# First planted tank 125 gallon



## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Way to go! Looks like you have set up more than just this one tank- it is really nice!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Thank you!!!!!!  this is my first planted tank but I've done a bit of research and I've done quite a bit of rearranging and have finally stopped at this, for now anyways lol I can't wait for some of these plants to grow out and fill up the empty spaces. In the back left by the rocks is a baby red tiger lotus which I know will get huge  and my dwarf sags are finally sending out little babies  my crypts seem to be doing well (still babies) but my swords are quite sad looking I think they are possibly lacking iron. The one next to the rocks on the right is a little more pink than it shows in the picture but still some whitish.


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## Malakian (Aug 23, 2014)

Not too shabby! If you are not adding any nutrients/fertilizers to the tank, though it could be Iron (-is a micro nutrient. Micro's are the kind plants don't need as much of), I think it's more likely its missing one of the macro's (the nutrients plants use a lot of). Nitrate, phosphate or potassium.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

I'm using osmocote plus root tabs and dosing liquid ferts but I don't think the osmocote has much iron in it? Not sure but I hope I can figure it out soon because I love the colors of the swords (main reason I got them) and they are barely there :/


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## Islandgaliam (May 24, 2014)

Nice job! I too know the learning, exciting but frustrating part - lol. The background looks like sun hitting the water??? Or is that a light? Either way, it is a totally awesome touch


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Haha thank you!! It's actually my flash from my phone camera lol I have to use it otherwise the picture would come out blurry.


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## Islandgaliam (May 24, 2014)

st3phaniex3 said:


> Haha thank you!! It's actually my flash from my phone camera lol I have to use it otherwise the picture would come out blurry.


lol..cracks me up...my flash has never had a nice effect like that :icon_roll


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

It may be partly my background which is just a black trash bag lol I'm on a serious budget lol


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## ROYWS3 (Feb 1, 2014)

I certainly don't think you went plant crazy. You could add a lot more and starting with a tank chock full of plants is a smart way to go - it certainly helps your tank establish balance without struggling with algae issues.

What is your lighting? It looks like the right corner is darker than the rest.

What liquid fert are you using? What is your substrate?


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

I added all the plants over time I've had the tank for a few months now and I do have some algae problems probably because I can't afford pressurized co2 system 

My lighting is an odyssea 4× t5ho 80w bulbs (2 ×10000k and 2× actinic blue) yes it is darker on the right side because the lights are staggered so I put all the lower light plants over there mainly anubias and java ferns
My substrate is black diamond blasting sand with osmocote plus root tabs 
Liquid ferts are pmdd
-1part csm+B 
-1part mgso4
-2parts K2SO4 
-1part kno3
I dose that daily along with api co2 booster 
Then I dose 1/2 tsp KH2PO4 3x week

Is there anything I should be doing different? Am I missing anything besides pressurized co2?


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Ok so I was reading up a little more about deficiencies and if it isn't an iron deficiency maybe it could be a potassium deficiency? The leaves start out pink then turn to a clearish white as they get bigger.


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## ROYWS3 (Feb 1, 2014)

Is pressurized CO2 in the plan for the future? It will certainly be beneficial. I see you're using API CO2 Booster. I use it and think that is a better liquid carbon product than Excel. I have also used the same light fixture (only in a smaller version) and was very pleased with growth and color rendition. I have since switched over to LED from the same company (Aquatraders) but the same color mix (10000K/Actinic).

This may sound simple but try adding Tetra FloraPride - it's got the two nutrients you may be lacking - Potassium and Iron


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

I do hope to do pressurized co2 in the future but as of right now I can't afford it. I do like the light just not how the bulbs are staggered but I'm working around that. I think I have realized that seachem products don't work as well as I've read they did. I thought kh2po4 was potassium? And I thought there was iron in the csm+B? I'm probably wrong lol but I was thinking of just adding some sort of iron source under just the swords because everything else seems to be doing fine. Would clay work as an iron source? And is there a certain type of clay I should be using?


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## Georgeh (Mar 23, 2015)

*Diy co2*

I too cant afford a pressurized CO2 regulator but am doing the yeast,sugar 2 liter bottle thing in 90 gallon with sufficient results.You tube instructions may help out for your 125. Good start though.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

I was going to do a diy setup but a lot of ppl say it's not stable. The main thing I'm concerned with is killing my fish but then again even a pressurized system could do the same without enough knowledge and research. How long have you been running the diy co2?


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## ROYWS3 (Feb 1, 2014)

The thing with DYI is you can't control it well - it's producing CO2 24/7. With Pressurized, you put it on a timer and its only on when he lights are on


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Yea I'd rather just save up and get a pressurized system because though most of my fish go to the surface to breathe (rope fish), my most expensive one does not ( blue panaque plecostomus L239) and I don't want to risk anything with any of them.

