Newbie Planted Tank

[Cato]

Hello! I'm Jay, I live in the UK and I've been wanting to get fish for years now, so I decided the other day to just go for it! I have a 110 litre tank/24 gallon tank (Juwel 110 primo to be exact).
My tank has been planted for 3 days now, with daily 40% water changes for the first week (recommended on a youtube video) and I'm also adding CO2 booster liquid, which I feel may not be necessary but I think the guy at the store just wanted more of my money! I'm hoping to get Panda Cory's to start off my community once the tank has cycled. I have a million questions though so I thought I would join here so I stop using all the staffs time in the shops!
Super excited to get a community going and giving them the best life possible.
Heres my tank so far...
View attachment 165679

Looks really nice

 

[LoganJay]

Thank you for the helpful replies

I am a little confused though as I have just tested with the Master Test Kit that just arrived.

A week in and the results I have are:
PH - 6.8
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 30 ppm

This is with no ammonia added or anything yet. I have read that the substrate I have will initially release a fair amount of ammonia, but I really doubt this is the cycle almost complete?

I am planning on doing a water change today, then adding a dose of ammonia to see if it goes to 0 after 24 hours.

I am still planning on following the guide that has been linked here. I'm just wondering if the plants and substrate have sped up the process as some instructional videos I have seen show. I understand I am new to all this, so I may be completely wrong!

Thanks again for all your help!

 

[Byron]

The substrate is certainly a contender for these numbers. Have you tested your source (tap) water on its own for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Worth knowing if any of these are present.

You have live plants, and you are not going to see any "cycle" here, especially with no fish. The plants take up ammonia as their preferred source of nitrogen, and wherever it is coming from, they will rapidly grab it.

What guide are you intending to follow? Do not add any artificial ammonia, this could set your plants back (ironically).

 

[LoganJay]

I was going to use the fishless cycle here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/
I had purchased Dr Tim's Ammonia, but do not want to set the plants back!

I can continue as I am and get a few more floating plants as the planted/silent cycling thread shows.

I have also bought some BioBoost, but have been told in the store that this is just for each time I introduce fish.

I will post a before and after pic as there has been some good growth from the fast growers I have. Top pic is the most recent.

 

[Byron]

I was going to use the fishless cycle here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/
I had purchased Dr Tim's Ammonia, but do not want to set the plants back!

I can continue as I am and get a few more floating plants as the planted/silent cycling thread shows.

I have also bought some BioBoost, but have been told in the store that this is just for each time I introduce fish.

I will post a before and after pic as there has been some good growth from the fast growers I have. Top pic is the most recent.

It has been a while since I read those threads, but I don't think there is any harm there. What I would consider over-cautious, but that can be beneficial sometimes. In my 30 years I have never "cycled" an aquarium, but always used plants including some good floaters, and the fish have gone in on day 1 or 2 or 3 with never any sign of issue. I have never had ammonia or nitrite above zero, never. So it does work.

Dr. Tim's is the only rapid cycling product, though I have never used it (never needed to with plants). It requires ammonia being added, and I would never do this. I readily admit some people do use ammonia with plants. But there is a risk of killing the plants. Diana Walstad states that there is absolutely no evidence that adding ammonia/ammonium benefits plants. One would think it might, since plants rapidly take up natural ammonia/ammonium, but not the case. And 1 ppm of "pure" ammonia can kill some plants.

Forget the bioboost, but if you have it, probably won't do any harm.

Now to the proven scientific evidence. Aquatic plants take up ammonia/ammonium as their preferred source of nitrogen, and they are faster at doing this than are the bacteria/archaea. This is why ammonia will always be zero in a tank with plants, and nitrite the same. Nitrite is not being produced when plants use the ammonia. And nitrate will thus be less too, which benefits all fish. It is virtually impossible to add too many fish such that the plants' rapid assimilation of ammonia is thwarted. Floating plants are termed "ammonia sinks" for good reason. Plants take up any and all ammonia 24/7, night and day. They need it to grow, and they can store it in their vacuoles. The level of stored ammonia in plant tests was incredible to say the least.

Provided your plants show signs of growth as you say, you are safe to add fish, but keep the ammonia out!

 

[LoganJay]

Just wanted to send an update picture of my tank. Seems to be doing well and was fish ready after about 3 weeks. I have 6 black phantom tetra (2 males, 4 females), who have been making their home for the past week. They seem pretty happy! I'm still not 100% sure how to deal with the hair like algae that attaches itself to the more delicate plants. I have been trying to carefully pull it away to reduce it down. Hoping to get 12 lamp eye killifish later today.
Been testing every few days and levels are great. No ammonia, no nitrite and a very slow steady rise in nitrates. I've been doing very small water changes every few days too, mostly when I am trying to clear away some of the algae.