Planted Tank Conversion

[jaywings19]

Hi There. I'm finally getting around to converting my tank to live plants. I've toyed with the idea over the past year, but think I'm ready to make the switch this summer.

I currently have a mature 72G (US) 48Lx18Wx22H bowfront tank set up... approximately 3 years old. It's running an Eheim Pro II 2026 canister filter, and the substrate is fine black gravel. The water temperature is around 80F, is naturally 6.6pH and quite soft... no adjustments made to pH or hardness.

I just got the following CO2 unit and lighting upgrade:

CO2 = THIS UNIT

Lighting = 48" Freshwater Aqualight Dual Linear Strip Light (6700k and 4x65=260w)

So I have a bunch of questions that I hope can be answered by the great membership on this site.

1. What substrate enhancement should I get? Eco Complete, Flourite, or Laterite? I want to keep the black gravel, but would like to mix in the enhanced substrate... rather than re-layer the entire tank.

2. In terms of lighting... my light fixture has dual switches (2 bulbs = 130w per switch). I think 260w over 12 hours is too much for a 72G tank... and 130w over 12 hours is too little. So I'm thinking about doing a 12 hour light routine as follows:

4 hours (130w - one strip)
4 hours (260w - both strips)
4 hours (130w - one strip)

Does that make sense?

3. Should the CO2 unit run during the entire 12 hour lights on period? Should my bubble bar run during the entire 12 hour lights off period?

4. I've read that a very important thing to monitor is pH level right before lights on and off... to make sure that there is not a wide swing. Is that right? Are there any other key factors to monitor?

Sorry for all of the questions. I hope you don't mind taking a few minutes to answer them. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Castellop123]

 

[john starkey]

hi if you want to keep a dark substrate go with eco-complete, but i would remove the dark gravel first for a tank your size you would need about 4 or 5 bags depending on your design, with your lighting you would be able to grow about any plants you want but just make sure you plant heavily at first (especcially fast growers) stable co2 25 to 30ppm and i suggest you read the estamative index article in the pinned section for feeding your plants regards john

 

[Themuleous]

Whatever you do dont get that co2 kit, I've not used it but for the same money you could get a pressurized kit that would be far more efficient. That kit works by reacting a carbon block with stuff (can't remember what exactly) in the tank water to create CO2, which I wouldn't think would be a good thing in any tank.

Sam

 

[jaywings19]

Thanks for the replies so far. Though, I have a few follow-up questions.

It is important to monitor Ph, but it is also important to monitor Kh levels... To low a Kh, and Ph will become unstable with the addition of CO2. You can also work out the CO2 level using these (though I would recommend that you buy a drop-checker which will tell you how high or low your CO2 level actually is)...

Anything else, just post...

I don't recall exactly what my Kh reading was, but it was in the "very soft" range. What is a good way to naturally raise the Kh in my tank to prevent huge Ph swings? I don't want to start adding liquid/chemicals to accomplish that, if possible.

hi if you want to keep a dark substrate go with eco-complete, but i would remove the dark gravel first for a tank your size you would need about 4 or 5 bags depending on your design, with your lighting you would be able to grow about any plants you want but just make sure you plant heavily at first (especcially fast growers) stable co2 25 to 30ppm and i suggest you read the estamative index article in the pinned section for feeding your plants regards john

Okay... it seems everyone is recommending the removal of the black gravel. One vote for Eco-Complete as the substrate replacement. Any other opinions on which nutrient substrate to use? Eco-Complete, Flourite, or Laterite?

 

[danski]

i agree with Sam..for that amount you can easily go pressurized,and it will probably be better.consider E.I with high lighting..if you run one light its close to 2wpg if you get good light penetration..i dont know how deep your tank is.Eco will work just fine..you will need about 3in.consider planting HEAVILY. not a few plants here and there and say its heavily planted..im talkin bout 80percent of the gravel covered with plants especially stems to fight off algae especially using both lights.hth
dan

 

[Themuleous]

Just to clear one thing up, a low KH does not cause unstable pH. The CO2/pH/KH relationship is fix, so for a given CO2 and KH level you get a fix pH. As such even a KH of 1 will give you a stable pH. It is only if the KH in the water gets used up does the pH crash. Regular water changes ensure that this never happens. Some people run tanks with an undetectable level of KH, but avoid a pH crash by doing large (+50%) water changes weekly to replenish it.

Don't be put off CO2 by worrying over pH, I've got two CO2 tanks and never had a crash.

Just out of interest the only way to increase KH is to add bicarbonate of soda as this is what KH is. However you'd have to do it regularly and after each water change and you'd struggle to get a stable KH level. Just live with what you've got, it'll more than likely be fine even for sensitive fish and the plants don't really care either way.

Sam