My 220 Planted Tank Build

I'm not new to freshwater, but am new to planted tanks. We have a 220 tank that is reef ready and was used for a reef tank til just recently. We sold everything except the tank and now it will be used for a planted tank.



We are using the sump from the reef. We got the plumbing done and are in the process of filling it up and doing a leak test. We resealed all the bottom and the sides. We are using a 1200 GPH Mag pump. It runs the water from the sump through the smaller PVC pipe to the tank. The water goes in the black overflows in the tank down through the bottom and through the bigger PVC pipe to the sump. We are going to have Matala mats and Bio balls in the sump.





I bought 2-30 lb. bags of crushed coral to put down first to keep the PH stable and 6-20 lb. bags of black sand. Ordered 4 pieces of driftwood, they haven't come yet.

Really getting excited about getting this tank going and enjoying it. I'm sure I'll have many questions as I start to add fish and getting it cycled. We are going to let the water circulate a few days than empty it and fill it for the fish and plants. Just to make sure there are no toxins or anything left in the overflows from the reef.

 

Lookin forward to see your progress on this! I love watching salt water tanks but I think heavily planted Freshwater are my favorite.

 

Unless you have something strange in mind, why use crushed coral to alter pH in a Freshwater planted, where one would normally expect a low pH (between 6 and 6,5...)
In other words - why 'stabilize the pH' at an unnaturally high pH, when most tropical fish are most comfortable in more acid waters?

I'd skip the crushed coral, but the decision is yours, of course...

 

This tank is going to be EPIC...I love planted tanks. 220g planted tank is going to look sweet.

 

Unless you have something strange in mind, why use crushed coral to alter pH in a Freshwater planted, where one would normally expect a low pH (between 6 and 6,5...)
In other words - why 'stabilize the pH' at an unnaturally high pH, when most tropical fish are most comfortable in more acid waters?

I'd skip the crushed coral, but the decision is yours, of course...

We have a freshwater tank and pond. We have had problems with them both crashing a lot. Someone told me to use either crushed coral or lime stone. I put crushed coral in the freshwater years ago and it hasn't crashed since. In the pond, we laid a big slab of some kind of stone and it hasn't crashed. So, I'll do the same with this tank. Don't want to take a chance on losing any of my fish. Our city water is horrible.

 

If you get a good amount of substrate of the 'normal' kind (inerts, granite and ferrite) and some pieces of wood/roots it should stabilize while you cycle the system. Once you're done cycling the ion exchanges will have stabilized your pH and at a lower value than if you use limestone.
You will not have fish in while cycling, I suppose, if you intend not to loose any fish, so no problem crashing your pH while cycling, right?

 

We are using black sand as the substrate. I am going to buy some fish to cycle it. I don't want to use the fish that I have in my 75 gallon tank that are going in my 220. I've had them for years. I will have driftwood in there also.

 

I'm with AP... EPIC planted tank! Although, I'd move some established media over instead and save the hassle/time of recycling. (granted, I dunno the first thing about sumps/refugiums and the like filtration so I'll stay out of it!)
So, what're your stocking plans/ideas?? huh?! huh?! *excited*

 

Sumps are just big filters they do the same job as a HOB just on a larger scale.

 

I was actually going to transfer most of the water from the 75 to the 220. The fish I have now that are going in are 5 Red Minor Serpae Tetras, 5 Penquin Tetras and 3 Silver Dollars. I am going to buy more of the Tetras. I'm open for plant ideas, as I've never had a planted tank, I would like to start out with simple easy ones first. I'm going to have LED lights in pendants hanging above the tank. It will be open on top, we are going to put egg crate over that to keep any jumpers in the tank.

Plant ideas would be most welcome !!

 

I would be cautious with the silver dollars eating your pants. Hungry little boogers. That, and from what I've seen, led's don't seem to make that efficient of a lighting source for planted aquaria. I imagine with enough money, enough of them will do, but T5 HO's are pretty cheap imo and get the job done.

As far as plants go, I would start off with some lower light, fast growers to help remove nitrates, fight algae and fill all of that empty space you'll have. Then as you go along and see the tank developing, you can put in some swords, crypts, cabomba and so on.

