New planted tank 150 gallon low tech

Hello everyone, firstly I'd like to thank Tom for creating such an amazing wealth of information. After having read a number of his articles and an even larger number of his replies to questions posted by newbies like me, I feel at great ease with the advice offered on this forum. The articles just seem to make a lot more sense to me than many other sites I have been to and the progression from complete novice into somebody that is ready to embark on there first planted tank adventure is easy to follow and well mapped out. Particularly the reassurance that everyone was in this position once and that I should not feel afraid to 'experience' rather than just be lost in a maze of acronyms and chemistry straight away is a breath of fresh air.

I have a 150 gallon aquarium measuring 72x20x24 inches that I would like to make a planted community set up. I have decided that a low tech method would be best for me however I am still deciding whether I will be dosing excel or not. Primarily this will come down to the water changes involved as 50 percent each week would be unmanageable for me on a tank this size. However at 25 percent a week is very doable. Like I said I would like a community setup containing tetras, rasboras and maybe dwarf cichlid as well as hardy, easy to grow plants like hygrophila, ambulia, crypts, rotala, amazon swords etc. I already have 2 Eheim 2217 canister filter which I intend to use on this tank. My plan for lighting (which is very subject to change based upon the advice I receive here) will be 2 HOT5 fixtures with 2x39w bulbs in each for a total of 156w or just over 1wpg. I will be using Eco Complete substrate. My plan for fertilizers would be to use KNO3 and KH2PO4 as well as equilibrium as stated in Tom's article. Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi Gerryd, thanks for that great reply. I guess I never really thought of doing it that way. Coming from a saltwater background I suppose I had images of turning my tank into death soup. Although this seems like a common way to do it, I think I even saw Tom posting that he uses this method in a large tank. I don't know if you quite understood my lighting plans. It will effectively be 2 t5 bulbs running the length of the tank. But because I can't find 6' fixtures I will need to use 4 39w bulbs. But if this is still to much please say so. But I had my doubts as this was a 24" deep tank. I was also wondering about using the GH booster as the parameters of my tap water after aging are:
KH:6
GH:8
PH:7.2
Maybe I should use flourish instead or is equilibrium still recommended? I was also wondering about KNO3 and KH2PO4. If I can't find these dry here in Australia can I use the Seachem products instead? How would I go about converting from the tsp measurements given by Tom to milliliters? Sorry about the long posts but I really appreciate your help and any more I can get.

 

Ok so I have decided to go entirely low tech no co2 (without excel) to see how it goes. I have my concerns as It does not seem to be documented on a tank this size but I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work. This means that I will need to dose equilibrium as the complete lack of water changes will mean I need to replace these elements. I have found suppliers of dry ferts that I need. I will also be stocking relatively lightly at less than 1" of fish per gallon of small tetras as per Tom's instructions. My primary concern now is if this will be too much light. As stated it will be 4x39w t5's with individual reflectors which will be spread out to make in effect, 2 T5 bulbs measuring the length of the tank. This will make a total of 156w or just over 1wpg bearing in mind that it is a 24 inch deep tank I doubt it will be too much. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.

 

Thanks for that Whiskey. My plan was actually to buy the kit and install it into the hood with reflectors as you said. So I will go with this. I'm a little confused about the part where you said your soil was producing co2? I've never read anything about this and I don't think it said it in Tom's low tech no co2 article. Maybe I missed it. I have ordered 10 bags of eco-complete and I hope this will do the trick.

 

Thanks for the reply Tom, your an ongoing inspiration to me and I really appreciate the advice. You didn't make any mention of eco complete, however I've just had 10 bags of the stuff arrive this morning. I hope it will still work out. I read that you said it would work to someone else and I really like the look of it. My other concerns were the lighting levels, is two individually reflected t5's running the length of the tank too much? Also just that I haven't seen too many with low tech planted tanks this size. Also, if I want to keep it moderately stocked (1 inch of fish per gallon) should I adjust my ferts schedule accordingly? Thanks again.

 

Hi Guys, I have now decided that I definitely want to run with excel as a carbon supplement. I want a reasonable fish load and the thought of doing no water changes does not sit right with me. I have decided that my dosing schedule will look something like this.

Dose 1 teaspoon KNO3 once a week
KH2PO4, ½ teaspoon, once a week
Flourish Comp. 15mls twice a week
SeaChem EQ 1 teaspoon once a week
50% weekly water change

Dose 1.5-2x the rec dosing for Excel.
After water change – 110ml
Regular Day - 20ml

I was wondering what peoples thoughts were as this sounds like quit a lot of dry ferts and excel (although I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case as it is a large tank. Thanks again.

 

Thanks for the response guys. Sorry I'm changing my mind on so many things. It looks as though my low tech tank won't be so low tech after all. I have decided that I will add a pressurized co2 injection system. I have also decided on a scape plan that I would like some feedback on. I realize I may need to up my lighting from what was originally planned in order to maintain such a tank

I am hoping to have eleocharis parvula carpet in the foreground where it will be met in the middle of my tank by the taller blyxa japonica which will surround several pieces of driftwood on each side of the tank. I will also have a number of stem plants in the background. These are the ones I like:

heteranthera zosterifolia
ludwigia inclinata
rotala walichi
rotala sp green
eustralis stellata
rotala macrandra
limnophila aromatica

Fauna will be stocked very lightly consisting of only 20-30 cardinal tetras and 20-30 rummynose tetras depending on how the school sizes look in the tank. I will be dosing full EI. I guess from here the only thing to decide on is whether I will need more light for my choice of plants. I did have inspiration from a particular video however I am not sure if I'm allowed to post a link without permission. Thankyou all so much for your help, I apologize that this thread is so drawn out

 

Hi Gerryd,

First of all I think I saw your planted 180 on youtube and it is AWESOME! Anyway that was something else I didn't ask about. Here in oz the most often seen for sale choices for co2 diffusion is those glass diffuser like the ADA ones. I have read on here that many prefer inline reactors although these seem to be few and far between here in Australia. The fish is really just the "core" plan. I will probably find that I will want to increase the school sizes but that will come down to what it will look like when the first 20-30 are in. Thanks again.