Old tank New to Freshwater

[Grumpypawpaw]

Hey Guys,
I have had a Saltwater reef setup for 10-15 yrs and it crashed a few years back and I lost everything. I cleaned the tank out and it has been sitting every since. My vision is to setup and maintain a Freshwater Planted community tank. What I have is a 75 gal tank with a built in overflow that drains down into a 15 gal tank with a return pump. It has a LED light system that I can control the color and intensity and 2 power heads that I can control output on them also.
I am looking for some suggestions on if I need to change anything out or add something. I am looking for suggestions on Substrate, fertilizer pellets that go under the substrate. Do I need a water filter system or will dechorionize be good enough for the water?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[nate77]

The 1st thing I would do if the tank has been sitting for a few years, I would fill it with water some you don't care that gets wet and do a leak check.

 

[Grumpypawpaw]

Ok, tanks has been up and running for 3 days no with a freshwater and Vinegar mix to help clean the tank and sump. No leaks
I have a Current USA Reef light system that I can control the Red, Blue, Green, and White intensity. Here are pics of the Tank with lights on and all colors at 100%, return pump, and 15 gal return tank. Please keep in mind this is still in the cleaning and testing for leaks stage.
Should these lights provide what is needed for a Freshwater Planted Community Tank? I do have a Heater and filter socks for the lower tank. The powerheads in the tank are not on at this time and I don't think will be needed for a Freshwater tank.
Are most people using tap water dosing with decolorizer or using a 3-4 stage water filter??

All Suggestions and thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[dougall]

If your lights would support corals, they will grow plants too.

You may need to turn them down depending on how much light they actually produce and some plants may need more light than you can provide ... But my instinct is that you won't be limited by the amount of light, and more likely to grow algae unless you turn it down or fertilize the plants along with injecting CO2.

You likely will be fine using dechlorinated tap water, but using remineralized RO water may be needed depending on your tap water and what sorts of fish or plants you want to keep.

If you need the power heads will depend on how much flow you want, and how much your return pumo creates.

Unfortunately with so much variety with what you keep, and how you will keep it it can be difficult to provide exact answers without knowing more.

Maybe give an idea of what you want to keep, and how you would decorate the tank and we might be able to provide ideas.

But think about what you want as a substrate, as that's going to be the most difficult to change once everything is running.