3000 Liter High Tech Planted Tank

[RickyV]

Hello UKAPS! I got an amazing opportunity to turn a 3000 liter tank into a high tech planted tank. I am in the planning phase right now so I wanted to share what I am thinking.

This is the tank currently. The turtle and the all of the fish will be moved to a different setup and a new stocking will be picked for this tank. Someone else will be in charge of fixing up the rock work to make it look nicer and cover the exposed/damaged areas. The tank is 244 cm in length, 107 cm front to back, and 122 cm deep. The filtration on the tank is a sump that is about 800 liters so the total system volume is about 3800 liters.

I am not sure on what to choose for lighting, but I am leaning towards 4 Chihiro's WRGB II 90 pro. 2 Rows of lights to cover the middle section (Maybe 3 rows of 2?). I wont be having plants near the front, mostly the back half to leave room for a diver to do maintenance. Would this be enough light with how deep the tank is? I am planning to elevate the back half of the substrate pretty high to make sure enough light gets to the plants.

The tank will be having CO2. I am thinking of doing 2 20lb tanks and dual CO2 reactors. I am just not sure how big I will need to make them. I'm aware it will be difficult to get 100% dissolution with how much CO2 I will be needing to inject, so I am okay with having a light mist. I'm sure it will be beneficial for the plants anyways as that's what I see in a lot of ADA tanks. Anyone have an idea of how big I should make these reactors for such a massive tank?

I will use lava rock in the bottom with gravel on top to create the height for the back half of the tank that will have the plants. It will be like a terraced island. The gravel will have a layer of aqua soil on top for the plants (probably ADA or tropica). Outside of the island will be a layer of sand since there wont be plants outside of the island.

Fertilization will be EI dosing, but not full EI because of how much fertilizer that would require. Likely half or a third EI, especially with the aqua soil releasing lots of nutrients anyways for the first months.

I'm working on some sketches of how the layout will be. I am really excited for this project!

 

[MichaelJ]

This is totally one of those wow projects I am going to follow!

Cheers,
Michael

 

[hypnogogia]

If that’s a 244cm tank, how big and old are those beautiful clown loaches?

 

[hypnogogia]

Might be worth reading the journal form’The Beast’ which was a high tech 2000 l tank, especially the lighting used on that.

(NO MORE) 2,000L High tech BEAST

Hi All, I've been putting off starting this journal long enough. 1700x1700x700mm stand made of 2x4s and 2x8s 1700x1700x750mm acrylic tank, 25mm walls, 12mm base and euro bracing with corner braces. 1400x600x250mm sump 9 x 50W LED floodlight fixture hung from ceilling Auto fert dosing (EI)...

www.ukaps.org

 

[Courtneybst]

Sounds like a very cool project!

Would be lovely to see some big beautiful Nymphea, Cryptocoryne or Echinodorus that are usually bonsai'd by the confines of our diddy aquariums.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Wow, what an amazing project and on a scale most can only dream of. Not sure what function the rock work is performing, hiding filter or pipes etc, but maybe give some consideration to alternatives, like very large pieces of dead wood, and actual rock. You can use both to anchor epiphytes and to grow moss. Also, check out Tropica's "Easy" plant range for species that can tolerate low light and CO2 conc., if nothing else it'll be a good starting point. But above all else good luck and keep us all posted

I'm sure you've seen this before, but a little inspiration perhaps...

 

[RickyV]

If that’s a 244cm tank, how big and old are those beautiful clown loaches?

I am not sure on their age, but the bigger ones have to be around 24 cm. They are huge!

Might be worth reading the journal form’The Beast’ which was a high tech 2000 l tank, especially the lighting used on that.

(NO MORE) 2,000L High tech BEAST

Hi All, I've been putting off starting this journal long enough. 1700x1700x700mm stand made of 2x4s and 2x8s 1700x1700x750mm acrylic tank, 25mm walls, 12mm base and euro bracing with corner braces. 1400x600x250mm sump 9 x 50W LED floodlight fixture hung from ceilling Auto fert dosing (EI)...

www.ukaps.org

That is an amazing journal!

Sounds like a very cool project!

Would be lovely to see some big beautiful Nymphea, Cryptocoryne or Echinodorus that are usually bonsai'd by the confines of our diddy aquariums.

Will definitely be keeping some big plants in this!

Wow, what an amazing project and on a scale most can only dream of. Not sure what function the rock work is performing, hiding filter or pipes etc, but maybe give some consideration to alternatives, like very large pieces of dead wood, and actual rock. You can use both to anchor epiphytes and to grow moss. Also, check out Tropica's "Easy" plant range for species that can tolerate low light and CO2 conc., if nothing else it'll be a good starting point. But above all else good luck and keep us all posted

I'm sure you've seen this before, but a little inspiration perhaps...

I believe the left structure is covering 2 return pipes. Though I think the main purpose of this left structure was to contain pots with plants since it has several large holes throughout to place pots in. The right structure is covering the overflow. I am also not the biggest fan of the rockwork. I am having trouble figuring out a design that incorporates it well. It seems the owner prefers to keep it and do a make over on it rather than removing it. I was thinking covering it with some epiphytes, maybe a lot of bolbitis on that left part, and not sure about the right. Maybe even having some wood on the rock work.

I love Takashi Amano's tanks!

