Is a 'no CO2 added' 125 gallon planted tank with 2 or 3 80watt T5HO lights possible?

[20 20]

Due to money (or lack thereof), I'm considering converting my 125 gallon AGA reef to a freshwater tank, and am looking into what is possible with it. Options I'm considering are an African mbuna tank, an African hap/peacock tank, or a planted community tank. I know what it would take for the African tanks, but I'm not sure about the planted. Don't want to spend money on any CO2 equipment, so I was wondering if there were plants that would thrive (or at least be healthy) in this tank? Another question... The tank is a reef-ready tank, is it viable to run a planted tank with overflows and a wet-dry, or do planted tanks not do well with that setup? Any opinions will be greatly appreciated!

[Purrbox]

Yes.

I'd recommend going with just 2 lights instead of the full 3 since you're using HO lights. I'm afraid all 3 lights might push you into CO2 required territory. You could always try it with all the lights but be prepared to cut back if you run into problems.

You could grow any of the low light plants and probably a fair number of moderate light plants. Check out APC Plantfinder and PlantGeek PlantGuide for more information on the plants you'd be able to keep. You'll find that you have quite a few options.

Since you won't be running CO2 on the aquarium a Wet-Dry shouldn't be a problem at all. The only problem would be if you decided to added CO2 down the road, as that type of setup tends to gas off excess CO2.

[20 20]

Thanks for the reply. At least it looks like a viable option. I'm trying to read all the 'newbie' stuff regarding planted tanks, it's quite a hunt-n-click adventure! Substrate to use, depth of substrate, good plants for this type of setup, suppliments, etc, all stuff I need to figure out.

[Purrbox]

It can be quite daunting at first. I still remember how overwhelmed I felt when I was trying to sort through all the information while planning my first serious planted aquarium. I'm sure that it'll all start to make a lot more sense and become second nature in very soon.

Don't hesitate to ask if there's anything that you're still unclear about after your reading.

[20 20]

Originally Posted by Purrbox

Don't hesitate to ask if there's anything that you're still unclear about after your reading.

Heh, it'd take less time if I just told you what I AM clear about!

[20 20]

Still trying to decide what to do. Bit of a procrastinator, ya know. Anyway, a couple more questions:
- If I run the current tank as a low-light low-tech planted tank, and use a mag 9 as the return pump for the wet-dry, would I need any other filtration, such as a canister, or would it be OK if I just used the wet-dry?

- With a no-CO2 setup with a wet-dry in a 125 gallon, would using two 80 watt T5HO's (overdriven to 100 watts each by an Icecap 660 ballast) be sufficient with low light plants? That would be about 1.6 watts/gallon. Or would I need to run 3 of the bulbs, for about 2.4 watts/gallon? Remember, no CO2, wet-dry, and low light plants...

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[Subic76]

Gonna watch this thread.
I just set up a 125 gallon on Jan 1.
Freshwater, lightly planted, sump, no CO-2.
Cheap shoplight on top of glass with two T-8 32's, 6500K.
Light is on timer from 845 am to 745 pm.

[Purrbox]

I think your first lighting option of two overdriven bulbs would be best, as the second option would put you into an area where you would likely need to consider CO2 to prevent problems. You'd be able to grow low light plants and even some medium light plants.