Help on Planted Tank!

[Tdemler68]

So I am a victim of mts... I have two planted 30 gallon tanks that are doing very well!! Growing great plants and both are running off of diy co2. Well I just went and purchased a 120 gallon tank to use for my living room! With it I got a shop light that holds 4 U shaped flourescent tubes that all say 65 watts on them but two are bright white and two are a lighter blue color? My tank is 4x2x2 for dimensions. So questions now
1. Does this light fixture add up to 260 watts?
2. Any advice on planting and Maintaining this tank? Is it enough light?
3. I want to make it a very good looking aquascape with a great carpet and nice rocks and substrate. (Not a question)
4. Any advice on fertilizing this tank? I’ve never gone pressurized co2 and do plan on it in the future but for right now getting things set up just hit me with the basics that I’ll need.
5. Any other tips and tricks that may help me and my tank!?

All comments are welcome so please provide some input! I plan on keeping small fish such as neons, ottos, Cory’s, etc. any other fish recommendations?
Plant types and where to find them are also needed and welcome! Please just any suggestions are welcome as I feel slightly in over my head right now haha

 

[ZxC]

So I am a victim of mts... I have two planted 30 gallon tanks that are doing very well!! Growing great plants and both are running off of diy co2. Well I just went and purchased a 120 gallon tank to use for my living room! With it I got a shop light that holds 4 U shaped flourescent tubes that all say 65 watts on them but two are bright white and two are a lighter blue color? My tank is 4x2x2 for dimensions. So questions now
1. Does this light fixture add up to 260 watts?

Do you have a link to the bulbs? Tough to tell which ones you are referring too....


2. Any advice on planting and Maintaining this tank? Is it enough light?

Keeping a large tank clean clean clean is the best way to help with the inevitable battle with algae. Remove all the crud and decaying plant matter, keep the filters clean and don't slack on water changes.

3. I want to make it a very good looking aquascape with a great carpet and nice rocks and substrate. (Not a question)

That's a good start, make a plan from the get go and define your goals with this tank!

4. Any advice on fertilizing this tank? I’ve never gone pressurized co2 and do plan on it in the future but for right now getting things set up just hit me with the basics that I’ll need.

PPS-Pro, Estimative Index, custom mixes... tons of options for fertilizing. check out this website: https://rotalabutterfly.com/



5. Any other tips and tricks that may help me and my tank!?

If you are planning on doing CO2, buy it off the get go. It will make everything much much easier and your plants will grow much much better. Plant as much as possible off day 1, keep ferts a little "light" until the plants really start growing. Its best to start with lights on for 5-6 hours to start, and slowly increase up to 7-8 hours per day as the plant mass increases.

The best source of ferts (cheapest and easiest to dose) are dry ferts. Look for KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM+B, CaSO4 and MgSO4.

All comments are welcome so please provide some input! I plan on keeping small fish such as neons, ottos, Cory’s, etc. any other fish recommendations?
Plant types and where to find them are also needed and welcome! Please just any suggestions are welcome as I feel slightly in over my head right now haha

I answered a bunch in bold.

What are your tap water parameters? pH / kH / gH ?? These are important in determining which type of plants will do well and if you should consider Reverse Osmosis water or not, or if you will need to supplement Ca and Mg.

For fish, I like the idea of small fish in a big tank. Check out chili rasbora, celestial pearl danios, threadfin rainbows, Forktail Blue-eye Rainbows, spotted blue eye rainbows, red neon rainbows, emerald rasbora.

Plant types all depend on your lighting setup, ferts and CO2, thousands of options available. Goodluck!

 

[coralbandit]

I'll bet the light is a compact fluorescent unit made for marine. Possibly even a coralife brand ?
You can get 6,700 k bulbs to replace the blue but they are pricey and outdated IMO.
Look into a LED that will grow the plants you want..I believe 120g 4x2 are 24 inches tall.
That is pretty deep for planted tanks so you may need more then one fixture even.
Welcome to big tanks becoming furniture..I can't remember not having a 6' tank in my living room ....

 

[Tdemler68]

I was thinking of running two finnex 24/7’s on this tank instead of that fluorescent light. Would that be a good decision!? Given the size and depth of the tank or would that be too much!? I plan on running diy co2 for a while until I get things going and I will be very good at keeping it stable and switching the bottles. ( I know this isn’t the preferred method but it is the best I can do for now) I plan on running 2 or 3 gallon sized jugs with the output line going into my canister intake or a powerhead. I want to do a good carpet of s-repens and some medium sized plants that I can put in the cracks of rocks and all over. I also want some red plants so any suggestions there would be helpful! I’ll dose flourish comp, root tabs, either eco complete or Flourite substrate and will eventually get a full macro and micro fert such as co-op easy green or of that sort. I want this tank to be more of a medium tech so any tips along that range will be very helpful!

