Planted cycle

[myrxn]

Hi everyone I am going to do a planted tank and I was wondering if people could tell me what to do? Do I add anything to the water for the tank? Ive got a heater and filter I just wanna know how to cycle it with plants in thx. Plants being used are: Java Moss, Java fern, Water wisteria, frogbit and Anubias. The tank is 30x30x30cm (12") i know its a lot of plants but they'll be cut back if too long so

 

[mbsqw1d]

Hi everyone I am going to do a planted tank and I was wondering if people could tell me what to do? Do I add anything to the water for the tank? Ive got a heater and filter I just wanna know how to cycle it with plants in thx. Plants being used are: Java Moss, Java fern, Water wisteria, frogbit and Anubias. The tank is 30x30x30cm (12") i know its a lot of plants but they'll be cut back if too long so

Try and aim for covering 50% + of the substrate with plants. Anubias are slow growing plants and dont suck up nitrogen like some faster growing stem plants such as the wisteria. (So, aim for planting more wisteria than anubias) .. dont have to set your scape in stone yet, just get the plants growing then slowly add 2 - 3 fish, keep an eye on ammonia levels and water change periodically.

@itiwhetu and @ClownLurch have good philosophies on the matter

 

[itiwhetu]

Hi, Make sure about 30-50% of the tank volume is in plant. Look for plants like Cabomba and Ambulia. Any stemmed plats will be fine. Wait 10 -14 days, add fish. Your filter needs to be running, light on a timer 10 hours. We aim for acid water. Once the plants start to grow you can add fish slowly. 3 or so per week .

 

[itiwhetu]

On the system above I would do 25% water changes weekly. Wash the filter pads out in a bucket of the aquarium water aim to reduce the waste by 50%. Do this every week.

 

[myrxn]

Try and aim for covering 50% + of the substrate with plants. Anubias are slow growing plants and dont suck up nitrogen like some faster growing stem plants such as the wisteria. (So, aim for planting more wisteria than anubias) .. dont have to set your scape in stone yet, just get the plants growing then slowly add 2 - 3 fish, keep an eye on ammonia levels and water change periodically.

@itiwhetu and @ClownLurch have good philosophies on the matter

Yes I was planning on doing more wisteria anyway, and I am going to put the rock and wood in first too cuz the Java moss is being stuck too it. So do I literally just put in the substrate, plants, water with the tap safe- anything else?? And then filter and heater? I really want it in like full full depth of exactly what to do

 

[mbsqw1d]

@Essjay do you know if we have a sticky post on planted cycle method?

 

[Essjay]

No, I'm afraid we don't. Just fishless cycling and how to cope with a fish-in cycle.

You could always write one for us ...........

 

[Utar]

You cycle an aquarium the same way whether with or without plants. Plants help in absorbing ammonia, nitrite and especially nitrate, so they are very beneficial for the life of the aquarium. Not to mention absolutely necessary for some species of fish in my IMHO.
I am going to give you a couple of tips, in case you have not already done this.

1. API Freshwater Master Test Kit This has tests in it for ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. You will need this to test your water.

2. Source of Ammonia - Some use fish food, pieces of shrimp but the most accurate and fastest way is to use pure liquid ammonia.
Some things I want to point out about this, get you a meat injector syringe if you can. I have found mine to be invaluable for measuring ammonia and filling test tubes. When cycling my last two aquariums I used my homemade aqua soil, which is mainly organic potting soil, if you use something like this then it will produce its own natural ammonia so you want need to had any.

The rest is just the standard way of cycling aquariums, there is plenty of research on this. Also look up how beneficial bacteria works, it doesn't help to learn this.

When you are finished and over a few months later your aquarium can look like this.... I know I am plugging my aquarium here...but I just wanted to show a good planted all natural tank so sue me....lol....

 

[Essjay]

With a plant or silent cycle, no ammonia is added. The tank is heavily planted with fast growing plants and then left until the plants show that they are actively growing. Then fish can be added, a few at a time. It is advisable to test for ammonia and nitrite for several days to make sure the plants are taking up all the ammonia. Then the next batch of fish can be added. Bacteria will grow slowly in the background, but not nearly as many as in an unplanted or lightly planted tank.

But for this method to work, there must be a lot of fast growing plants; one or two anubias or java ferns is not enough. itiwetu suggests something like 30 to 50% of the tank volume should be plants.