I am not the best at using this software but I was using it to brainstorm a little. I was thinking maybe sloping the substrate up to where the stump is and sloping down from the stump the right. I was thinking of covering the left rock structure with bolbitis or some other epiphytes. The main bush I am thinking of ludwigia super red and the other bush down the slope being rotala rotundifolia or something similar. This isn't an exact design just a rough idea. I will be coming up with more designs, just trying to figure out how to use that rock work.

 

[RickyV]

I made a few changes to finalize the design above and I am thinking I may stick with it.

This is the tank from the side

This is the tank from above. I decided on 2 rows of Chihiro's WRGB II 90 pros. They are closer to the backs since that is where all the plants will be concentrated.

For the CO2 reactor I will be using 4 20 in water filter housings run in series. They will be fed to the return pumps in the sump.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Looking good. You may also want some light further to the front. Otherwise it could be that the fish swimming in the space between the plants and front of the tank aren’t lit so well and therefore not seen at their best.

 

[RickyV]

Looking good. You may also want some light further to the front. Otherwise it could be that the fish swimming in the space between the plants and front of the tank aren’t lit so well and therefore not seen at their best.

Oh that is true. I will make sure to add another row of lights. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[22802]

What an absolute dream tank @RickyV
Is it true that Americans join an overseas forum just to show off their biggest tanks, and make us all feel very sorry for ourselves?

I am a little late to this thread, and just see your CO2 setup. Your tank is huge, even more so as it includes the sump. From the sketch of your CO2 reactor, I am struggling to see it work and perform for this tank.

You may want to have a look at the thread Horizontal CO2 Reactor where I also include the calculations to estimate the size of reactor for any given tank. Even an American sized tank should be no problem, as also @Unexpected has shown . I am happy to help you and do some calculations, just send me a PM.

 

[Unexpected]

I won't lie, that's a heck of a dream tank. I would seriously check out 22802's link and give it a go. It works so well and doesn't require much fiddling. It's rock steady and uncomplicated.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Like the large rockwork look on one side ,with it being a large aquarium

 

[hypnogogia]

@RickyV is this a tank for yourself, or are you setting up for for someone else?

 

[22802]

@RickyV is this a tank for yourself, or are you setting up for for someone else?

It seems the owner prefers to keep it and do a make over on it rather than removing it

The smartest let others pay, for @RickyV himself to live the dream and do the project

 

[RickyV]

Is it true that Americans join an overseas forum just to show off their biggest tanks, and make us all feel very sorry for ourselves?

🤣

I am a little late to this thread, and just see your CO2 setup. Your tank is huge, even more so as it includes the sump. From the sketch of your CO2 reactor, I am struggling to see it work and perform for this tank.

You may want to have a look at the thread Horizontal CO2 Reactor where I also include the calculations to estimate the size of reactor for any given tank. Even an American sized tank should be no problem, as also @Unexpected has shown . I am happy to help you and do some calculations, just send me a PM.

I was also skeptical of the CO2 reactor, I just had no idea how much CO2 reactor I needed for a tank so big. I just took a look at your thread with the horizontal CO2 reactor and that is such a great idea! It looks so simple and yet efficient. I will PM you as soon as I get a chance to ask you for some help. Thanks so much.

 

[Zeus.]

I wouldn't run the CO2 reactors in series but in parallel. As once the water has dissolved some CO2 it becomes harder to get more in. In my 500l I ran twin reactors in parallel with twin injectors. Getting the last bit of the pH drop always took much longer than the first bit.
Impressive/brave plans doing a tank so deep. Reaching the substrate was a pain in my 60cm deep tank. Think you will be using a sorkel and mask.
Back on the CO2 side you will be using quite a bit, I used about 6Kg cylinder a month.

 

[Zeus.]

CO2 used Database may be helpful to amount of CO2 you might use. @Filip Krupa was using 6Kg a fortnight on his 2000Litre tank - if you contact him he might let you have his speedos for pic with you in it

 

[22802]

In my 500l I ran twin reactors in parallel with twin injectors.

This kind of illustrates how we have been struggling with CO2 in the past. @Zeus. also used PLC electronics if I am not mistaken to drive his two reactors intelligently.

@RickyV project has 3800 litre, tank plus sump, so if we scale up from 500 litre / 2 parallel reactors would conventional approach suggest 15 reactors in parallel?

CO2 used Database may be helpful to amount of CO2 you might use. @Filip Krupa was using 6Kg a fortnight on his 2000Litre tank - if you contact him he might let you have his speedos for pic with you in it

Agree, there may be some significant consumption. But what is rarely discussed is how the lid (closed top of tank, remember @Filip Krupa was open) may greatly reduce CO2 exchange with outside air.

My suggestion is to calculate Horizontal Reactor for the 'worst case scenario', then use a pH/CO2 controller to have both an acceptable ramp up time and good stability during photoperiod. I would strongly suggest to use a lid, otherwise as @Zeus. warns it will be a big CO2 consumption.

 

[Zeus.]

Yes I used a PLC and had a big pH drop 1.4pH and did the drop in 30mins. If the OP wasn't aiming for such a big pH drop I cant see why it would take to long if he used the same approach as I did ie twin injection for pH drop, single injection for keeping pH/CO2 stable. The main CO2 loss will be down to the surface area of top of tank. Will need very accurate/reliable timmers as slightest error could be fatal with twin injectors and twin solenoid valves - not for faint hearted with shallow pocket's