The tank has arrived! - Salt to Planted

[Nitekry D Paul]

The tank has arrived! My wife parents has abandoned their 95 Gallon Salt water tank. I cleaned out the initial sludge so my garage would not smell like low tide in Galveston. Mnemenoi is going to help me with the cleaning next week. So I thought I would ask about the moving from Salt water to planted tank scenario.

Any pointers on the cleanup?

Any oddities I may over look in the process?

Anyone selling CO2 gear? Not sure if my coke bottle/sugar/yeast method will help this tank much.

Nitekry D Paul

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[eklikewhoa]

Congrats!

I would first start off by moving the tank to something more stable.

Fill the sucker up and let it soak in vinegar till mRoy gets over there to help you to clean off all the calcium build up and water stains.

[Totenkampf]

If you are going to inject CO2 then that overflow will hinder you. welcome to planted tanks! how soon are you looking to set up? I have some very high quality (re: balla style industrial grade) CO2 setups stashed that I started thinking about selling but i will need to find a metering valve. I may also have an inline CO2 reactor to part with. and a so-so fluval bubble counter.

nice tank, what are the dimensions on that?

[eklikewhoa]

There are ways to run co2 with an overflow, if anything I would think a planted tank with a sump would be more efficient and would be on the next level.

Co2 is cheap.

[LooksLater]

Woo-hoo! I'm so excited for you. We are totally going to live vicariously through your set-up process...

+1 on letting it soak. It won't make your garage smell much better but it sure will help with getting the build-up off.

[Darbex]

You can always flood the overflow box and hook it up to a canister. I did it when I had a 90G RR tank that was a CO2 planted tank. Worked fine.

[Totenkampf]

Flooding the overflow sounds like a better idea. CO2 is cheap but why would you run 15-20bps (wild guess) through a tank and hope that it isnt offgasing just as quickly? We use CO2 scrubbers similar to the effect caused by water cascading through an overflow in analyzer systems and CO2 offgases very quickly. If one of the drawbacks to CO2 is instability then this idea would heighten that possibility. I tried a couple times to get wet / dry goodness and my CO2 and the best idea were biowheels and the eheim wet / dry canister. incidently those werent good 'best' ideas.

since excel is just bioavailable carbon, i would guess that could work with a wet / dry? Does it stay in suspension?

[mnemenoi]

As far as I know Excel breaks down somewhat quickly once introduced into the tank, not certain exactly why. The bottle recommends daily treatment to allow constant supply, but again that could be just manufacturer talk to buy more product. I can say Seachem is usually good about not lying and Sasha checked on the recommended replacement life of Flourite substrate and they recommended never, so who knows...

I second the vinegar, all that calcium will be easy breazy after that. I imagine using some acrylic scrubbers just in case. I'd hate scratching that glass and we'll dilligently remove any sand beforehand. There are usually a few CO2 setups on here and can vouch for Totenkampf knowing his stuff. I think in a tank that size Excel would kill you on dosage rates. I think you had a mind to remove the overflow and sump from the system, if I am correct... Flooding it and plumbing in a canister would be a great idea as well.

[Totenkampf]

everything i read about excel / metricide 14 dosing suggested that it converts in 12 hours time. I would imagine that once the C is stripped out that the rest converts to H20 and O2. I dose first thing in the morning for this reason and yes I am going through it pretty quickly. I plan to post a group buy for the metricide next week so that i can order friday. if i can get 4 others involved it looks like i can get it for 25$ a gallon vs. 60$ for 4L of excel

[Complexity]

Congratulations! That will make for a beautiful planted tank!

You definitely want to go with injected CO2 on a tank that size. Don't even think about trying yeast. I'll also give my standard recommendation of adding a pH controller on the system to keep the CO2 rate stable.

I'm in agreement with Totenkampf regarding the overflow. If you can remove it, that would be best. Next best would be to flood it. It's senseless to inject CO2 into a tank only to offgas it right back out through the overflow. And while CO2 may be cheap, it's a pain to get refills all the time.

The other consideration with the overflow is that planted tanks have smaller fish which can easily get sucked into the overflow. Not a problem for tanks with 5" or larger cichlids, but definitely a problem for tanks with a bunch of 1" cardinal tetras, otos, and amanos. Further, planted tanks commonly have plant debris floating at the top of the tank which will get caught up in the overflow. That can become a mess if not kept cleaned out.

