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

On Wed, 8 Jan 2003 00:56:25 -0800, "Dustin"
wrote:

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.

There's an article on my site dealing with the subject.

I'd fill it with as many fast growing plants as you can get.

In my article about starting a new planted tank, I suggest adding no
fish for a few weeks, to let the plants really get rooted and growing
well. If you add a bunch of fast growers, in a big tank like a 125,
you could probably get away with adding a few platies and cories
without getting an ammonia or nitrite spike.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

((4 x 96 watts) / 125 gallons = 3 watts per gallon) - CO2 = algae.

You had best start with lots and lots of fast-growing stem plants and some
CO2 immediately. You can gradually replace some of the stem plants with
more expensive specimens later after things get stable.

Yes, there is an effect on cycling from having the tank planted-out from the
start, but whether good or bad is debatable. The plants use ammonium before
it is converted to nitritenitrate, so I've never obsessed about cycling a
tank - I just throw in a lot of plants and a bottle of bacteria culture and
let them sort it out for themselves.

kush

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

Dustin wrote:

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.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/...ting%20up.html

Regarding cycling, you can speed or virtually eliminate the cycle if you add the
plants and some filter material or gravel from an established tank.

"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

I forgot to add that in the desc - I have pressurized Co2

Thanks
"kush" wrote in message
...
((4 x 96 watts) / 125 gallons = 3 watts per gallon) - CO2 = algae.

You had best start with lots and lots of fast-growing stem plants and some
CO2 immediately. You can gradually replace some of the stem plants with
more expensive specimens later after things get stable.

Yes, there is an effect on cycling from having the tank planted-out from
the
start, but whether good or bad is debatable. The plants use ammonium
before
it is converted to nitritenitrate, so I've never obsessed about cycling a
tank - I just throw in a lot of plants and a bottle of bacteria culture
and
let them sort it out for themselves.

kush

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