Good luck!

 

I like to use rushed coral, my ph was running way low and I was a bit worried about a crash,. a few suggestions I have are look into dirt bottom tanks they are the best and most natural for plants imo or natural clay litters like walmart "brand special kitty" ,.. another is to run a refugium on alternating light schedules if your sump allows

 

Fluorescent lighting, can't do. We have it set up for pendant lighting. We had LED lights hanging for the saltwater that we are selling now. I was just going to buy pendant lamps and put a screw in LED bulb. Are there any bulbs other than LED & fluorescent that would work?
Yes, I've heard about the Silver Dollars eating plants. I've had them for years so I'm hoping to keep them well fed and maybe they won't go after my plants. I'm going to our LFS to get some cheap plants to start out with, see how the Silver Dollars do with them. I've been checking out LiveAquaria for fish and plants. They have some pretty cool plants.

 

would the leds you had for your sw grow plants if so you should keep them

 

I have seen people use metal halides that can be put in pendants . They require their own wiring/balast but its just an idea. But I'm still a firm believer in T5 HO lighting . Its reasonably cheap and there are tons of things I can grow

 

would the leds you had for your sw grow plants if so you should keep them

They would be way too much light. They would probably grow a lot of algae ..

 

They would be way too much light. They would probably grow a lot of algae ..

I don't think it would be to much light... Just the wrong spectrum .

 

if you have a source of co2 you could set it as a high light tank a lot of people use 10,000k in planted tank are they a higher spectrum then that? if the intensity is to much one thing ive herd works is to raise the lights higher

 

if you have a source of co2 you could set it as a high light tank a lot of people use 10,000k in planted tank are they a higher spectrum then that? if the intensity is to much one thing ive herd works is to raise the lights higher

I was under the impression that the 10,000 spectrum of light was widely unable to be utilized by freshwater plantlife. 6,700 is ideal.

 

We really need the money from those lights. So they will be sold. I paid $1000 for them and can get that back out of them. We only had them for a year.
I need to know what screw in bulb will work. I know technology has come a long way, there has got to be a light bulb out there that will do a good job.

 

Oh, I almost forgot, after the cycle and after I add my fish, how many fish can I add at one time? I will be getting tetras. I'm going to order from Liveaquaria, so I want to take advantage of the shipping cost by getting as many as I can at once. Thanks

 

Wow what a beautifully HUGE Tank... glad to see happy build thread... make sure you take lots of pictures!

 

I'm not entirely certain about the bulb, but people use screw in bulb desk lamps and plain bulbs from home depot all the time. I'll let them come in.

How are you going to cycle? The reason I ask is that I was able to stock my previous 55 gallon over half full all at once with an instant cycle with a seeded sponge I bought from angels plus. Others here have had similar luck as well.

 

I was going to buy some inexpensive fish to cycle. I'll check in to the sponge. I know some people that used a CFL bulb in their saltwater refugiums and had good luck. I just don't know if it's enough to get down that far. The tank is 29 inches high.

 

I would definitely check into the sponge. Instantly cycled, a good quantity of your desired stocking and it's only like $7 or $8 bucks. I swear by those things, heck I just ordered another one myself. When I used it for my 55 gallon tank I poured the water it was in into the tank and threw the sponge into my sump. With my new 125, I'm setting it up as a sponge filter that I can remove as necessary for a quarantine/ fry tank. It comes with a magnet for mounting as you please and the tube to run your airline into. Oh, and they send you a free food sample of your choice. Lol.

You'd think I was getting some kind of kickback from them or something huh? lol :sly:

 

I just emailed them to see how many I would need and how it works. That sounds like a better plan than cycling it with fish. I got my driftwood yesterday from Drs. Foster & Smith, boiled it and now it's soaking for the 2nd time. Water is still a little yellow. The pieces look great. I'm very happy with them.

Filled the tank for the leak test, turned on the pump ... ha ha yea, water squirted everywhere. Tightened everything up and left it run a few days, no leaks now. Emptied it and now I have to rinse the sand and get it in before the fill up.

