Hi all!
After more than a decade and several successful builds in the Saltwater Reef hobby, I've decided to jump ship (for a little bit) and try my hand at this planted tank thang. I need something new to learn but still need to have a tank in the house, so I figure let's try something a little different and go green! Isn't that what all the cool kids are doing these days?
I took down the reef a few months back. Meanwhile, I set up a little 7g cube that I've been fooling around with to kind of dip my toe in and start familiarizing myself with freshwater planted practices. But it's really just scratching the surface. For the big tank, I'm going all in! Some of you may be thinking, "What gives?! This is a REEF forum. Get out of here with your lame plants." ;Hilarious Well some of you have expressed interest, and some of you have planted tanks of your own or thinking of trying it. So since I need all the help I can get in this little adventure... I'll be cross posting from my build on the planted forums.
Anyway, let's get on with the show, shall we?
Here's a quick rundown of some of the basics of this build.
Tank: WaterBox Clear Pro 6025 - 143 gallons (541 Liters)
Lighting: (3) GHL Mitras 7004
Controller: GHL Profilux 4
Doser: GHL Doser 2.1 <--- will be implemented later, but I have it from my Reef tank
Those are the current "knowns".
Now to the "unknowns" and "leaning towards" items...
Filtration: Thinking of starting with a Fluval FX6 and possibly adding a second one later if needed. Or maybe Oase 600 filter.
Co2: 10lb tank? And Dual Stage Regulator needed. Suggestions welcome.
Heater: Possibly something in-line? Definitely in line with the Oase since that's a feature.
Water Changes: Leaning towards setting up some sort of Auto Water Change system like I usually do, but will need to move a lot more water.
Fish, Plants and Scape style: Going for more of a nature-scape, Amano type of thing but maybe not so plant heavy. A good amount of hardscape with large branch. I'm not really sure. I think I'm just going to have to feel it out. I'd really like to try Discus. But I know they prefer warmer water which limits plant selection. So I'll be talking with the guys at ADG here in Houston to help figure that out.
It will probably have a pretty asymmetrical setup, partly to help hide equipment in the tank, and partly because the tank is being located close to a corner of the room.
Which brings me to the final part of my first post of this build... the tank location.
The tank will be located on this empty wall, next to the large sliding glass doors, behind the sofa.
That's it for now! Comments and suggestions appreciated.
I had reefing down pat, but I'm a newb with planted so we'll see how this goes and hopefully it's not an epic fail!
BTW, lights will be here Monday i think, and the tank supposedly shipped today FedEx freight.
So next week should get more interesting.
After more than a decade and several successful builds in the Saltwater Reef hobby, I've decided to jump ship (for a little bit) and try my hand at this planted tank thang. I need something new to learn but still need to have a tank in the house, so I figure let's try something a little different and go green! Isn't that what all the cool kids are doing these days?
I took down the reef a few months back. Meanwhile, I set up a little 7g cube that I've been fooling around with to kind of dip my toe in and start familiarizing myself with freshwater planted practices. But it's really just scratching the surface. For the big tank, I'm going all in! Some of you may be thinking, "What gives?! This is a REEF forum. Get out of here with your lame plants." ;Hilarious Well some of you have expressed interest, and some of you have planted tanks of your own or thinking of trying it. So since I need all the help I can get in this little adventure... I'll be cross posting from my build on the planted forums.
Anyway, let's get on with the show, shall we?
Here's a quick rundown of some of the basics of this build.
Tank: WaterBox Clear Pro 6025 - 143 gallons (541 Liters)
Lighting: (3) GHL Mitras 7004
Controller: GHL Profilux 4
Doser: GHL Doser 2.1 <--- will be implemented later, but I have it from my Reef tank
Those are the current "knowns".
Now to the "unknowns" and "leaning towards" items...
Filtration: Thinking of starting with a Fluval FX6 and possibly adding a second one later if needed. Or maybe Oase 600 filter.
Co2: 10lb tank? And Dual Stage Regulator needed. Suggestions welcome.
Heater: Possibly something in-line? Definitely in line with the Oase since that's a feature.
Water Changes: Leaning towards setting up some sort of Auto Water Change system like I usually do, but will need to move a lot more water.
Fish, Plants and Scape style: Going for more of a nature-scape, Amano type of thing but maybe not so plant heavy. A good amount of hardscape with large branch. I'm not really sure. I think I'm just going to have to feel it out. I'd really like to try Discus. But I know they prefer warmer water which limits plant selection. So I'll be talking with the guys at ADG here in Houston to help figure that out.
It will probably have a pretty asymmetrical setup, partly to help hide equipment in the tank, and partly because the tank is being located close to a corner of the room.
Which brings me to the final part of my first post of this build... the tank location.
The tank will be located on this empty wall, next to the large sliding glass doors, behind the sofa.
That's it for now! Comments and suggestions appreciated.
I had reefing down pat, but I'm a newb with planted so we'll see how this goes and hopefully it's not an epic fail!
BTW, lights will be here Monday i think, and the tank supposedly shipped today FedEx freight.
So next week should get more interesting.