Tropical Fish Forums

[Lab_Rat]

75g CA/SA


55g African cichlid


50g African cichlid grow out


29g Community:


24g SW reef:


5g RCS:

[tracylloyd1]

Wow, there stunning

Wish mine were all like that

You must dedicate so much time to them, which is what I think I should start to do more of...

[KhiaraFish]

Those look so amazing! I've never seen a planted saltwater or a cichlid tank that is that planted!
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Please, oh Please can someone help me!?

My fish mugged me and stole my wallet!

[Cinder]

They are beautiful.

How do you keep plants in the salt water tank?
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135 gln. freshwater tank
29 gln. freshwater tank

[Lab_Rat]

Thanks! Maintenance really doesn't take that long, about 4-5 hrs a week for water changes (thank god for pythons). All the tanks are low tech, makes things easier. The cichlids are very hard on the plants, but the benefits of plants are so great I can't do a tank without them. In the SW tank, the "plants" are really just caulerpa and chaetomorpha macroalgaes. They suck up nitrates in a SW tank just like plants do in a FW.

[UncleWillie]

Excellent tanks Lab Rat, and thanks for sharing them with us. May I ask what lighting you are using on your 75? I have been looking into getting new lights for about 2 months, and have yet to pull the trigger. I am looking to have a similar low tech setup with nearly all the same plants I see in your tank. So I see your plants are doing well, and I may try to get a similar setup of lights.

[Lab_Rat]

Lighting is t5ho 4x54w, with 2 bulbs at 6700k and 2 at 10,000k. I generally only run 2 bulbs at a time since I am not injecting CO2 or dosing excel. It's probably a bit too much light, but the SAE keep the BBA away so I can get away with it.

[Liveinabox419]

very nice tanks good job
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28 gallon freshwater

29 Gallon Reef Tank: 1 Black Percula, 1 TR Percula, 1 Yellow Watchmen & Pistol Shrimp, 1 Six-line Wrasse, 1 Cleaner Shrimp

[blodhi74]

Very nice.

[Lab_Rat]

Thanks!