75gal setup

[shawn374]

Hello everybody! New guy here with some questions. I've been out of the hobby for a while, but have recently jumped back in with my purchase of a 75gal tank. I've got a fair amount of experience/knowledge in the fish area, but I'm a plant novice. What I want to do is start off with a low light planted tank and I wanted to see if y'all could tell me if I'm on the right track. So, i've got the tank, a 48" 130 watt Coralife fixture with two 6700°K bulbs, 90lbs of Flourite with a sac of Tec Minerals (to top off the substrate), magnum 350 filter, and test kit. What do ya think? What else do i need? I've got a bunch more questions, but I'll hold off for now. Thanks.

[budrecki]

SOunds like a good start. 1.7 wpg for light. Are you going to do co2? What is tec minerals, not familiar with that?

[shawn374]

No co2 right now, but maybe in the future. Wanted to try and take it slow 'til I get the hang of dealing with plants. Tec Minerals is just a brand of silica sand.

[budrecki]

If you try to put sand on top of flourite, I don't think it will stay layered. Not sure.

[vic21]

Just spudded a 125g Jan 22. 2006. I put down about 2.5 inches of fourite and then 7 to 10mm sand (two different colours striated) at least 1.5 inches to as much as 5 inches over the fourite. Contoured the base of the tank. Works fine. Just remember when vacuuming, don't get overzealous and when planting just how far the roots have to to get to the flourite.