Some make houses from recycled cardboards or wood etc lasting for 30 years only and call this “sustainable architecture”. This is NOT sustainable building. The one made of 100’s tones of steel and concrete which has incredible value for humans and lasts for 200 years forming city’s streets for centuries, passing from family to family several generations, IS sustainable.
Even “green building” concept not always right. Most architects just can’t withstand to here that crap on sustainability, as it is mostly misinterpreted. But they can’t argue with government and clients and forced to do a lot of stupid things.


Don’t bee fooled by that sustainability baloney made this way.
To make those electronics to use Solar energy they dig moon craters on Earth, yeah?
I leave 2 miles from the one: 500+ meters deep and miles miles miles long… this rocks.

Go for Solatube® (the best one) or SunPipe® and you will have tones of light 12h a day, more than enough for “non co2 soil tank”.
There are even Solar-Powered Attiñ Fan module available to run aquarium pumps.
It is very simple and will work just fine in CA, or Japan.
You can have a planted tank 10m under the ground in a bathroom, or in the garage without windows.
And this tank will have natural cycle of winter-summer growth variation.

Especially this could be very good thing for a BIG planted public tanks as a second source of light in addition to MH-HQI, similar to sky window above Takashi Amano’s home tank. I thought of this idea for years from now.
Sorry for your roof…

If you stick to photocells it is possible to fit lamps inside Solatube®, but you are shifting than from pure sustainability concept.
See LED Lexel® also.

No? Want to keep your roof at place? J
Than use technology of light… without lamps, and be the first one using this for a planted tanks, suitable even for a high-tech planted tank:
"Hybrid Solar Lighting (HSL) technology uses a solar concentrator to collect and distribute sunlight into the interior of a building via plastic optical fibers.”

It is a Solar Collector Unit + Fiber Optic Distribution Cable.
Used even for GreenHouse Lighting, Delivers 1000 micromoles of Sunlight or 50,000 Lumens of Sunlight, no UV, no IR wavelengths etc., color Rendering Index 100, typical CCT 5500K.
… but $$$.

Unfortunately, I have never used this amazing products in my architectural practice…
Consult at local architectural forums or firms.


And why you do not consider east CO2 method?
Sure with some “sustainable way made sugar” I mean… And bell type reactor.
Not too much, but for 7-10ppm would be ok.
Still no dry/liquid fertilizers dosing – just rich substrate.

And earthworm castings instead of soil is much better, even mineralized (BTW, good reading - first time I see someone calls for low labile organics in substrate to do not have rotting and ammonia outbreak – main problem with garden soil rich of very labile organics, this trick made 20 years ago but until now not used widely as it need lots of labor and easily replaced with EC).

Why wee need to run filter pumps 24h day?
Maybe using open type filter (sump) with “aerobic” technology with Kaldens K1 filter media for Moving Bed Process® (PDF 986Kb) or a sump with Matala® mats realizing Hamburger Mattenfilter concept will do the trick. No need to run pumps 24h/day - no need for accumulator.
Considering very low energy consumption of pumps, they will turn on from photocells at 5am and turn off at 20pm = up to 15h a day.

BTW, recently I developed Sump for a BIG planted tanks (>400L) based on Hamburger Mattenfilter technology using Matala® mats + EstroSieve as a mechanical prefilter module (in perspective) to escape from maintenance and cost problems posed by canister filters.
Maybe this sump can withstand long electricity shut offs, if no - Kaldens K1 technology can be used… Much better than Fluidised Bed FIlter.
This Sump construction is amazingly easy and beautiful, low maintenance and cost.
CO2 is misted in-line by Hydor Ario glued to prefilter lid on Hydor SELTZ II pump (I called this combo “MISTer PUMP” J )

No “cosmic spiritual crap” – just technical considerations.
Hope this would be useful.


naman