Ready to go, looking for suggestions, newbie...

[deocder]

Hello! New to aquariacentral.com....I have found a ton of information on here and everyone seems eager to answer questions.

I have been searching through the pages for a while now and really want to get started in aquascaping....

I currently have this:

-55 gallon tank
-eheim canaster filter
-two 20 watt flourescents
-ebo-jager heater
-undergravel filter with powerheads*
-natural gravel with 1 bag of flourite mixed in
-two pieces of some african wood root
-one piece of driftwood

-1 tiretrack eel
-1 ropefish
-2 clown loaches (large)
-2 blind cave fish
-2 plecos (large)
-1 rainbow
-2 pigmy cory cats

I'd like to go with the low tech approach...

I plan on getting the 2 x 55 watt CF from acsupply.com.....and another piece of the african wood root for the center of the tank. I will need to remove the plecos because of their tendency to uproot things....

*From what I have read, It sounds like I need to remove the undergravel filter.....i'm not looking forward to the havoc that will result in removing it (freaking the fish out, stirring up to mulm, etc...). Any suggestions on this?

I guess I am looking for someone to guide me from this point.....i need help with this, even though i find a lot of answers with the search feature. Thanks guys and girls!

-Adam

 

[djlen]

Welcome to AC Adam -

Yes, under gravels are not very conducive to planted tanks. I've heard arguments opposed to that, but I think the majority of people will concur. If it were my tank, I would remove it now as it will be easier now than later.
If you don't have another tank to put them in, you can put them into a large bucket while making the switch in filtration.
You want to keep a generous portion of mulm in the substrate. You want to save 10 - 20% of the current water that is in the tank at present, so you'll have to store that in large buckets and return it to the tank after removing the under gravel. Then you can re-fill with tap water treated with 'tap water conditioner' and the fish will be able to be put back into the tank immediately as long as the water temp is within a few degrees of the bucket temp that the fish are coming out of.
Here's a suggestion:
>Remove fish to bucket(s)
>Siphon off your 10 - 20% and set that water aside
>Pull all objects and then pull all substrate to the front of the tank(up against the front glass as high as possible).
>Remove the U G filter
>Let the mulm settle a bit with the substrate against the front of the tank
>Siphon off the balance of the water and when it gets down to about 1", remove the siphon
>Gently push the substrate back in the tank an position it as desired(for planted tanks, sloping from back down to front is good)
>Back siphon the 10 - 20% water back into the tank.
>Re-fill to within 4 - 5" of top using tap water conditioner.
>Add back objects
>Check temps in tank and in fish bucket(s) and add back fish and water that they are in
>Fill tank to top
All of this will be made much easier with the use of a Python siphon and re-fill system.
Start up your cannister and you're good to go. The fish should be fine as long as the temps are close. They will love the huge water change.
Hope all this is understandable to you.

Len

 

[deocder]

Ok great! Thanks djlen! It doesnt seem too bad.....I have a Python with the faucet adapter and also have a keg bucket that has always been used to transport fish from house to house.....

It looks like it will take 2-3 hours to do the whole thing but I will plan for the worse and set aside extra time. I hope to do it tomorrow.....

I am headed out to get another piece of the african wood root (I will find out what it really is when I am at the LFS) to add to the middle of the tank.

 

[djlen]

It may well be African Root. I have a bunch of it in my tanks. Very heavy, reddish brown, sinks like a stone, and beautiful.

Don't forget to leave some mulm(that last inch or so when siphoning) in the bottom. It will keep your tank matured and ready for plants and light when you get it.

I have 2 55gals. and the dual 55s CF over one of them. This should be considered a low-med. light situation, mainly because of the depth, so plant accordingly.

Len

 

[Richer]

AHSupply has excellent reflectors with their CF lights... those lights can penetrate water pretty well. 2x55 watts is the borderline for low-tech in your situation... but thats assuming that you are using normal flourescent lighting. Add some floating plants to your tank to further shade it a bit.

HTH
-Richer

 

[plantbrain]

You did say low tech right?
Shop light, a triton and a cool white make a good combo, you can buy a nice reflector for this 80w light and build a DIY box for the hood. You can also upgrade to an Electronic ballast.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[deocder]

Well, I finally pulled the undergravel filter out tonight. It was pretty easy and did not take too long.....

I added some more african root wood to fill in the middle of the tank. I plan on attaching some plants to this wood, probably some java fern......not sure what else roots to wood like that.

I also ordered the 2x55 power compact lighting package from ahsupply.com and plan to build a nice canopy.

So for now I will wait for the lights.....do I add plants at the same time that I put the new lights on?

 

[Richer]

Yes. Like I said before, the CF setups from AHSupply can penetrate light very well. Add floating plants to your tank. Things like duckweed, riccia, etc. will work quite well.

As for other plants... try anubias. There are various species of anubias available to aquarists, they can also root to driftwood and are quite easy to keep.

HTH
-Richer

 

[deocder]

Before the plants:

Waiting for the light........

 

[125gJoe]

Coming along real good!