So as for the oriental sword here's a picture if anyone can help me figure out what's going on. I did just move and the water is different from my old water (idk how much of a difference that makes with swords) the leaves start out pink with new growth but then they start turning white. The older leaves (didn't look so well when I first got it) are a different deficiency I think? But I thought a plant could only show one at a time? Ugh I'm so confused.

And yes there are some free floating osmocote balls in there. Some came out when I moved things around.


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## ROYWS3 (Feb 1, 2014)

It looks to me like some of those old leaves are emerse leaves and will deteriorate and die anyway


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Any idea why the new growth would start out pink then turn whitish?


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## Malakian (Aug 23, 2014)

I would recommend to try and dim the lights some, or use just 2x of the bulbs if you can. Since you don't have Co2 at the moment, lowering your lights will alleviate a lot of the deficiencies and melting problems, not to mention algae if you have any. The deficiencies you have are multiple from what I can tell, pointing to a Co2/light issue. The amount of light you are running is aprox. the amount with someone with a fully planted, min 25ppm Co2, full EI would run ime.

I would also recommend looking into buying some liquid carbon (Flourish Excel, Easy Carbo.) until you get your Co2 system. Your plants will throw you a party for it. Valisineria can be a little touchy when it comes to liquid carbon, but you can supposedly ween it to tolerate it, by slowly increasing over some days until you reach recommended dosing amounts. I have little experience with this plant myself though, I'm just repeating what I've read on here


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Ohh I do dose api co2 booster and when that runs out I was going to get a large bottle of metricide. I did actually ween my jungle vals with it and they now don't mind it at all


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Did a little rearranging to make room for more plants that should be here by Tuesday  the branches are all clustered together and I don't think I like it  not sure where to place them to make them look ok. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!


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## cbucner (Feb 19, 2015)

The rock formation looks too unnatural , maybe try switching it with one big main stone followed by smaller ones . Not too much u can do with those thin rocks. Chose your main focal point as the wood or the stone and have that focal point stand out in size. Also they are too symmetrical both at the each end of the tank. Use the rule of thirds in placement.
You got too much light going, lift it up or reduce bulbs.

Bump: Place the branches to create height, if that will be your main structure .


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

Using low light slower growing plants can be just as beautiful a result as high-tech tanks. Don't have to trim all the time either


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

I dig the rock structure.

Do not worry whether Osmocote+ has enough iron. It has plenty - as long as you used the actual "plus" and not the regular.

The swords look normal to me. As someone pointed out, the bad leaves look like emersed growth dying off. Also it is natural for the leaves of many species to be one color when they're coming in, and then change.

Tank looks really nice!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Thank you everyone!! The reason I have the layout the way it is, is due to the light. The fixture that I have has the bulbs staggered inside so the left and right of the tank don't receive as much light as the middle. If I can eventually rig it to have 8 shorter bulbs (4 on each side or stay with 4 shorter bulbs but having 2 on each side instead of staggered then I will definitely be rearranging everything again. I know the rock formation doesn't look natural I need to figure out how to set them up better. Really I'm more worried about my fish being comfortable.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Ok so I moved some stuff around. Moved the rocks more toward the middle and took some out. I think it looks a little better  

I would still like some suggestions if anyone has any.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I like how much more prominent the rocks are now. I also think it adds to the plants in the corner more too. Looks good to me. The driftwood area looks dark and empty though.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Thank you!!  yea I need to figure out what to fill it with. I have some jungle val back there that is just now starting to send baby plants out so maybe that will help fill it in. Plus I have 2 crypts (not 100% sure what kind possibly balansae) that will hopefully grow out soon also. And my anubias coffeefolia and goldens are over there too. I'm not sure what else to add because it's such low lighting there.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Soo for whatever reason I never thought to rearrange the BULBS until just now haha looks soo much better and the plants on the right side are actually visible 

Here's a better pic with the bulbs rearranged


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## cbucner (Feb 19, 2015)

Try to create a wood structure and then use the stones at the base , check the pics I attached , simple but looking good.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

cbucner said:


> Try to create a wood structure and then use the stones at the base , check the pics I attached , simple but looking good.


Actually I was thinking of doing something like that. I just need to find the time for a rescape again and I'm not sure if the pieces of driftwood I have will look good with that type of design. I guess the only way to find out is to do it  hopefully by Tuesday I'll have something figured out!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Ok so I tried rearranging the rocks and driftwood and this is what I got. Not sure how I feel about it yet but I am done messing with it for the day. Let me know what you guys think.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Ok I lied it was bothering me so I added a few more rocks lol

















Let me know what you guys think Please!!!!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Annd again ... I like it now!! I just can't wait for the dwarf sag to grow in on both sides!!  

