Planted tank cycling questions

[mervin2]

I have made the switch from a 55g saltwatrer reef tank to a 120g freshwater planted tank and i have a few questions:

Is cycling any different for a fresh water planted tank than for an unplanted tank? I have setup the tank with a few of the plants and was using zebra dans to cycle. Would i follow different steps sign there are live plants in the tank? Also should i still be looking for the same steps in my cycle? ammonia up, nitrItes, then nitrAtes

I am using a t5 ho fixtures with 4x54watt buls for 216w over 120 gallons with a depth of 24" but about a 3" to 4" bed of sand under florite under gravel. Do i need to up my wattage since im a little under the 2 wats per gallon threshold. I read somewhere that the wattage calculation is a little off for T5 ho cause of the lumens or something but i am very unclear on the specs.

Should i be adding all the plants now or wait for the cycle to finish. I know the fish come after the cycle. But how will the plants do with the cycle? It is my understanding that they also feed on some nitrAtes and have been told to add them now before the cycle but i was thinking they would compete for nutrients with the nitrofying bacteria growing during the cycle and elongate it.

I have read a few posts in the forums and have found a ton of information on the subject and i really appreciate the forums and any help or insight any1 can give. Thanks in advance for the help and the time in answering my post.

P.S. I understand any reply from JAY should be treated as law?

[ZeroSystem]

Welcome to FTF Mervin2!

You are right, Jay is by far the plant expert amongst the group here, and I'm sure his posts will provide you with the best information about planted aquariums. Still, I'll take a shot at trying to answer a few of your questions.

As far as I understand there is no difference in cycling a tank either with or without plants, and you can add plants either before, during, or after the cycle. The plants you listed off are great, easy to grow plants (just my style!), but if I remember right they all grow relatively slowly.

You might also want to add some quick growing step plants like Anachrias or Water Sprite. They will grow very fast and help compete against algae for nutrients. I mainly mention this because you mentioned having flourite substrate which should have lots of nutrients and may grow a lot of algae instead of plants. Again, I'm not the expert in this subject, but I'm pretty sure I've read similar things before.

I'm sure Jay will come along soon and answer your questions in more detail.

[Judge]

Welcome Mervin..yep Jay is our resident expert!