 

[ZxC]

I was thinking of running two finnex 24/7’s on this tank instead of that fluorescent light. Would that be a good decision!? Given the size and depth of the tank or would that be too much!? I plan on running diy co2 for a while until I get things going and I will be very good at keeping it stable and switching the bottles. ( I know this isn’t the preferred method but it is the best I can do for now) I plan on running 2 or 3 gallon sized jugs with the output line going into my canister intake or a powerhead. I want to do a good carpet of s-repens and some medium sized plants that I can put in the cracks of rocks and all over. I also want some red plants so any suggestions there would be helpful! I’ll dose flourish comp, root tabs, either eco complete or Flourite substrate and will eventually get a full macro and micro fert such as co-op easy green or of that sort. I want this tank to be more of a medium tech so any tips along that range will be very helpful!

Don't take any offense to this, but that plan sounds like a lot of wasted money that could be used elsewhere. (I speak from experience using those products vs what I use now).

I would consider running 1 or 2 fluval 3.0 lights. They are a little more costly than the finnex, but they are a far superior light (3 year warranty, 100% waterproof, fully customization, high output if necessary).

DIY CO2 will not be enough for a 120 gallon tank. You'll be looking at 8-10 bubbles per second needed for roughly 8 hours per day with 100% diffusion. Better to go no CO2 than DIY on large tanks. You'll also want a flow meter instead of a bubble counter (impossible to count 10 bubbles per second accurately). A flow meter will measure the CO2 in a volume of gas per unit of time. You'll want a CC / minute meter.

Eco-complete and fluorite are overpriced crushed gravel. Both are completely inert, offer no nutrient storage and are hard to plant delicate plants into. For the same money you could buy some black blasting sand (assuming you like the colour) and have most of a really good CO2 setup paid for. Better to spend money on CO2 and lights rather than overpriced gravel.

For ferts I would really consider some KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM+B an maybe some MgSO4 and CaSO4. Over the counter ferts will get very expensive very fast. For example, dosing flourish comp in a 120 will be 14mL per dose and only net you micro nutrients, no macro. Dosing dry ferts is much more controllable and cost effective on larger tanks.

Getting a carpet of S. repens is tough, they need lots of light and you'll have to trim/top/replant a lot to get them to spread out. Look into monte carlo or HC for a carpeting plant, they don't require too high of light, just good CO2 to carpet out. Dwarf hairgrass, chain sword, hydrocotyle tripartita, marsilea hirsuta, true sagittaria subulata are all other carpeting options.

 

[Tdemler68]

No offense taken! I am roughly new to this and so any advice is very helpful!!! If I thought to use a more sand based substrate but for the layout I want of more hills and cliffs I feel it would be hard to keep the substrate from falling everywhere. Could be totally wrong on that though!! Also, what in your opinion would be the best carpet!? I like the look of s repens for the leaves it has and just the look overall so I may just plant it in patches throughout the layout! Also any advice on building up the substrate!? Could the fluval be set on a timer where it is on and then has moonlights? Not just on and then off? That’s why I liked the 24/7 model for the ability to just leave it haha. Also, where could I look to buy those ferts? Stores, online,? Also any recommendations for a co2 setup?

 

[coralbandit]

The fluval 3.0 is superior to the 24/7 .
You can adjust every phase from free app over your cell.
Even this old dog figured it out and loves it...
I have 2 of the Fluval 3.0 and 2 of the 24/7. No control over the 24/7 in compare IMO.I had/have trouble with the 24/7 but have managed to sink up 2 different 3.0 to exact same timing and settings..They are worth the difference in price .I had 3 24/7 to start one has failed already,just after 1 year and it is not the power source as I checked the light with good power sources..

 

[ZxC]

No offense taken! I am roughly new to this and so any advice is very helpful!!! If I thought to use a more sand based substrate but for the layout I want of more hills and cliffs I feel it would be hard to keep the substrate from falling everywhere. Could be totally wrong on that though!! Also, what in your opinion would be the best carpet!? I like the look of s repens for the leaves it has and just the look overall so I may just plant it in patches throughout the layout! Also any advice on building up the substrate!? Could the fluval be set on a timer where it is on and then has moonlights? Not just on and then off? That’s why I liked the 24/7 model for the ability to just leave it haha. Also, where could I look to buy those ferts? Stores, online,? Also any recommendations for a co2 setup?

Green leaf Aquariums has decent CO2 regulators, see here:

Aquarium CO2 Regulator | Green Leaf Aquariums

and dry fertilizers, see here:

Aquarium Plant Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums

amazon is another good source for dry fertilizers, just search the chemical name/formula. Usually you can buy it by the pound.