Don't mind the mess, for whatever reason I decided to take a pic right after feeding time lol


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Looking good!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

burr740 said:


> Looking good!


Thank you  this tank has been a work in progress for quite a while now but I think it's finally getting there!!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Another update! Did a little rearranging in the left corner. And a bit of a trim.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated as always!!  

And does anyone have any tips on getting rid of the osmocote balls that seem to never want to get sucked up while cleaning lol I hate seeing them and would rather not have to pick them out one by one.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

I've been wanting to create a moss "tree"in my tank but the way I've had it set up it just didn't seem like a good fit. The moss wouldn't have the look of actual leaves and with the size of the tank, branches and my setup I thought it would look silly ... so I decided to put some anubias on the branches to try to make a "tree". Unfortunately I don't have enough to cover the amount I would like to cover  I'm definitely hoping to get more anubias soon!!! (On quite a tight budget at the moment  )

Anyways here's a pic ...let me know what you guys think!!


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## strangewaters (May 13, 2015)

Trees not bad looking. I wanted the same tree moss but scrapped it after awhile

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


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## ROYWS3 (Feb 1, 2014)

Really starting to look good!!!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

strangewaters said:


> Trees not bad looking. I wanted the same tree moss but scrapped it after awhile
> 
> Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


Yea moss just seems too messy looking. Don't get me wrong I think it looks great in most of the pics I've seen but I don't think I would want to keep trimming and having tiny pieces of moss floating all over my tank.


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

ROYWS3 said:


> Really starting to look good!!!


Thank you!!  

I just need to find more super cheap anubias to fill it all in then I'll be posting updates


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## taylormedic (Apr 21, 2015)

st3phaniex3 said:


> I do hope to do pressurized co2 in the future but as of right now I can't afford it. I do like the light just not how the bulbs are staggered but I'm working around that. I think I have realized that seachem products don't work as well as I've read they did. I thought kh2po4 was potassium? And I thought there was iron in the csm+B? I'm probably wrong lol but I was thinking of just adding some sort of iron source under just the swords because everything else seems to be doing fine. Would clay work as an iron source? And is there a certain type of clay I should be using?


You are correct, K anything will provide potassium, and csm+B provides iron. Don't worry about clay, I would up your dose of potassium and watch the plant for deficiencies. When you are dosing on a regimen like you are, that isn't EI based, you have to watch your plants and increase what they are lacking. Check out this link for help in understanding what your plants need:
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/deficiencies.htm

Bump:


st3phaniex3 said:


> Ohh I do dose api co2 booster and when that runs out I was going to get a large bottle of metricide. I did actually ween my jungle vals with it and they now don't mind it at all


Go with Malakian and use a different product. The API carbon source is awful IMHO. Bad for fish and plants, at least when I tried it. Used it twice and threw it away.

And, by the way, I think your tank looks amazing!!! Great job!


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

taylormedic said:


> You are correct, K anything will provide potassium, and csm+B provides iron. Don't worry about clay, I would up your dose of potassium and watch the plant for deficiencies. When you are dosing on a regimen like you are, that isn't EI based, you have to watch your plants and increase what they are lacking. Check out this link for help in understanding what your plants need:
> http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/deficiencies.htm
> 
> Bump:
> ...


Thank you!!  I did already get the metricide and it seems to be working A LOT better than the api co2 booster!!


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## strangewaters (May 13, 2015)

st3phaniex3 said:


> Yea moss just seems too messy looking. Don't get me wrong I think it looks great in most of the pics I've seen but I don't think I would want to keep trimming and having tiny pieces of moss floating all over my tank.


Ha. And thats how i feel about a small piece of moss i have in my tank now. Came with a plant buy. Not complaining for a freebie but now im like ehhhhhhh do i really want it to clog my filter 

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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

strangewaters said:


> Ha. And thats how i feel about a small piece of moss i have in my tank now. Came with a plant buy. Not complaining for a freebie but now im like ehhhhhhh do i really want it to clog my filter
> 
> Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk


Lol yea java moss was my first plant and it was always everywhere. I decided after cleaning it out (took forever) that I wasn't too fond of moss. I still actually have some tied to some branches which I haven't had to trim yet so it doesn't bother me. Actually gives the tank a more natural look. But maybe when it comes time to trim I'll take the driftwood out and put it in a bucket to trim and rinse lol


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## st3phaniex3 (Dec 18, 2014)

Ok so I got a couple more anubias and tied it down. What do you guys think?










It doesn't look the way I expected. I probably should've tied the anubias sideways instead but I'm not sure if that would've really made a difference.


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