# My new 75g finally set up



## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

Bought this tank in like July and didn't get to setting it up until now. 

@[email protected] Waiting for it to settle and the water temperature to rise.

My stocking plans is like red rainbowfish and some kind of bottom feeder. I was thinking bronze cory and then my cousin started talking me into loaches.

It's a NPT. Planning on adding more plants and hoping it'll look more like a jungle in the future. Oh my god moving some of the plants from my 20 gallon like didn't even leave a dent! 

x_x check out the world's lousiest sand path. I think I might just do a gravel pathway instead so it doesn't shift around. 

I've never set up a canister filter before and I swear it's like trying to perform CPR. PUMP PUMP PUMP. YOU NEED TO SUCK UP WATER ON YOUR OWN. :shock:


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Oh, my goodness! You lucky person, you!!! Can't wait for updates.


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## LauraInFL (Jan 7, 2016)

It's an exciting time, isn't it?

I like the rocks and the way you set up the driftwood to look like trees. Are you planning on having the tank densely planted eventually?


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

So exciting!

I'm planning on planting it more densely. I bought some plants during SNE and getting some clippings from my cousin. And a little bit of waiting for things to fill themselves in. I'm planning on wrapping some moss around the driftwood, but I can't decide if I will use the java moss I already have or go with something else.


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## LauraInFL (Jan 7, 2016)

I have a personal bias against java moss. If it's happy, it can overrun the aquarium, latching on everywhere. This video reminds me of the time I had it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dx-dLYITmw

Having said that, if you have the time and skill to trim and shape it, you can make very cool trees with java moss: Freshwater Aquarium Java Moss | Plants for aquariums

I don't have experience with any of the other mosses, so I can't suggest any others.

If you want something green on your driftwood, but it doesn't have to be a moss, you can always go with _Anubias nana _var. micro: Anubias Nana Micro | Aquatic Mag

If would take years to grow and propagate enough to cover your driftwood (unless you buy a whole lot of plants), but eventually your underwater trees would have leaves, which I think would look cool. You could use the regular _Anubias nana_ as well, but the leaves would be bigger. Any of the larger _Anubias_' leaves would be too big; they would cover up the structure of your driftwood trees entirely.


**By the way, I just linked the commercial websites for their images; I don't have experience with them, so I'm not recommending them.**


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I've read that anubias does really well and grows quickly if you set it up terrarium style (with the roots in the water and the leaves outside). I'm not sure if you could grow the micro anubias out that way and then attach it to driftwood or if it would get too used to the extra air and not do well submerged. I love the idea of the tiny leaves on there looking like a real tree.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

A tip for your canister filter next time you clean it:
Fill up the canister with dechlorinated water (same temp as tank water-or just cup in from tank) as much as you can then seal it before you being pumping-this way you aren't pumping in 1 or several gallons, just a few cups of water to get air out of the pipes. The smaller eheim filters (2211) are easy to get primed after filling the canister with water, you can just suck on the outflow to get it going-can't do that on the giant canisters.
I stopped using canister filters since my big tank is now too low to the floor to work-the ones I had the canister's top must be below the tank's bottom.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

I've never really had problems with java moss overtaking the tank. Though all my tanks including java moss are more low-light than the 75g is. 

I hadn't thought of using anubias nana. It would make a good contrast to do moss on one 'tree' and anubias nana on another for faux distance perspective. Leaves in front, fuzz undefined trees in back haha.


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## LauraInFL (Jan 7, 2016)

Ooh, that would be pretty cool. Neat idea!


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

Well, my driftwood hit the gross fungus stage since I didn't have a bucket large enough to soak them through beforehand and get the gross fungus stage over with. So I guess I have some time to kill before attaching moss and anubias nana.

*hopes there's cheap anubias nana next SNE*

It's still pretty early but I'm still yelling WHY NO NEW GROWTH at my plants. >_>


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## LauraInFL (Jan 7, 2016)

I think 5 days is a little too early to worry about not seeing new growth on most plants, as long as the plants look okay. 

The rooted plants in particular seem to need a little time to settle in. In my (albiet limited) experience, the stem plants seem to put out new growth soonest.

Good luck with the icky stage on the driftwood. Does that mess with your water parameters at all? I always soaked my driftwood out of the tank, so I have never been through that stage in-tank before.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

IIRC, the fungus stage is more of an aesthetic problem than something that messes with the water parameters.

Well, the tank isn't cycled yet, so there's not really much to throw off in the first place. Nothing in there but plants and some pond snails and ramshorn snails.


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Lookin' good! Isn't 75 gal a great size? I have one myself and it's my favourite.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

Yeah! 75g has great proportions. I was thinking of 55g first, but it isn't that wide.

