StarStruck's 75 gallon build thread

I figured I should start a build thread even though it is already 6 months in the making!

For Christmas my dad told me I could pick out whatever 75 gallon tank I wanted, and my brother told me he would buy everything for it but the fish and plants. I don't think he had any concept of how much everything was going to cost. :evil_lol:

January
I went with glasscages.com and placed my order the beginning of the month.
75 gallon 48 x 18 x 21 Tall
Starphire glass on the front, black silicone seams

My brother started regretting his decision when he saw how much the lights were alone..thankfully he has a good job. :evil_lol:
Catalina 48" Solar T5 - 4 X 54W
XP3 and XP2 filters
4 bags of eco-complete, 2 bags Flourite black

My light arrived before my tank was ready to be picked up, and the shipper must have put it on the bottom or something, because the box was completely destroyed when it arrived and the lights were all broken along the same spot.



I called Catalina and they immediately sent me replacement bulbs. I'm sure I could have fought to get a new fixture, but they assured me it would work just as well and I didn't feel like arguing.

I had to wait until the last week in January to pick up my tank since it took 2 weeks to build and the drop-off in PA wasn't until the 24th. My dad drove us there to meet the glasscages truck and the people were very friendly. I couldn't help but scope out what tanks the other people there were getting. There was a huge tank in the truck as well...lucky person where ever they are!

February 2009

I had to wait yet another 2-3 weeks (from the date the tank was built) until I could add water so I used this time to organize and order my equipment. Not much else happened this month.

March

I could finally add water! I was so impressed with how sturdy the tank was that I had to take a picture. This is one reason I would highly suggest buying from them rather than the ones I saw at Petco/Petsmart.



I also won an aquabid auction for 3 pairs of long-finned GBRs at this time, and received 4 pairs! The pictures look really bad because my QT tank doesn't have a light and my camera didn't like that. Looking at mine now, they look so small in these pictures.




Filled with water and eco-complete dust.



I started moving plants over from my 28 gallon...I didn't realize how big they were! I have a bunch of driftwood from spunjin to work with.



March19th

Even more plants make the move, as well as my molly fry which are growing up and taking over my tank space! I took some filter media out of the XP2 on my 28 gallon and distributed it between the two XPs on the 75 gallon.

I'd like to point out the size of the water sprite in this photo, because very shorty it will take over my tank! I only ran 2 out of the 4 lights at this time with an open top. I didn't want to have an explosion of algae quite yet, since I planned on ordering pressurized CO2 for using the 4 lights.

April

Still moving plants over from my over two tanks. Some growth from the previous month, despite not running the lights full blast.



I also moved 2 pairs of my GBRs into the tank at this time...and because I am hopelessly in love with them you will have to put up with many pictures. :grinyes:




I chose the Choice CO2 System with 10 LB Cylinder with a CO2 Diffuser 5000 and CAL AQUA "Double Check" Drop Checker after looking into different systems. Thankfully I didn't have to pay for this either! My brother and I like to play Mario Kart Wii Wednesday nights (I usually work nights), and he told me if I ever beat him on the podium he would buy my CO2 setup. Needless to say I started practicing after work. One day night he said he had a headache, and I took full advantage of his weakened state. And so he bought it for me because he is a good sport. :headbang2:I highly recommend Green Leaf, they have super fast processing and shipping. My stuff arrived 2 days after I ordered it.

Ludwigia peruensis, Needleleaf Ludwigia, Rotala wallichii, and Rotala macrandra were added from aquabid.

April continued....since I ran out of editing time!

I ordered Ludwigia peruensis, Needleleaf Ludwigia, Potamogeton ***i, Rotala wallichii, and Rotala macrandra from a seller on aquabid near the end of April. Red plants are my favorite! You can't really tell since the plants are very unorganized...this is a 'throw it in there and see how it grows' period. The willow hygro started to become a problem growing algae.

I dose dry ferts accordnig to EI dosing, with a light period of 10 hours with only one set of lights on for an hour in the morning and at night before they turn off. I also bought glass tops because I eventually am going to have rainbows and they are jumpers.



GBR in the Potamogeton ***i...I love this plant.



MY GBRs spawned! But the eggs were gone the day after.