I'm bored..switching to freshwater seeded

ok..So I have decided to go to freshwater, seeded, my personality requires constant challenge..I have a few questions. I will empty the tank of all my salt water "stuff"....(to some fortunate reefer yet to be determined)
Now, what to keep...
skimmer?
I will still use the sump / return / fuge...what goes in place of the cheato?
I will still use carbon reactor?
Is ro/di still required?
how about lights..T5's ..what bulbs are good? can I still use the purple plus/blue plus etc?
Temperature? about the same?
Just rinse everything good before I begin to add wood sand rocks?

I know its a bunch of questions..I am again a Newbie...a new adventure..just trying to get a handle on where to start...I have been reading around the forums and some other articles, but I know this is where I will get the direct answers I require.
Thanx folks..

 

Just one man's opinion. Here's my tank growth in a year.

 

Skimmers will not work on fresh water.
RO is still required since the chlorine in tap water and other metals are bad for the fish.
Look into co2 if you plan on keeping live plants.
I agree about the 6500K lights

 

I dose liquid forms of carbon which works for my 46 gallon tank, but it can become expensive and unpractical on a larger system.

I have well water and sit over an aquifer (no chlorine or fluorine added). If you're on city water, I might consider RO/DI, but you will be dosing a LOT (you may even have deficiencies of certain minerals) of necessary nutrients to keep your plants happy, including metals, that the RO/DI removes. Metals such as iron, manganese, zinc, boron, copper, cobalt, and molybdenum are necessary for growth and healthy plants. They can be added, but your tap water will have trace levels of these (mine also has phosphorus and nitrogens), making my need for dosing almost unnecessary.

 

Quite the move there lillys grandad!! Good luck with that.

 

Keep your skimmer. It will come in handy when you switch back to the marine world lol. Seahorses maybe?

 

Skimmer is not needed.
Sump is good as you can put all of your equipment in it and have more room in your DT.
Carbon reactor is good as it will remove the tannins from the wood and allow your lights to be more effective.
RO/DI is not required but can come in handy to allow greater control of you nutrients in the system.
You will want to use 6500K and/or 10000K bulbs primarily. A blue bulb and a reddish bulb will be fine if you use 6500K bulbs. Reddish is good to make red colored plants pop.
Temp 75 to 78.
Pressurized CO2 will be good and more economical than liquid carbon supplements with a larger tank.
You will need to supplement as fsukum stated even if you don't use RODI as T5 bulbs can cause rapid growth and the plants will quickly deplete the nutrients.

Please look at my 75 gallon planted thread to see how I do it. Feel free to ask me any questions that come to mind on the planted tank.

 

I highly recommend doing a heavily planted tank, it is the only thing that holds my interest after awhile.

 

Good stuff. Seems like everyone is in agreement. Makes it easy on Lilly's grandad.

 

This. ;D

Good luck on your journey to the dark side!