Though my dad remarked it was shorter than he thought. Maybe a 6 foot long 100g in the future 

Though my uncle recently lost his arowana to a broken heater and our unusually cold winter and my aunt saw me setting up my 75g and wondered if I would set up an aquarium for them so maybe I will get to fuss with a larger tank in the future. I told them to do a planted tank with a big school of fish because their kids hated arowana because they think it is scary.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

The fungus is dying down finally. ALSO SNAIL POOP EVERYWHERE. 

Got nitrite and nitrate and still waiting for the nitrite levels to drop. My test tube is purple as heck.


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## leaveittoweaver (May 30, 2010)

Looking good!


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

My nitrite test is still purple as Barney the Dinosaur. I'm kind of waiting for it to go down by itself rather than via water changing because 75g is a lot of g. But the nitrates went from like 5ppm to like 40pmm so I assume something is happening with the bacteria

But I've noticed one of my apongeton has acclimated much faster than its siblings. I love apongeton. It grows pretty fast and sends off runners like no one's business.

All my other plants are starting to show modest growth. My dwarf sags are finally starting to come back from melting with little stubs. 

I want more plants. The impatient part of me wants to hit up bamaplants now, but the stingy part of me is like wait for SNE.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

I'm so angry. I was all excited the nitrite had dropped but it was a false negative.... 

....I can't figure out what caused this though. ?????

I tested it two more times and got the 5ppm it has been.


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## christinamac (Jan 2, 2016)

Kaxen said:


> Well, my driftwood hit the gross fungus stage since I didn't have a bucket large enough to soak them through beforehand and get the gross fungus stage over with. So I guess I have some time to kill before attaching moss and anubias nana.


I have some mopani driftwood that I plan to put in my tank this week. I have not been pre-soaking it because I have only read about tannins leeching in the water, which is fine by me. I have never heard of fungus developing on the driftwood. Does that always happen? Would boiling the driftwood beforehand help prevent fungus?


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

christinamac said:


> I have some mopani driftwood that I plan to put in my tank this week. I have not been pre-soaking it because I have only read about tannins leeching in the water, which is fine by me. I have never heard of fungus developing on the driftwood. Does that always happen? Would boiling the driftwood beforehand help prevent fungus?


The fungus stage doesn't always happen and the severity of it varies from slight fuzz to slimy cotton mess. If I recall correctly, it has to do with how the tree stores nutrients and how old or thoroughly dried the driftwood is. Boiling the wood could help. "Kill it fire/heat" is kind of the solution to a lot of things, lol.

In my experience, it happens the most often with manzanita wood. I can't remember how much fungus my malaysian driftwood had, but I had shrimps at the time it was new so they probably nibbled most of it off if there was any. I've not had fungus with cholla wood. I've not used mopani, so I don't know its tendencies firsthand.


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## christinamac (Jan 2, 2016)

It turns out that what I have is manzanita after all. I like your "kill it with fire" solution, so I am boiling my driftwood pieces right now. After boiling it I will just hope for the best when I put it in my tank, lol. I do have one little snail that might help out with any fungus. 

Any tips for dealing with the fungus stage?


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

If you really really can't stand it, you can scrape the fungus off.

I just prefer to wait it out. It only took like 2 weeks for it to come and go. Feel like it's a waste of effort to scrape off something that disappears on its own. I'd only remove it if my non-fish-nerd housemates think I'm creating a biohazard lol.

My mom thinks I'm breeding aliens with my daphnia jars.


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## christinamac (Jan 2, 2016)

Kaxen said:


> My mom thinks I'm breeding aliens with my daphnia jars.


Haha! This made me laugh. :lol:

It's good to know that the fungus stage doesn't last too long. Your tank looks great! I'm envious.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

Yeah it doesn't last that long.


The plants are starting to have more new growth. I need to trim that wad of..... I'm not even sure what it is. I got it in a cheap plant package from jdaquatics. 

Still need more plants. Eventually the back wall should not be visible, lol


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

The saga of YES I AM CYCLED followed by NO I AM NOT continues.

=_= I can’t figure out what is causing these false low readings.


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

The nitrite finally tested 0 today! And actually stayed at 0 when I paranoidly tested a second time. 

Also I think the plants ate all the nitrates.

And my dwarf lily is going nuts.

.....it's gonna be the plant I need to trim all the time. Its leaves are almost as large as my hands.

Now to wait for the next SNE for some more plants and letting it run with modest stocking for now.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Gorgeous lily!


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

Saturday, February 20, is the next SNE.

Signed,

Linda the Enabler


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> Saturday, February 20, is the next SNE.
> 
> Signed,
> 
> Linda the Enabler


I've been eagerly awaiting it since the time I received plants from the previous SNE, lol. I love SNE.


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