hi, im new.

[sigis]

Hi, I am completly brand new in the world of aquarium plants.
But, i have the desire to dive in headfirst.
I was curious if yall could point me in the direction of any websites that i can read that would be helpfull.
I work at an aquarium with a fairly extensive library that i freely graise and try to absorb as much knowledge as possible, but still...i want more.
My plan is to pretty much lay down the substrate, the driftwood, and then in one fell swoop fill my aquarium with a suitable amount of plants.
By suitable i mean whatever it takes.

I have a 75 gallon standard tank.
Im converting my old sps reef tank into the planted freshwater, sps got boring after 4 years of it and im craving the simple beauty of plants(and eventually a school of 50-100 rummy nose tetras)

What kind of lighting should i use, im bouncing back and forth on this issue,
i would really like to see plants flower, but i want the plants to remain as green as possible and not go into the red chlorophyll phases.
Im switching the bulbs out of my metal halide system, im thinking maybe 5k hallides and 10k power compacts, but i would really like some advice.(I have the people at the store who work with me, but i like hearing as many opinions as possible)

I have a real love for water lillies, are they messy? and will the 5k hallides be proper enough to make them flower for me when they are mature?

Coming from a reef keeping background i have a "More flow=Happier tank" attitude, ive been told that is perhaps a bad idea for a planted tank, what are your experiences with high/medium/low flow in planted tanks?

I also would like to know about the cycling proccess in a planted tank, is it unsafe for me to "insta-stock" my tank with plants?

Soo many questions, thanks to anyone that has read this far, but i have one more.

What are some good plants, I really like java fern, but i also like ludwigia, and riccia floritans is beautifull. Any opinions as to what are good for/mid/background plants?

To be honest, i only gave the forums a quick once over, im about to read more thoroughly here in a moment.

thanks to anyone who reads this, and more thanks to anyone that replies.

[plah831]

hi and welcome! Your job sounds awesome, I'm jealous.

Metal halides are some serious lights, so you'll be able to get whatever plants you want. Just be aware that some plants tend to go into the "red chlorophyll" phase under bright light. Certain hygrophilas come to mind. I'm guessing the species of Ludwigia you're interested in wouldn't be L. repens, the red one, right? For a great guide to plants, check out http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php. You can search plants by aquascaping placement (fore/mid/background), difficulty, lighting requirements and others.

Flow is also good in FW setups. Overfiltration is my personal mantra :) The cutoff, though, is when it starts to impact your fish and plants negatively. For example, if your fish can't stay in place and your plants are being whipped around or losing leaves due to the flow.

Some folks advise against introducing live plants until AFTER the tank is cycled. Their thinking is that the plants will compete with the nitrifying bacteria and prevent your tank from fully cycling. I don't fully agree with that philosophy, as plants can help make the initial cycling process easier. In fact, it's a method called "planted cycling". I often use live plants to reduce the effects of New Tank Syndrome.

I like your idea of a giant school of little tetras. I always think those look so cool. Plus, schooling fish don't really act like a proper school until they get into numbers like that, which probably 99% of aquarium owners can't accomodate. So bravo!

Best of luck, and please enjoy AC :)

[justintoxicated]

you could do an ever larger school of micro rasboras :) they are some awesome fish, especialy the Galaxy, but a bit pricy.

[djlen]

Welcome to the forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When you say flower, are you talking about an open top tank? There are some that flower submersed, but most need to grow out of the water to flower.

I'm not an MH guy so I can't recommend or advise much in that area. I don't like the glare that they give off and much prefer compact fluorescent lighting down close to the surface.
The amount of light you put over the tank is dependent on how diverse a plant mass you want to grow and how much time an money your want to invest in the tank.
10k fluorescents are going to give you a very blue look. Many freshwater folks prefer a mix of 6700k - 9350k for a more natural freshwater look.

When you set up the tank and plant it, there really is no 'cycle' per se. The plants use the ammonia and nitrates and the tank matures as it begins to develop a bio-colony. If you plant it heavily you can add a few fish immediately. They will supply the needed elements that will then begin the process that will then 'cycle' the tank.

Len

[sigis]

Hey, thanks for the advice yall.

A fire worm got me today...i soo cant wait to have this tank changed to freshwater...

If it wasnt for the fact that i already had the coralife aqualite pro system i wouldnt bother with metal halides at all, but, i have them...i may aswell put them to work. I was thinking that i would set all the lights to a timer and only have the halides on 4 or 5 hours a day.

Mainly i was thinking that i wanted water lillies to flower on the top of the water of my fish tank, upon further thought i believe(im still not completly convinced) that i am thinking too much into it and that i should be happy with having a simpler planted aquarium, and wait to try to flower a plant until after i have more experience.

In the lighting fixture that i have, what spectrum bulbs do yall think i should run? Would two 67k power compact bulbs and two 10k metal halides be suitable, or should i use the 5k metal halide bulbs. Or, should i use two different spectrum power compact bulbs?
Does anyone have any experience using metal halide lighting on a plant tank?

thanks for the help yall.

Oh, those barbs are very cool looking i like them, im definately going to try and run a school of 15 or so of them.

the plan im thinking for as far as fish stocking, once completed should be...
50 cardinal tetras or 50 rummy nose tetras
15 galaxy rasboras
12-24 glofish
2 apistogrammas or 20 badis badis (leaning towards badis)
10 oto cats
10-20 cherry shrimp

Im WAY curious as to if i can manage such a large amount of fish in a 75 gallon fish tank. The stocking of the tank is mainly hypothetical right now, but, every day it seems im getting closer, in 7-14 days my Co2 system will arrive and within the same time period so will my bulbs.

Im way excited, thanks for the help yall.