I picked up a 72g bowfront and am now finally getting everything ready to set it up and get it going, but i have a few questions. I am going to be aquascaping it with some driftwood to add in it.

Here are my qusetions:

1. I plan on having a grass plant on the tank bottom.

Like this tank here:http://truthinart.files.wordpress.co...amanotank1.jpg

Now i know on my old aquarium when i would do a water change i would syphon the gravel and such but when i have a grass type plant how do i go about doing that since i wont be able to get down to the gravel and trying would probably reck the plant?


2. How many of you use a UV seteralizer? I have been told it makes the water more clear and kills micro organizmes and bateria in the tank. What are your thoughts on this? also what is a good one to gowith for my 72g. Im using a ehiem filter so i would probably want to go with a inline one.

3. Since i am using a canister filter i thought about a inline heater also so i could get rid the intank one i currently have. How efficient are these? Would a 300watt be sufficient or would i still need a in tank to? This is the one i was looking at: ETH 300 In-Line Heater 300W f/16mm-5/8"Hose

4. As far as ehiem filter media goes do i really need anything? My first plan was to just use the sponges and then just a bunch of aquarium flawss. Is that ok? i see these bio balls, carbon, etc that you can get but am woundering if there are really needed.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

bio balls ect are biological filtration

I run mine with ammo chips, sponges and ceramic bio media.


300w should be fine since its warming the water going into the tank.


I dont use UV sterilizers, from whats ive read those are no good unless they are tiny on a planted tank.

UV's will work on larger tanks, I ran one on my 75 gal. Best to get at least a 32 watt uv and they work a lot better. They also help keep parasites out of the tank. Inline ones are great, I just use one that hangs on back of the tank.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

I do not use any uv sterilizer or mechanical filtration of any kind on my planted tanks.

Just the tank, substrate, plants, lights, and fish.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden