450 litre planted aquarium help

[Carpe diem]

Hey everyone. I'm not new to the aquatic hobby but am what could be considered a newbie to full planted aquarium. I am after some guidance if you can help I would be grateful.
Equipment I have so far
450litre aquarium
Eheim 2180 filter
A crystalprofi external cannister which will have a co2 inline diffuser on return to aquarium

Lighting is a tad complex I have the following equipment which I have managed to get from a supplier I use
A 5metre led rgb strip kit
I am looking to run 4x 54w t5 6500k
1x sky blue t5
1x28w t5 840 ( cool white).
The reason for different tubes is to be able to vary affects. Led strip will be used to create differing effects and allow low light levels during non photo periods.

I have access to co2 FE so no worries with that one- solenoid etc I already have

I want a heavily planted tank but in terms of substrate what do people recommend I have done loads of research and tbh it causes more confusion than anything. I have an unlimited supply of pool filter sand.

Any help or comments will be really appreciated. I'm going to keep a thread going with the tank transformation into my planted aquarium

 

[Alastair]

Hi
Substrate can be what ever you want it to be. If you have pool filter sand use that. It's cheap.
It's down to whether you want to spend money on planted soils such as tmc nutrasoil (my personal favourite) etc or stick to sand. Healthy lush growth can be grown In either.

I would definitely say to start out with just the 2 54watt t5s initially whilst you get to grips with co2, flow, distribution feeding etc then should you wish to try more demanding plants once your confident then you can always add another one of your t5s along with increasing co2 etc too.

4 x 54 watt is pretty high light to start of with

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Carpe diem]

Thank you for your reply. Being a fair newbie I want to give it the best shot possible and if it means waiting a month to be able to get the right substrate then so be it. Planting list is next qu and I know a lot is down to personal choice but is something like one of the online sets a good starting point, obviously buying from a lfs is going to be extremely expensive in comparison. One such set is as follows
1 x Aponogeton Crispus
5 Eleocharis Parvulus (dwarf hairgrass)
10 x mini Amazon Sword or Saagittaria Pusilus
5 x Bacopa Monnerii
5 x Twisted Vallisneria
10 x Sagittaria Natans
5 x Rotalla Indica
5 x Cabomba Caroliniana
5 x Cryptocoryne Wendtii
5 x Hygrophilia Polysperma
5 x Ludwigia Mullertii
5 x Vallisneria Spiralis
5 x Ludwigia Natans
10 x Mayaca Fluviatilas
5 x Rotala Macranda
5 x Hydrilla Verticillata
5 x Cryptocoryne Parva
5 x Hygrophilia Difformis
5 x Eleocharis Vivipara
5 x Java Fern
5 x Cryptocoryne Pondederifolia
1 x Nymphea Stellata or Nymphea Maculata

Comes with weights and root tabs all for £21. Which I think is good I have used the company before and plants are extremely healthy and larger than some lfs supply.
All help greatly appreciated