Cycling A Planted Tank (poll)

[Cheez]

I plan on setting up a 26 gallon planted tank in the near future. I'm not going to make it too crowded though and plan on using around 6 medium/small plants and some driftwood. This will be a low-light setup with no ferts or CO2 added. This forum has provided me a wealth of information and I plan on doing the fishless cycle But do I add my plants before I add the ammonia or after my cycle is completed. I've been researching this topic on the web and it seems that many people disagree. Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Jazzzz]

guessed imediatly

 

[beany_bot]

guessed imediatly

Same, cant hurt

 

[Corleone]

Yep. Stuff them in right away - they'll use ammonia, which will skew your results, but really, that's fine, as they'll use ammonia with your fish in there, too.

 

[Firstman]

i would say immediately...i am doing the same thing right now with a 40 gallon...will let you know how things turn out. I don't see why you wouldn't go ahead and put plants in and give them more time to establish...but i am no expert

 

[aaronnorth]

straight away, it gives them a chance to establish before the fish are in. Some plants are grown emerged so they need to adapt to submerged life. Also they will love all the ammonia.

What plants are you going to be keeping?

 

[Cheez]

I'm aiming for 1.5-2 wpg with no CO2 or ferts so I'll probably end up doing soem of the following:

java fern
java moss
some type of crypt
Anubias
Watersprite
Hornwort

That should work right?
Also, I know this is straying from the topic, but I want to use a blackish substrate and can't decide whether to use some fine gravel/sand or some fluorite/eco-complete. Am I right in assuming there is no harm done by adding the nutrient-rich stuff (Only positive outcomes)?

 

[Ludwig Venter]

I plan on setting up a 26 gallon planted tank in the near future. I'm not going to make it too crowded though and plan on using around 6 medium/small plants and some driftwood. This will be a low-light setup with no ferts or CO2 added. This forum has provided me a wealth of information and I plan on doing the fishless cycle But do I add my plants before I add the ammonia or after my cycle is completed. I've been researching this topic on the web and it seems that many people disagree. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Cheezz!!!.... I once did a waterless cycle, but would not recommend...... When I added the fish, they all dried up & died.

 

[tlef316]

i would not recommend cycling with plants in the tank. about 6 months ago, i made a mistake that killed all my filter bacteria (stopped monitoring my ph for a while and it crashed, killing my colony) I had to re-cycle the tank with fish and plants in it. I got all of the diatoms that come with a cycling tank and they absolutely ravaged some of my plants. I had some beautiful healthy crypts that were just totally overtaken with brown algae. some of my anubias took some serious damage as well.

I agree that it is good to let the plants get established, but i wouldn't put anything too expensive or fragile in there while the tank is cycling. good luck

 

[eschaton]

If a tank is heavily-planted enough, it doesn't have a cycle per-se, as the growing plants absorb virtually all of the ammonia directly rather than leaving it to the bacteria. It's hard to say if you'll reach this point in a low light tank though.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Agree with tlef that you might want to hold off on the Anubias simply because they tend to be a bit pricey. Java moss however...not sure if it's actually possible to kill the stuff! XD

 

[aaronnorth]

i would not recommend cycling with plants in the tank. about 6 months ago, i made a mistake that killed all my filter bacteria (stopped monitoring my ph for a while and it crashed, killing my colony) I had to re-cycle the tank with fish and plants in it. I got all of the diatoms that come with a cycling tank and they absolutely ravaged some of my plants. I had some beautiful healthy crypts that were just totally overtaken with brown algae. some of my anubias took some serious damage as well.

I agree that it is good to let the plants get established, but i wouldn't put anything too expensive or fragile in there while the tank is cycling. good luck

use carbon for the first few weeks to help with algae. Keep the photoperiod short (6 hours straight) and do as many water changes as possible.

Go for the eco-complete, you are right there is no harm, EC raises or lowers the Kh & Gh (i cant remember which!) Good chioce of plants too