Live plants

[Joe32]

I am just starting out again in the hobby.
I am hoping to keep a resonable aray of live plants but here lies the problem.
I have a fair amount of experience in keeping fish but not much in the way of plants so I thought I would ask some questions.Sorry if they are simple questions but they are only simple if you know the answer which at the moment I dont.
The tank is 400 liters at the moment I have 4 36w T8 tubes in the hood I am planning to add another 2 shortly so in total there will be 216 watts these tubes all have refelctors,So is the enough light to grow most things or do I need to find away of getting more watts in the hood.
I have a course sand substrate 1-2 mm grain size,is this Ok or do i really need to use something like eco complete,flourite.
I know a lot of the people on here mix up there own fert mixtures and use dry ingredients but to start out with can someone recommend a decent range of fertalisers to use,what are the seachem range like ie florish and so on.
What are the must have fertilisers?
I understand that there are micro and macro nutrients but not the best way to make sure these are readily available,or knowing the signs to look for to see if there is a problem.
Now I have read a fair bit about CO 2 and the pros a cons of it.
Is it really required to go a resonable range of aquatic plants.
I accept that the DIY method is probably not the way to go for a tank of this size.
So that only leaves a presurized system,I have had a look a couple of the JBL
versions and they look OK,not that I am really sure if they are.
Does anyone have any recommendations for CO 2 systems.I have seen that some systems come with a reactor and some a diffuser what is the difference if any?
I really want to suceed with live plants as I feel the tank will look so much better and am prepared to put the effort and the money to make it work.
Thanks In Advance
Here is the tank as it is now.

 

[ThePBM]

nice tank. not sure i agree with the variety in rock types, makes it feel unnatural to me, since you don't really find a variety of rocks in one spot.

what's that floating plant on the right?

 

[phanmc]

The lighting should be sufficient to grow a good variety of plants, you shouldn't have any problems growing most of the plants in the picture.

You don't need to invest in a plant substrate like eco-complete or flourite as long as you supply the nutrients to the water via ferts. Having a plant substrate will provide better growth and also lets you make more mistakes in terms of dosing, but it isn't a necessity.

The difference between dry ferts and the packaged name brand bottles is you're paying extra for water. And for a 400l tank, that's going to be expensive. Visit www.rexgrigg.com to learn about the necessary ferts and you can also buy the ferts from him. The amount you pay for the entire package of dry ferts will come out to be less than a bottle of a specific nutrient and last much longer.

Your red plants will need CO2, and a pressurized system is the only way to go with a tank that large. Rex's site also sells CO2 components, and he can customize it to fit your needs. If you want a cheap no frills setup he can advise you on what to order, if you want one that can be automated with all the bells and whistles he can set that up too.

 

[Joe32]

nice tank. not sure i agree with the variety in rock types, makes it feel unnatural to me, since you don't really find a variety of rocks in one spot.

what's that floating plant on the right?

Well actually you do find all these rocks in one place the Graden Center/Home Depot.
Not sure if I asked for any advise or input on my choice of rocks.
The whole purpose of the tank is to sit in the dinning room and look bloody nice.I am not going for a specific biotope or species tank,I am going for a look I find pleasing and nice to look at.And this tank fits that purpose.
As they say one mans meat is another mans poison.
I think the floating plant is called salvinia hope that helps