. Seattles cool man.)

jsalemi

Who'd you order your plants from, Isabella?