# my planted 90gal



## luismiguel (Mar 19, 2013)

recently upgraded from my overgrown 60 gal to a new 90 gal 48x24x18.

heart is set on a 72x24x18 someday soon!

plants:
ambulia
wisteria
dwarf hygro
amazon swords

fish:
bala shark (8)
roseline sharks (3)
rainbow shark (1)
albino rainbow shark (2)
cardinal tetra (6)
black neon tetra(11)
siamese algae eaters (4)
amano shrimp (10)
ghost shrimp (5)
albino pleco fry (maybe 3 - not sure how many survivors, these guys are tiny)

filtration:
fluval 305
AC110

substrate:
pool filter sand 

diy co2


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

It's nice to see something different than the usual - don't often see such a light coloured substrate in a planted tank. Definitely unique and I like the effect.

Can you tell us a bit about the setup such as when it was planted, if you're injecting CO2 or using excel, did you use root tabs under the swords...always good to find out what methods everyone is using to achieve success with their planted tanks.

Greg


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## luismiguel (Mar 19, 2013)

greg said:


> It's nice to see something different than the usual - don't often see such a light coloured substrate in a planted tank. Definitely unique and I like the effect.
> 
> Can you tell us a bit about the setup such as when it was planted, if you're injecting CO2 or using excel, did you use root tabs under the swords...always good to find out what methods everyone is using to achieve success with their planted tanks.
> 
> Greg


hi Greg,

i am hooked on nepheline syenite pool filter sand, its $12 a 50lbs bag at a nearby pool supply store and i first used it in my 60gal that these plants were started in, transfered from gravel with all my fish in the tank (only a couple pre rinses in a bucket) wth little to no cloudiness and no fish fatalities. love the white sand, and it reflects my regular shop lights (35wattsx2) really well, lights up the silvery fish, and seems to help plant growth. the amanos, balas, sae, and rainbow sharks seem to enjoy sifting through it as well.

this was planted about 5 weeks ago in my 60gal, transferred to new sand into my 90gal 2 weeks ago. i added roottabs and diy co2 a week in, and things flourished well, got quite a bloom of algae all ovr the sand until i cut the lighting to 8hours from 10. i was dosing with excel initially, but it seemed the diy co2, albeit minimal for a tank of 50gal+ (most suggest needing real co2 setup) worked much more for me than the dosing.

started with a couple bunches of cabomba (that mostly didnt survive, melted), 4 small swords, 5 stems of ambulia, 3 bunches of wisteria and 5 stems of hyrgo. the wisteria seems to grow bushy laterally, im getting algae on the lower leaves, seems to stunt vertical growth but my algae eater crew are loving it... the ambulia and hygro directly under the lights growth to the top in a week or two and i cut them halfway and replant the stems for more full plants... the plants along the edges stay a little sparse and grow slow... i havent added tabs to the new 90gal setup yet (kinda fearing the algae bloom) and figure when i do i'll be posting on here selling ambulia and hygro bunches soon . the swords since the move (sans root tab) havent grown nearly at all, will definitely at least plant some tabs for them.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Nice tank!


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

the asian ambulas (is that the right spelling? -__-)
are pretty and healthy!


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## djtbster (Nov 29, 2006)

i like it, makes me think you need half the lighting you would normally need as it just reflects from the sand. On the other hand that subtrate could turn green from algae


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

The white sand in my dad's 75gallon has done this. I'm thinking of replacing it soon, or adding all live plants to remove the excess nutrients.


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## littleguppy (Mar 12, 2012)

Very Nice! I like the look of pool filter sand! It brightens up everything...


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## luismiguel (Mar 19, 2013)

iBetta said:


> the asian ambulas (is that the right spelling? -__-)
> are pretty and healthy!


Your tank looks awesome man. Very nice aquascaping


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## luismiguel (Mar 19, 2013)

littleguppy said:


> Very Nice! I like the look of pool filter sand! It brightens up everything...


Its does seem to benefit the plants as it reflects light as it brightens

Just upgraded my filtration to an AquaTop 500.... Gonna keep the fluval110, that's over 1000gph (theoretically)....

Added a couple GBR , three Bolivian rams, less colour, two angels and relocated my rainbow shark to my parrot fish 75gal...and added two albino rainbow sharks.


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## luismiguel (Mar 19, 2013)

Updated pics!! 

Been cutting out tons of ambulia for my 75gal parrotfish tank and my 40gal axolotl tanks!

Still lots of growth!


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