Converting 75 gallon Cichlid tank to 75 Gallon Planted tank

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slintzen

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Aug 13, 2006
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We are down to our last african cichlid in our 75 gallon tank after many years. I have been considering converting it to a planted tank with shoaling fish like neons.

I am guessing I need a new light, and new added substrate? (currently have larger rock substrate).

If I get a 200+ Watt light and all the additives for the substrate, what else will I need? (Am assuming I will need to change the PH of the water.)

Also, will my large pleco be able to stay? and I have a Skunk Botia also, I was wondering if he can live in a community. I know the remaining cichlid needs to go.
 

FSM

Pastafarian
Mar 30, 2008
354
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Georgia
Normal tap water is fine.

If you use too much light you are going to need to get a pressurized CO2 system

Regular sand is fine for most plants, adding fertilizer tabs is beneficial or you can get something like ADA aquasoil, or make some mineralized top soil.

Skunk loaches generally aren't very nice, what are you keeping it with right now?

How much money do you want so spend?
 

slintzen

AC Members
Aug 13, 2006
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Skunk loach is in with the African Cichlid and Large Pleco. At one point years ago we had 4 skunk loaches and about 6 to 8 cichlids together with the pleco.

Should I remove all of the gravel I have now and add new sand etc, or can I mix the new sub with the large gravel I have now?

Naturally, I want to do this for as little as possible over time. So I will most likely upgrade the lighting first, then the substrate, then add the plants over time, and as everything looks good, then add the new fish. I would like to do it all saving the beautiful large pleco we have during the process, so I don't want to make any great changes at once.

Any suggestions?

p.s., I have read I need 3 watts per gallon, or 225 watts for my 75 gallon tank? Is this correct?
 

slintzen

AC Members
Aug 13, 2006
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OK, after more reading, it seems possible to avoid the CO2 issues by staying under 2.5 watts per gallon? does this seem correct? So by that logic, I should then stick to around 150-180 watts and I can avoid adding CO2? Hopefuly, or my thoughts of a planted aquarium will go down the drain, lol.
 

Jaykit

Means To An End
Feb 4, 2009
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Alberta
You can avoid having to use CO2 at your mentioned 2-2.5w/g. Depending on what type of plants you gets fertilizers would be highly recommended.
 

Yoemen

In Boogeyman's closet
Nov 2, 2005
765
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Galveston
I have seen plenty of planted aquariums with gravel substrates. Plus, I would surmise that based on the age of the substrate you may have a fairly nutrient rich substrate as it is. I have found substrates to be vastly overated in their impact on growth. Though some plants are difficult to plant in gravel.

I have a 75gallon with a 4x55 watt light from ahsupply.com over it that with my CO2 and ferts is now allowing me to grow just about whatever I stick in the tank.

Avoiding high light and CO2 is definitely possibly. Before I had the current lights, I had 3 2x40 shop lights over the tank that allowed me to grow most things. I also had CO2 injected though. The lights I was using were like $10 a piece at lowes. They weren't rated for water use and tended to short out after a year or 2, but worked for not spending money on them.

The one thing I have learned in my time with my 75 as opposed to my 55 I had previously is that you need to make sure you use the added depth it gives you in your aquascape and not just block off large sections of the back of the tank with driftwood and such.

Don't know what to tell you with the fish, never had either. I have an angel tank that has some cardinals in it and they are great fish to watch.
 

THE V

Hiding from my children
Nov 25, 2007
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If you like the look of the gravel but don't want to be re-anchoring your plants all the time, adding some sand will help. I did this with one of my tanks and the gravel on top really helps with keeping the sand in place during water changes. Plants that like to feed form their roots also like the sand better (with some fert tabs).

As for the amount of light on tanks over 50 gallons the wpg rule breaks down quickly. 225 watts over a 75 gallon can lead to a lot of problems if you are just starting out. I'd personally start out with 120-160 watts over the tank. This should be enough light for all but the plants that require very high light. Keeping the algae under control when you are just learning how is difficult enough without adding high light levels to the equation.

CO2 + high light is only required for the person who wants there plants growing at maximum speed.

As for the pleco and a planted tank. If it is one of the more common species sold in most chains you can have issues with plants. They like the taste. The only way to find out if your pleco will dine on a specific species is to add the plant and let them munch.

As far as I know the biota shouldn't cause a problem but I'm no expert on them.

Litte word of caution - increasing the light level without simultaneously adding lots of plants to the tank = algae farm. If you have a QT tank you can start messing around with getting some of the smaller plants that you find in stores growing. A 10 gallon algae farm is much easier to cleanup than a 75 gallon one.
 

Carla G

AC Members
Nov 17, 2007
538
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NSW Australia
If you don't want to spend the money on CO2, then go with the lower light. You have to select your plants out of the "easy" category, but as long as you do that, you'll be fine. There are enough "easy" plants that you can have a terrific looking planted tank without much trouble at all.

Crypts, java fern, java moss, anubias, echinodorus, wisteria, hygrophila are good starters.

There is the Plantgeek site and the Planted Tank site with plant profiles. Check out the profile for any plant before you buy it unless you want a bunch of dead plants.

Substrates such as Eco-complete or Amano or Flourite are good for plants and they look great but they are expensive. I am switching to them now. I decided it's worth it for me. If you don't want that expense, use plant tabs.
 

Yoemen

In Boogeyman's closet
Nov 2, 2005
765
0
0
Galveston
The main reason to go the high light route primarily comes down to one big thing. If you want a carpet of groundcover on your substrate or not. If not, I would go the lowlight route, especially for starting out.
 

slintzen

AC Members
Aug 13, 2006
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Wow, thanks for all of the great info guys. Everyone has been terrific and helpful.

Basically, I'm tired of the cheesy plastic decorations, and I don't have the disposable cash to sink into a saltwater, or even a High lighted, CO2 injected planted tank.

I don't have any dreams of a carpeted substrate or anything like that. What I would like to do is add Flourite and perhaps sand to the existing gravel I have to save the nutrients already there.

I will indeed look for a light in the 120w to 160w range. I think my 2 choices will be 108 watts of T5 or 130 Watts of CF, based on what I have seen available, without doubling those numbers. I at least feel more comfortable with those numbers thanks to all the great advice from you guys.

Also, thanks greatly for the advice to add the plants and light at the same time, because I was headed for an algae farm due to my previous plans.

One last question, and I don't mean to open a can of worms or start a flame war, but I am ASSuming that I should stay away from the attractive prices of the Odyssea lights on EBAY and go with a more mainstream name for the lights?

Thanks
 
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