Semi plant newb... suggestions for 120g please.

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beantickler

beantickler

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2008
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~Pittsburgh~
Hey guys and gals... I just filled a 120wide today and plan on trying a huge plant setup. My tank dimensions are 48" X 24" X 24". I used to have a planted 55g back in the day with algae problems so I shut it down. I have a big co2 setup with a ph controller.

What I am wondering is what kind of lighting should I shoot for in terms of watts per gallon here? I have no idea what type of plants to go for. In my old 55g I just kinda bought random plants that I thought looked good to me. This time I would like to do it right.

I like driftwood with moss covering it. I also like the stuff that looks like blades of grass(blyxia) maybe? I want tall plants in the rear and shorter ones in front.

I also don't know what to use for substrate. I had sand in the last planted tank. I know florite is probably the best but at 27 bucks a bag I would go broke filling a 120g.

Please help me out with any info you can for me. Also I would like the tank to be around 85+ degrees for rams and discus at a later date... THANKS!!!
 
I am looking to use my co2 setup again. on my last planted tank i was using four of those 54w screw in cf bulbs. I believe they were 4300k. my plan this time was to use t12 and the screw in type together. im trying to start out low cost to see if i really want to do it right at a later date. i dont want to go all in just yet incase i decide im not as into planted tanks as i think i am. lol.

do u think i can get away with using these bulbs and co2? on my old 55 i think i had way too much light. i was trimming plants every week!

thanks.

Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
 
most of peoples problems in planted tanks are because of too much light, rarely will issues be caused by not enough light.

so i say start with the lighting you want to use and the co2 and see how it goes. if plants are growing fast enough, consider adding more light and increasing the co2. theres no exact rule, it takes A LOT of experimenting to get the right balance.

as for a grassy plant, you cant go wrong with blyxa japonica, its my favorite plant of all time. another thing to consider, is that if youre gonna use co2 youre going to need a full fert/dosing routine. cant pick and choose the components of a planted tank. all or nothing ;)
 
Do you have any good websites that can give me a general idea of what ferts and how much/often to use??? I used to dose ferts with my old tank but stopped when I realized they grew much greener and faster without... Also much less algae... I just went out and bought T12 6500K bulbs today. They are 40w and 2400 lumens each. I will be using 4 of these to start... I also think I am going to use sand as my substrate. How deep should I make it?
 
best no-nonsense website IMO. see the articles on the right: www.rexgrigg.com

for more info on dosing, check out www.plantedtank.net and look dor dosing under the EI method (estimative index)
 
jcardona1;3671583; said:
best no-nonsense website IMO. see the articles on the right: www.rexgrigg.com

for more info on dosing, check out www.plantedtank.net and look dor dosing under the EI method (estimative index)
Click to expand...
Damn my eyes hurt... I read the whole Rex site top to bottom. I don't have enough light... lol.
The 2nd link is tough to find what you are telling me to look for... I found other useful stuff on that site tho... I will just keep searching it.
 
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