How Many Plants Is Too Much And Should We Add Whilst Cycling?

[jotto]

Here is our tank so far.

My wife wants to add a lot more plants but is concerened about how many we can add. From what I have read, there isnt a max. Just add untill you are happy.

So, what is a good amount and am I for once correct that we cannot put too many in and What would you guys reecommend to compliment what we have? I quite like the feathery type but have no idea what we have now or what we should buy. Again I guess it depends on fish type as well.

When we bought our current plants, the guy in the shop did say what they were but we have forgotten....

 

[KittyKat]

Well, firstly to need to spread the plants: the way they are clumped together right now is not good for them. If they have any lead weights/pots/ties, take them off.

Potentially you can get more plants, but only for the foreground as the ones you already have will spread well across the back and mid-ground.

I think the general consensus is that it is best to cycle without plants, altho many people do it with plants too. The danger is that the plants can cause false positive readings.

So, left is Vallis, centre back are Hygrphila (I think), centre front are Crypts, right is Amazon Sword and Water Sprite (I think).

 

[RustedKnight]

Definately move the water sprite (far right plant) to the back of the tank, it will take over.. Looks lovely when it does, but you wouldn't want it sprouting from there.

And i'd say you have enough plants for now, let them grow ;P

 

[Aqua Tom]

How big is that tank?

 

[Timmy_Bee]

have a good read in the planted section of this forum. And read up about the silent cycle. This isn't for beginners, but in theory, a well planted tank is as good as a filter full of bacteria at decomposing ammonia / nitrites.
But if you go down that road, you need to look after your plants as much as the fish with CO2 systems, fertiliser etc

 

[jotto]

Thanks for all the replies. Will do some housekeeping and re-arrange and un-clump as required.

How big is that tank?

Its an Aqua one 510 which I believe is a 75 ltr tank.

have a good read in the planted section of this forum. And read up about the silent cycle. This isn't for beginners, but in theory, a well planted tank is as good as a filter full of bacteria at decomposing ammonia / nitrites.
But if you go down that road, you need to look after your plants as much as the fish with CO2 systems, fertiliser etc

Think we best leave it as is for now...n00bs to this so one learning curve at a time!

 

[Timmy_Bee]

in that case i would leave it as is, let them grown out a bit and if you want more, add them gradually. If you whack loads in, you might just find they all die because of lack of CO2/O2/Food/Light/All of the above. But take it gradually and you should be fine!

 

[waterdrop]

KK is right, false positives from plants consuming ammonia, nitrate (and they even can consume a little nitrite in some cases but its quite rare) can be quite irritating for interpreting the progress of a fishless cycle. But the fishless cycle -will- proceed ok, you just have to be skeptical that the zeros are always due to bacteria, as they might be due to plants instead and so you have to keep performing the fishless cycle without getting all excited and thinking yours has somehow gone faster than most of them do.

So I would certainly not buy any more plants for the duration of the fishless cycle but after the fish have been added its a different story. The plants look very nice by the way and I'd obtain and feed them some very small traces of TPN+ (assuming you are in UK) since there are not fish in there to provide macronutrients for them. I'd not have the light on more than 8 hours and I'd watch for any early signs of algae.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[jotto]

KK is right, false positives from plants consuming ammonia, nitrate (and they even can consume a little nitrite in some cases but its quite rare) can be quite irritating for interpreting the progress of a fishless cycle. But the fishless cycle -will- proceed ok, you just have to be skeptical that the zeros are always due to bacteria, as they might be due to plants instead and so you have to keep performing the fishless cycle without getting all excited and thinking yours has somehow gone faster than most of them do.

So I would certainly not buy any more plants for the duration of the fishless cycle but after the fish have been added its a different story. The plants look very nice by the way and I'd obtain and feed them some very small traces of TPN+ (assuming you are in UK) since there are not fish in there to provide macronutrients for them. I'd not have the light on more than 8 hours and I'd watch for any early signs of algae.

~~waterdrop~~

WD, there are 7 Black Phantoms in there ( and Speedy, our very small racing snail! )....they like to swim around the back of the tank. All look nice and healthy.
Is the TPN required with fish or should we just let the tank settle before adding more chemicals to the mix?

 

[KittyKat]

*facepalm*

Are you doing a fish-in cycle then?

 

[jotto]

*facepalm*

Are you doing a fish-in cycle then?

Yes, like a lot of n00bs, we were not given any info about cycling the tank before putting fish in.
Here is a link to our other post with regards testings etc

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/343429-new-tank-first-test-resultsfish-in-cycle/

 

[KittyKat]

Aha, in that case I can definitely say that adding plants was a good choice! And you should definitely at least read about silent cycles

 

[waterdrop]

My turn to facepalm.

 

[OldMan47]

Keep a close eye on your water chemistry Jotto. As many of us would say, it is better if you go through a fishless cycle but, you are not in that situation. Instead each of us must try to adjust to the reality of your fish-in cycle. As it happens, you have the opportunity to cycle your tank with fish present, what we call a fish-in cycle. I have links to fish in cycling as do others who frequent this location. Please read through the information available for a fish-in cycle and ask any questions you may still have about your own setup after that.

 

[SlyPolak]

I would move the water sprite to the back right... mine was in the middle at first (BIG MISTAKE) it took over most of the aquarium until I moved it to the FAAAR back...... still have to trim twice weekly or some stems sprout roots and try to take over (AGAIN)......