New tank endeavor

[StirCrazy]

Well as you all know I sold my 94 tank and I am turning the stand into garage shelving (unless some one wants a stand real quick that will take a 24x24 tank up to 4.5 foot long.

anyways it is going to be a fairly large tank (between 115 for 24" tall, 144 for 30"tall and 173 for 36" tall, I haven't quite decided on the final design yet) but I want to decide what kind of tank I am doing before I start having stuff built and what not.

I do want plants, my last planted tank was beautiful for a low tech tank so I want to go a bit more high tech, better lighting, I have a co2 tank and regulator for CO2 injection and what not but I want to go with plants that grow to maximum heights to cut down on the labor of trimming. I used to spend 1 hour a week trimming my last planted tank. If I can get away with it I don't want to do any trimming so I can just focus on water changes and enjoying my tank.

I was thinking of a discus tank but that is out the window now as I don't want to spend 800.00 on fish.

so I need to know everything people are doing now from type of substrates, equipment, lighting, what to make for a co2 diffuser ect.

I also need some suggestions for fish, I want color but not hard water Ciclids, as my tap water is 18ppm hardness and I don't want to have to add a bunch of harness.

I am thinking of having the new tank drilled, so the option of running a sump is there or I can put a plug in the holes if I don't use a sump.

Let hear the ideas.

Steve