"Dustin" wrote in message
...
Ok, So ive got almost everything together for the initial filling of
the
tank.

4 - 96w cf's from ahsupply
flourite substrate
125 gal tank *important part in this im sure haha*
2 - Magnum 350 Filters

Should I add fast growing plants at first, or for how long? or should
the
tank cycle by itself for a few days? I have several platies / Corys
needing
in asap...

Any sites on this, I couldnt find much on the krib.

Thanks!

Dustin

It's tough to resist, but I would not light all four of those 96w from
day 1. Algae reacts faster than rooted plants, so I would start with two
96w for a few weeks, then the 3rd for a month watching the plant
reactions until lighting up all four. Waiting 2 months before using all
your light-power might seem odd, but I suspect your overall results will
be better if you step up in a sequence, adjusting for what you see
happening in the tank. I'm the first to admit that I'm no authority on
plants, but all planted fish-tanks take some time to balance, and
overdosing any input (light) creates an imbalance, and algae is not
called opportunistic for nothing ;~).

You will be at 3w/g in probably 24-30" depth. I'm running fluorescent
2.5w/g in 18" depth (also no CO2), so I might not be too far outside your
ballpark. It took me 8 months to reach an equilibrium where I don't even
have algae on my front glass or substrate. Before that, I briefly went
through every colour of algae available ;o) I wish I could have stepped
my lights to have started around 1.8w/g but my ballasts would not allow
it.

NetMax