Thanks for the great advise on the driftwood and sponge !!!! This is a most helpful site

 

Great choice.

I've ordered seeded sponge filters from AngelPlus before. You could also order one and slowly build up your BB colony as you increase your stock over time unless you already have a full stock. Just a suggestion.

 

I e-mailed them when I ordered my first sponge for my 55 to inquire as to how many I would need and they said still just the one. They said that the rate at which the benefiial bacteria reproduced that adding an additional sponge would be kind of a waste of money. But, then again, your 220 is a fair bit larger than my 55 was, so we'll see what they say.

 

I will order extras. No, I don't have a full stock. Just what is in my 75. I'm going to order from Liveaquaria after it's cycled. Been looking at some nice fish I want. Some nice plants on there also.

Good to know FridayGT. I'll let you know what they say.

 

They emailed me back with the same answer ... only one is needed. So I ordered it. The shipping was very reasonable, so if I do need one later on, I will order another. Thanks for the heads up on that one !! I feel better doing the cycle this way. Never knew there was anything out there like that.

 

Filled it tonight and added the sand. I went with half & half RO/DI and tap water. Added dechlor. Got my Bio balls, they were the smaller ones. Not near enough for the sump. But will have to do till I get more. No leaks ... all is good. Can't wait to get the fish in their new home.

 

Very Nice!

 

I got my instant cycle. Put it in and waited a day before adding the fish. Acclimated each set of fish for 1 hour using the drip method. Took awhile, but worth it. The driftwood, I love !! I ordered some plants, haven't received them yet. Can't wait to add them. The sump has 2 mats, a bag of ceramic noodles and some bio balls. I added carbon to get the cloudiness out. I think it was from the stress coat, added a lot of that with each set of fish. Hubby made me a a wall of bubbles. Took a tube and drilled holes in it the length of the back wall between the overflows. Will hide the tube later with slate. So far, I am loving this tank set up.

 

I got my plants today. Love them. Bought 12. It still has room for a lot more. I will take my time filling it in. My 3 Silver Dollars were nipping at them. I'll wait and see what happens. My son has a tank and said he will take them if they start to devour them. I'm still want a moss ball and a banana plant.

 

Its starting to come along! What plants did you get? Good luck with the silver dollars!

 

I bought 2 Wisteria, 2 Cabomba Purple, 2 Rotala India, 2 Amazon Swords, 2 Pygmy Chain Swords and 2 Najas Grass. Yes, I'm keeping my eye on them Silver Dollars. Hate to see them go, I've had them for a long time. But, I do want a planted tank with plants, not stems ... What are some tall plants I can put in there to hide the overflows?

 

I bought 2 Wisteria, 2 Cabomba Purple, 2 Rotala India, 2 Amazon Swords, 2 Pygmy Chain Swords and 2 Najas Grass. Yes, I'm keeping my eye on them Silver Dollars. Hate to see them go, I've had them for a long time. But, I do want a planted tank with plants, not stems ... What are some tall plants I can put in there to hide the overflows?

well, the Najas Grass will get up there. Some Vals could do the trick as well. I haven't seen how tall it gets, but Green Temple Broadleaf might do the trick as well, and it grows fast, so it's great for Nitrates. Another thought if you want to attack those nitrates is to put some Water lettuce in there and let it grow by the overflows. I'll take a video of my tank again here in a minute to show you some of my plants, if you like any of them you can ask what they are and I'll try to point them out. Downside is I just set up my 125, so most of mine haven't grown completely tall yet.

 

Tapping fingers .... waiting on video ...

 

Tapping fingers .... waiting on video ...

Lol, sorry! I'll take it today, I'm feeling much older than my age these days and went to bed early.

*Edit: Here you go!!!

 

NICE !!!!! What is that bigger plant to the left of your instant cycle sponge? It looks kind of bushy, would be a nice plant to put in my corners. And the grass near the left corner, how tall does that get? I have grass in my pond, I was thinking of putting some in my tank, but I think the roots might take over. Your tank is gorgeous.