120g Planted Possibility

[skywhitney]

It's been quite some time since I've been on this forum so I figured it was time to come by and say hi

I'm currently playing around with ideas and plannings of a new 120g (4'x2'x2') build and it never hurts to put all my ideas into writing to see if they all add up and make sense, possibly just to me if nobody else really cares.

The goal of this build is a high tech planted tank that is as automated and self sustaining as possible while also letting me experiment with how I do things (lighting, fert dosing, etc). The majority of my experimentations will come from a "it worked in tank X, let's see if I can make it work again" mindset. A lot of my equipment will be stuff that I already have that was used on my previous tanks.

Here is what I'm thinking for hardware:
120g (4'x2'x2')
2x - Ecotech XR30 G4 LED lights
2x - Fluval 406 canisters (possibly one or both with CO2 reactors plumbed in)
Hydor inline heater(s) with external thermostat
5lb CO2, with Milwaukee solenoid/bubble counter
Milwaukee pH controller
Koralia powerhead (possibly move to an MP40 eventually)

As far as plants and stocking I'm planning on this being a community tank with a combination of root feeding and stem plants.

Sorry for such a long post but I always welcome thoughts, opinions, etc. The more input the better the possible outcomes.

​​​​​​​**This tank is still theoretical as of right now, to move forward with this I need to rehome my dragons which I'm still not positive I want to do.**

 

[Barliman]

It's been quite some time since I've been on this forum so I figured it was time to come by and say hi

I'm currently playing around with ideas and plannings of a new 120g (4'x2'x2') build and it never hurts to put all my ideas into writing to see if they all add up and make sense, possibly just to me if nobody else really cares.

I'm envious: I can only wish I had the room for such a large planted tank. Understand that you are morally obligated to post pictures.

I'm curious about the lights: those are marine lights, as I recall. (I think I saw a BRS video review of them) Aren't marine lights the wrong spectrum for a planted tank?

 

[skywhitney]

I'm envious: I can only wish I had the room for such a large planted tank. Understand that you are morally obligated to post pictures.

I'm curious about the lights: those are marine lights, as I recall. (I think I saw a BRS video review of them) Aren't marine lights the wrong spectrum for a planted tank?

I'm absolutely obligated to post pictures, now if only I had some pictures of this tank to post. It's not quite a reality yet, just plans unfortunately.

Yes, those are marine lights technically. They are fully controllable though and I currently use them to grow all the plants in my paludrium (terrestrial, emersed, and aquatic) and they work like a charm. Forum some reason if they don't work on a planted tank then I'll just fire up the old faithful T5HO fixture I have in the garage.

Here is a picture of the basic controls for the lights and also a picture of the paludarium.