
Welcome to the page for my 75 gallon Planted Community Tank that features Rainbowfish and Asian species. I've always enjoyed this aquarium, even when keeping Marine animals. It's a peaceful reminder to just slow down and enjoy life. I'm quite happy to be working with it as my primary right now. The fish are lively, beautiful and very hardy. They attack food like the stereotypical "pack of piranha" and they're always "excited" to see me near the tank :)
Below, I'll provide a gallery of the species I'm keeping, as they seem to have slipped the general conscious of aquarists. I have some theories as to why this gross injustice exists... But I'll just shut up and let you enjoy the show :) As well, I'll describe a little about the experimental way I'm keeping plants, using a deep sandbed, which is a roll over from my Marine aquaria pursuits. Enjoy!
A Gallery of Current Species:
Chilatherina bleheri Bleher's Rainbowfish	Glossolepis wanamensis Emerald Rainbowfish	Glossolepis incisus Salmon Red Rainbowfish
Melanotaenia bosemani Bosemani Rainbowfish	Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi Yellow Rainbowfish	Melanotaenia lacustris Turquoise Rainbowfish
Melanotaenia parkinsoni Parkinson's Rainbowfish	Melanotaenia praecox Neon Rainbowfish	Melanotaenia splendida australis Western Rainbowfish
Melanotaenia splendida inornata Checkered Rainbowfish	Melanotaenia trifasciata Regal Rainbowfish
Other Community Members:
Botia macracanthus Clown Loach	Chaetistoma sp. Bulldog Pleco	Crossocheilus siamensis Siamese Algae Eater
System Specifics This system's setup is fairly simple and I'll briefly describe my approach. Lighting: The tank is illuminated using five 4' strip lights with GE Daylight Ultra lamps. The lamps are found at most hardware stores and cost right around $5.50 as an average. I use two twin tube shop lights and a standard single tube All-Glass strip light to run them. Planting: I'm currently 3 months into a sugar grained deep sandbed as substrate and have watched everything work as expected so far. With certainty, the real meat of this discussion is at about the two-year mark once any type of "honeymoon" is over. A picture of the depth: https://farmertodd.com/freshwater/rainbowfish/SandbedLg.jpg That thar is a sandbed :) It's about 5" in the deeper sections (this is a normal 75 gallon). I bought the playsand at Home Depot for $2 a bag. 75 gals of substrate for $6, when did you last pay that? :) Within the bed, I've mixed a bag of Seachem's flourite for extra root nutrition (the flourite will get your cost savings back though ;). The surface layer is all flourite and pea gravel. The bed slopes toward the back so that it's about even with the far left corner there (the 5" depth). I did this to create a grade from front to back so I could aquascape in some ornamental rocks and such. The intention is to only have about 1/2" to 3/4" of rocky material up top.
Why is it like this still? I wanted to compare growth on different plants in different segments. Some in shallow gravel, some in deep gravel. Let's just say those that hit the sand faster establish better and grow waaay faster. Some stuff on the deep gravel is still going as previously experienced... Super slow to withering. For example, I've always had trouble with val. Didn't matter the kind. Dunno why. I put it in sand and there it goes. Same story with sagittaria. And all plants are forming super long roots (even bulbs like apongeton and nymphea? I have an apongeton that's been in bloom on one stalk or another for a month now lol). They're starting to make their way out to the edges so I can see how deep they're penetrating. It would be interesting to cut a hole in the foam insulation I put underneath (my $3 solution to a $200 undergravel cable heater for 'warm feet' heh) and see where it's all at :) I do add fertilizers. I've been adding Sera's Florena for soluble iron and micronutrients, potash for potassium and sulfur, and epsom salts for magnesium. I was doing this all before in a flourite only bed (which a flourite only bed is recommended at the lfs of course ;) and was not experiencing even a fraction of the success.		Apongeton sp. Bloom
There was one other change.. And that was putting glass tops in and sealing up the gas exchange. I was not doing this prior (had it open top) and the additional CO2 is definitely a factor... But remember... I'm getting the same sort of growth I had prior on the deeper gravel... So I kinda throw that out. At the same time, it's arguable that the respiration in the sand is an additional CO2 source (no external CO2 source, even though all the equipment is sitting right next to the tank lol). So it goes many ways. It would be nice to be able to quantify things a little bit better. There have been other benefits as well. The water was transferred from another 75 when I did the tank move. Initial nitrate reading was ~50ppm. Pretty crappy huh? Once some plants had reestablished themselves, man the whole thing took off like wildfire. I haven't seen a nitrate in 2 months (weekly tests). I only did one 15 gal water change back in early November just because, well, "you're supposed to" but I haven't fussed with it since. Just tested for nitrate to see how we're moving along. I've also only scrubbed the glass twice since this system's inception. Wow. Now I have all this time to take pictures :) Again, the jury is still out on whether the sand is denitrifying or the plants are able to absorb all ammonium and nitrate with their roots all good and happy. In either case though, together they're limiting algal growth and keeping the fish all happy. Oh, and the Farmer too :) So for now... To heck with all these rumors of black roots and room choking sulfide nasties (the common thought on natural substrates). The plants live in anaerobic substrates like sand and mud in the wild... Dunno why it'd be any different in a tank. Apparently all these authors and 'experts' have only walked thru an aisle and not the muck out in the field huh? ;) Filtration: Filtration... The plants and sand, of course, serve the capacity to utilize nitrogen and organic material and provide mega surface area for nitrifying bacteria. I would consider them to be the primary filter. I do have a couple of mechanical filters on the system. The main mechanical filter is an Eheim 2217, which is great for sucking up detritus and really packing it into nothing, allowing bacteria to do their work. I also have a Second Nature WDF 4000 which I use the bag-like filter pads to capture solid material and again, rot it. I can also use this filter to place carbon bags when necessary, it also serves as the external aeration device. Feeding: "Lots of tasties" is my motto in feeding any animal. I feed a 50 cent sized portion of high grade freeze dried brine, bloodworms and plankton approximately 4 days a week, and then feed spirulina or veggie flake once a week as well. I then fast the animals for 2 days a week, usually Monday-Tuesday. This combination seems to really enhance the color.