The Fluval light has a built in 24/7 mode, or you can create you own fully customizable 24/7 mode, no need for a timer! just connects to a smart phone app., see here:

Black sand can be easily piled up higher, if you go this route get the course grain stuff, courser the better in this situation, (black diamond brand, 20/40 grain), see here:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-medium-blasting-abrasives

A good option to stop the slope from falling is to use substrate supports. I just used a cheap plastic table place setting matt and cut it into strips / pieces and inserted them into the substrate. Over time plant roots will help anchor the substrate as well, and hide any exposed substrate supports. Rocks / hard scape materials can also be used to "support" slopes of substrate, see here:

I hope this helps, I would also like to know what water source you will be using? pH, kH and gH values will help. For the S. repens, buy as much as you can from day 1, this will help give you the look you are after sooner. Generally, buy as much plants as you can from day 1 to help with cycling / algae. If you want a lighter substrate, look into pool filter sand (although it is tougher to keep clean). and rinse rinse rinse either sand a lot before adding to the tank.

 

[Tdemler68]

No offense taken! I am roughly new to this and so any advice is very helpful!!! If I thought to use a more sand based substrate but for the layout I want of more hills and cliffs I feel it would be hard to keep the substrate from falling everywhere. Could be totally wrong on that though!! Also, what in your opinion would be the best carpet!? I like the look of s repens for the leaves it has and just the look overall so I may just plant it in patches throughout the layout! Also any advice on building up the substrate!? Could the fluval be set on a timer where it is on and then has moonlights? Not just on and then off? That’s why I liked the 24/7 model for the ability to just leave it haha. Also, where could I look to buy those ferts? Stores, online,? Also any recommendations for a co2 setup?

 

[Tdemler68]

Thank you so much!! I am looking at that paintball regulator! Would that be good!? I have about 5 co2 paintball tanks laying around. Also any advice on a diffuser? I apologize for all the questions and I am new to the high tech setup. But thank you for all the responses! I have a tractor supply in town so I’ll go check that out! I am just using tap water and here it is pretty hard (calcium buildup on faucets) but I don’t know the specific details of it. The PH is around 8. More like 7.8 ish

 

[Tdemler68]

Also, that fluval 3.0 looks sweet! Would you suggest 1 or two of those fixtures for my tank?

 

[Tdemler68]

Or could I run the fluval and the light that I already have!?

 

[ZxC]

Or could I run the fluval and the light that I already have!?

Can you attach a picture or a link to the light you already have?

One single Fluval should give you low-medium light, 2 will likely be needed for higher demanding plants.

Kens fish has a sale on atm:

Fluval LED lights & Aquaclear Filters & Fluval Canister Filters,FX Filters, Northfin Food 15% off use coupon code fluval

Save $5.00 for orders over $100.00 use coupon. save100

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Save $15.00 for orders over $200 use coupon. save200

The paintball regs can work (I run one) but the paintball cylinders will run out fast. I use a 24oz on a 30 gal, and it's out in 3 months flat. So on a 120 you'll be 4x faster. More empty tanks mean more risk for an "end of tank dump" where as the pressure is just about gone, it quickly dumps the remaining gas all at once and you end up gassing your fish. Typically the paintball regs are a little cheaper in build quality as well. This is one area where cheaping out can really turn bad...

 

[Tdemler68]

Here is some pictures of the two lights that I have. One being a small led that I don’t even consider cause it’s weak. The other is the one I’m considering. Let me know what you think! Also, to fill up a paintball tank is very cheap here so if I just put it on a reminder to fill or switch tanks every month would that eliminate the problem?

 

[ZxC]

View attachment 308731View attachment 308732View attachment 308733View attachment 308734
Here is some pictures of the two lights that I have. One being a small led that I don’t even consider cause it’s weak. The other is the one I’m considering. Let me know what you think! Also, to fill up a paintball tank is very cheap here so if I just put it on a reminder to fill or switch tanks every month would that eliminate the problem?

That light (given the correct bulbs) will give you pretty good growth. 4 x 65 watt over a 120. I had 2 x 96 watt over a 65 (24" tall tank as well) and I could grow basically anything.

 

[Tdemler68]

The problem is two of the 4 bulbs are blue? I’m not sure if that makes a difference or not

 

[Tdemler68]

I’ll see if they have different watts when I get home!

 

[Tdemler68]

Here are the two bulbs side by side. There are two of each of these in the fixture

 

[ZxC]

Help!!!

View attachment 308735
Here are the two bulbs side by side. There are two of each of these in the fixture

The actinic ones will not be the best, you’ll want bulbs from 3000k up to 10,000k. The daylight ones you have are likely around 6500k - 10,000k. The lower the k rating, the “warmer” or more yellow the bulb is, the higher the k rating, the more “cool” or “blue” the light is.

But... given the cost of bulbs, replacing them on a yearly basis and electricity costs... you are better off to go with a T5-HO or LED setup.

 

[Tdemler68]

Would this light be good for a temporary setup until I get the fluval?? That way I can spend the cash on other things or should I just got for the fluval now?