Soaking in vinegar is a good idea, as has already been mentioned. Once you've cleaned it up, add a background to the back. It really makes a difference in the overall look, and if you match your background color to your intake/outflow color, then it helps to hide the hardware from view.

Have you decided on what substrate you're going to use? I definitely recommend using a substrate for planted tanks. I like eco complete because I like the black color and how it doesn't screw with your pH, but many swear by a variety of other planted substrates. Whatever you choose should be fine as long as it's a planted substrate and you check on whether there are any special requirements needed to set it up.

Be sure to gather your hardscape now so you can put it in before you plant the tank.

You'll also need to pick out the lighting. I like T5HO lighting myself, but there are other options from which to choose.

What are you going to use for filtration? Be sure to over filter the tank. I know we have a lot of eheim fans on here, but I'm partial to Rena XPs. I run two XP4s on my 75g and 90g planted tanks.

Take lots of pictures while you build it out! It'll be fun to watch you get it all set up!

[Nitekry D Paul]

I will hav to wait until i get back from NewYork this weekend to soak. but a few days should still be good before we start the official cleaning.

I keep hearing/reading various ideas on the overflow wet/dry filter. My first Idea was to convert to Sump and add canister. Some say I do not need the canister. I just feel like I am going to need some added filtration.

The CO2 will end up being were i need some help. In the past I had no science. Several Coke bottle in dark box with hoses dropping into the filter tank and substrate. It worked but I would like to figure out more of the scientific approach.

[Complexity]

I wouldn't even consider using excel for a tank of this size. It's just not cost effective, and you'll never get the same results with excel like you get with injected CO2. Plus, there's something to be said for having your plants pearling to the point of creating a blizzard of oxygen bubbles in the tank!

[Totenkampf]

i brought glutaraldehyde up only as an idea for use if he chooses to use the wet / dry filter option. otherwise, i would guess that CO2 injection would be a losing proposition. If he floods the overflow then CO2 is a must IMO. I do have to say that I would actually recommend CO2 and Glut dosing together these days. I am very impressed with not only the plant growth but the algaecidal effects that I am seeing. The only algae currently growing is green hair since I started supplimenting with it and my tank is currently receiving the same light and ferts as it was when i was injecting CO2, which is to say 'too much'

i just pulled up a scientific study on glutaraldehyde but it didnt look into aquafarming or hydroponics so there was no info useful to us. i did note that the Metricide brand is buffered glutaraldehyde so I am wondering if it will effect hardness as it degrades? I havent noticed excel affecting that but i am not sure if it is buffered as well since they have some sort of trade name on the chemical composition

[Complexity]

Wet/dry filters are excellent, but I do not recommend them for planted tanks. They are best used for tanks without plants, such as cichlid tanks, specifically because those tanks have a very heavy bioload and require high oxygenation. The needs for planted tanks are different.

With a cichlid tank, there is usually very little decor. Just a blank tank with a sandy substrate and a few rocks. All the detritus is blown into the water column by a very strong water flow specifically so it can be removed through the filtration. Otherwise, the detritus just sits on top of the sand, looking ugly and polluting the water.

With a planted tank, there is usually a huge amount of decor (hardscape and the plants). Many planted tanks have very little open space. All the detritus is allowed to filter into the substrate where it can break down and be used by the plants. It's not even recommended that planted tanks be vacuumed very strongly. You actually want that mulm in the substrate. And while you want a good flow of water in the tank, it can't be too strong or it'll blow your plants over.

Cichlid tanks require a lot of surface agitation. This is because these tanks are highly overstocked with large fish, and the surface agitation assists with the oxygen exchange in the tank.

Planted tanks are best with little surface agitation. Not only does surface agitation outgas the CO2, but planted tanks has a lower concentration of fish so the oxygen needs aren't as high. Further, the plants produce oxygen inside the tank so the tank isn't solely dependent on the surface disturbance for its oxygenation needs.

Cichlid tanks are very different from planted tanks. Their needs are different and, thus, their equipment is different. Things like wet/dry filters are excellent for cichlid tanks, but not for planted tanks. Planted tanks benefit most from canister filters. The goal is to move the water, but not agitate it.

[Complexity]

The CO2 will end up being were i need some help. In the past I had no science. Several Coke bottle in dark box with hoses dropping into the filter tank and substrate. It worked but I would like to figure out more of the scientific approach.

I wouldn't even consider trying a yeast/coke bottle setup with a tank of this size. What you need is injected CO2. It's not even a question.