Well I am really digging this planted aquarium thing. So much so I went out and scammed on a new tank, 125 gallon one to be exact. Now its time to start setting it up and hopefully without breaking the bank in the process.

Looking at it...it didnt come with enough substrate which is pea sized graval about 1.5-2 mm in size. So I need to get more. As you might imagine substrate for a tank this size can be a considerable purchase. So now for the big question...Do I really need to use a special plant substrate for all of my tank substrate, such as that Made by Red Sea? Or can I use a combination of that type of substrate with what I already to have and still make out resonably well?

I am planning to set this thing up with a gang of plants and add my two Turquoise Discus (adding a few more later...). I will be using a CO2 system that I made to boost the CO2 levels. I was thinking about 2 x 160 watt VHO's for lighting...is this good/bad?

I could use some words of wisdom if you got any please fill free to make suggestions or recommendations. It would be greatly appreciated!

i use a 50/50 mixture of natural gravel and flourite in my tank,it seems to work well enough for me.i'll let some one more knowledgable than me answer your ?'s about lighting.:)

Well on the lighting, I am figuring 320 watts should be okay for the 125 gallon tank. I might prehaps toss in another light to boost things a bit. But the VHO's are 10000K which is not as optimal as 6500K but since I dont have a source for those bulbs in that Temp. I was kinda curious if I would still be able to get by without some supplementation of some sort.

But thatnks about the answer on the substrate. I rather suspected that I could do a 50/50 mix or something along that line and get by. That alone will save me some valuable "fun dollars"!

Appreciate the help cich1! :D

:arab: does this look familiar?it's the lfs or manufactures trying to squezze every dime they can out of you.the instructions on the flourite bags that i buy say it is best to use 100% their substrate but i have found my 50/50 mixture works well for me.i know i'm a retard but i just wanted an excuse to use that arab smilie. dummy

Yep, that looks familar alright. It really is hard to consult the manufacture or the LFS for info and get a no BS straight answer as they are usually more concerned about thier bottom line than they are a happy return customer, at least in many cases anyways.

Nice smiles, you should have that one added to the forums list as thats a good one to use in this hobby. That was really kinda funny!

shit 125 gall ud need like 3-4 light strips with like 80 watt bulbs plus to have a average light settign, if u go for the highest watted light bulb u will get your best results

So two 160 watt vho bulbs would not provide adequate lighting?

Check out this tank, it's awesomn

http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/125tank.html

It is called a Walstad natural planted tank and is owned by someone on another site I belong to. The site is in my sig and has a lot of info on planted tanks.

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