# Funkman262's 90g Planted Tank



## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

I'll start by describing my previous setup.

Equipment:
Nova Extreme 3' T5HO 78W fixture
Nova Extreme 4' T5HO 108W fixture
CFS 500 filter (polyfiber and sponge for mech filtration only)
Elite Underwater Mini Filter x2 (used for CO2 diffusion)
Glass Drop Checker
DIY CO2 Generator

Substrate:
Soil
Flourite Black Sand

Plants:
Amazon Sword
Anubius nana
Ambulia
Anacharis
Rotala Indica
Star Grass
Pygmy Chain Sword
Alternanthera reineckii 'roseafolia'
Ludwigia Glandulosa
Nesaea pedicellata 'Golden'
Rotala Wallichii
Myriophyllum Tuberculatum
Bacopa Caroliniana
African fern
Java Fern
Java Moss
Peacock Moss

Fish:
Harlequin Rasboras
Swordtail
Platies
Mollies
X-Ray Tetras
Neon Tetras
Cardinal Tetras
Angelfish

The pictures were taken 6 months apart. Nothing was added to the tank between shots but several plants were moved around.
















The tank was running great until I moved out of the apartment for a year, leaving the girlfriend in charge of the tank in my absence. Unfortunately, the tank was a complete disaster when I got back. Apparently, she hadn't noticed the lights were left off for several months after a fuse had to be reset Anyways, I came back in October and finally decided in December that I would start over, but with some minor changes this time (like absolutely no soil this time lol). It was a PITA completely emptying and discarding the contents of the tank, especially the soil substrate. I completely cleaned up the inside of the tank before getting started. I ordered 80lbs of Ecocomplete supplemented with 50lbs of Black Diamond blasting sand. I also found a nice rock to complement the driftwood that I already had. I managed to salvage an amazon sword and some java moss which was completely brown but I thought I'd see if it recovers (which it has). So on to the stocking lists:

Substrate:
Ecocomplete
Blasting sand

Fish:
25 neon tetras
10 pristella tetras (5 albino, 5 normal)
3 boesemani rainbows
2 celebes rainbows

Plants:
Amazon sword
Java moss
Marsilea hirsuta
Alternanthera reineckii roseafolia
Hygrophilia Corymbosa Stricta
Cabomba Palaeformis
Ludwigia repens
Ludwigia ovalis
Pogostemon erectus

I need to go back to the fish store to check on more rainbows, but I'll eventually have a good sized shoal in there.
















Those two pictures were taken four weeks apart from a few days after setup (1/8/13) to last week (2/8/13). I'm currently using all of the same equipment as listed in my previous setup except I'm using pressurized CO2 now.

Also, the day after taking that picture, I decided to add some root tabs. Instead of buying manufactured ones, I took the time to make my own. I used size-00 gel caps filled with Miracle-Gro Tomato, Fruits and Vegetables continuous release plant food pellets because it has micronutrients and calcium and was also closest to the NPK values that I wanted. I spaced them out every 6", including up against the edges, so I think I added around 28 tabs total. I tested ammonia 1, 12, 24 and 48 hours to make sure it hasn't leached into the water column and all was good. Also, after getting my phosphate up to 2.3 mg/L a week ago, it has already dropped down to 0.6 mg/L. I'm surprised my plants are consuming it so quickly considering I don't consider the tank very heavily-planted right now (at least when compared to my previous setup); nitrate's being consumed at a nice rate as well. And also, this goes to show that nutrients do not equal algae since I haven't had any algae show up in my tank since it's been set up even though I like to keep relatively high levels of nitrate and phosphate.

Sorry for the long post, but that's my tank. Enjoy


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

Frggin gorgeous tank, before and after. sorry it all died though in the first set up


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## Caii (Jan 17, 2013)

A-MA-ZING! Thank you so much for this post!!! ^^


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

Thanks guys :mrgreen:

I forgot to mention that I dose dry ferts. In the previous setup with soil, I didn't start adding them until around 7 months in. In this current setup I started dosing right away. 

Ferts:
Potassium nitrate
Monopotassium phosphate
Potassium sulfate
CSM+B

Targets:
10-20 mg/L nitrate
1-2 mg/L phosphate
20+ mg/L potassium
0.1-0.5 mg/L iron


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## majesticstorm (Dec 8, 2012)

Oh my! Your tank's amazing! Sorry to hear about your previous setup though  

I can't wait to see everything grow out!


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Wow!!! I wish I had that much creativity! I need help with getting my tanks to look as fabulous as yours, teach me!!


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

Thought I'd post an updated pic. I moved some plants around because I found out the Pogostemon erectus doesn't grow as tall as I originally thought, so I moved it to the front, moved the Ludwigia ovalis to the back left, and the Cabomba Palaeformis to back center. I also trimmed the Ludwigia and Cabomba because they had reached the top of the water.

Day 37:


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## MistersMom (Aug 9, 2011)

Its so pretty!


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## majesticstorm (Dec 8, 2012)

I'm amazed at how quickly the plants grow.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

majesticstorm said:


> I'm amazed at how quickly the plants grow.


That's what co2 will do!


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

aemaki09 said:


> That's what co2 will do!


CO2 is [nearly] useless without proper lights and ferts, but you're on the right track :thumbsup:


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## Agility4fun (Nov 16, 2012)

Thank you for your post. It reads like a documentary, loved it. Can you keep us updated with your progress?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

Day 59








You can see there isn't a whole lot of difference since the previous picture (which was actually day 47, not 37 so if a mod sees this and wouldn't mind changing that, I'd be very appreciative ;-)). You can see that amazon sword has nearly reached the surface now, and I've had to trim the stem plants several times. I was having issues with my hygo; the lower leaves were rapidly dropping off (pretty noticeably in the pic). I couldn't see there being any nutrient deficiency in my tank so I assumed that there wasn't enough CO2. I removed the biomedia from my canister filter and placed it in a bucket of tank water in case if my plan didn't work: I moved my glass diffuser to below the filter intake so that the CO2 would get sucked up and be much more efficiently dissolved into the water (this would likely kill the bacteria which is why I removed it). That would also allow me to increase the bubble-rate. I haven't seen any hygro leaves drop off since. I tested the water for ammonia twice a day for several days to make sure there wasn't a spike after removing the biomedia, but the plants are clearly rapidly removing the ammonia because I never saw any ammonia spike. I went ahead and left the biomedia out of the filter since it was no longer necessary. I've also been having some trouble with a white film on the surface of my tank which is common for planted tanks with no surface movement. I've just been skimming it out every few days to get rid of it.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Wow. Your swords are growing fast! I haven't noticed much growth in mine since I bought them a few months ago. I cannot wait to be able to change lighting out and add co2 and soil for substrate
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

I've continued getting great growth in my plants and I'm having to trim the background plants every few days because they keep reaching the surface. But... I've been running my lights on an extended schedule and lately the tank's been receiving a lot of sunlight because our windows have been completely open and now I'm dealing with green water :doh!: The same thing happened to my last setup a little over a month in and I bought a UV sterilizer to take care of it. I went ahead and dug that out of storage and have it running in the tank now so it should clear up soon. I've also gone back to my normal lighting schedule of 4 on, 2 off, 4 on. I'll post an updated pic once it clears up.


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## funkman262 (Jan 12, 2013)

The tank has already cleared up. It probably didn't take very long because I caught it early. I don't expect it to happen again with my current lighting schedule. I need to do some trimming tomorrow if I get a chance after work.

Day 66:


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Wow! Your tank looks beautiful!


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