 

[Utar]

@Essjay You are saying no ammonia source is needed, now I am confused. There has to be an ammonia source to feed the BBA, or I may be learning something here. Even with plants like I used I had natural ammonia from my aqua soil, plus after the tank was cycled the very first time, I added more ammonia twice to strengthen the BBA. Like I said in my case I had no choice because I had ammonia whether wanted it or not form the aqua soil. It all worked great for me, but like I said, I am still learning.

 

[Essjay]

In a plant cycle, you don't need to grow bacteria; the plants do all the work. A fishless cycle is not needed with a heavily planted tank. many of our members do this - plant a lot of plants then go away for a couple of weeks until the plants start to actively grow, then add fish a few at a time.
But there must be enough plants. With only a few plants it is better to do a fishless cycle, then put the plants in when it's finished.


I quarantined 12 kuhli loaches in a 6 gallon tank with no media, just 2 large water sprite plants and 2 bunches of anacharis. I did not see any ammonia or nitrite because the plants removed the ammonia and didn't turn it into nitrite. Had this been a permanent tank, i would have planted it properly rather than just leave the anacharis floating, but the plants did their job.

 

[Retired Viking]

With a silent/planted cycle you are not as interested in growing the BBA. it is secondary to the plants. I only do silent/planted cycles and feel it is the natural way to make your tank safe for fish. With enough fast growing plants in your tank you will not have to worry about ammonia. The plants will absorb most it not all. You should still test your water to make sure your plants are doing the job. Water sprite, hornwort, moneywort, pennywort, salvinia, and frog bite are some more plants you can have. I agree totally with @Essjay

 

[Utar]

@Essjay and @Retired Viking so you are saying that I can remove my canister filter/bio-media and let the plants do all the work. Makes me kinda of nervous, especially since everything is going stellar with my tank.

You guys have the experience with this, so now I wished I had never spend money on a canister filter in the first place. All I know is what works for me.

Please don't think I am being a smart butt with this but I am a bit shocked over learning this. Yes I know the Walstad Method read all about it, but this is very hard to achieve, and can take a year or years to achieve a complete cycle with the third bacteria that consumes nitrates.

My tank in the picture has only been up and running for six months now. In my case I did not find the plants absorbing all the ammonia, it was off the charts in the beginning due to my aqua soil which as it turns out was an ammonia factory. I had to do daily water changes just to keep the ammonia down to around four ppm. but this was only in the first couple of weeks, due to the fact that I seeded my bio-media in my canister form a previously all ready cycled tank. I really don't believe, in my case anyway, that no matter how many plants, it could have taken care of that much ammonia all on their own. So I feel the canister with the bio-media took most of the load of getting rid of the ammonia.

Bottom line this should be considered on a case by case bases.

 

[mbsqw1d]

@Essjay and @Retired Viking so you are saying that I can remove my canister filter/bio-media and let the plants do all the work. Makes me kinda of nervous, especially since everything is going stellar with my tank.

You guys have the experience with this, so now I wished I had never spend money on a canister filter in the first place. All I know is what works for me.

Please don't think I am being a smart butt with this but I am a bit shocked over learning this. Yes I know the Walstad Method read all about it, but this is very hard to achieve, and can take a year or years to achieve a complete cycle with the third bacteria that consumes nitrates.

My tank in the picture has only been up and running for six months now. In my case I did not find the plants absorbing all the ammonia, it was off the charts in the beginning due to my aqua soil which as it turns out was an ammonia factory. I had to do daily water changes just to keep the ammonia down to around four ppm. but this was only in the first couple of weeks, due to the fact that I seeded my bio-media in my canister form a previously all ready cycled tank. I really don't believe, in my case anyway, that no matter how many plants, it could have taken care of that much ammonia all on their own. So I feel the canister with the bio-media took most of the load of getting rid of the ammonia.

Bottom line this should be considered on a case by case bases.

Depends on size of tank, amount and size of fish, how heavily planted and types of plant. But yes, with all this considered, you can potentially turn your filter off and have the plants do all the work.
The thing is, your plants might already be doing all the work. (Most) Plants uptake ammonia as a preference, not nitrate. So any ammonia coming from the fish, will be absorbed by the plants before theres a chance for BB to convert it through to nitrate.

 

[eatyourpeas]

I started with the Walstad method (The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad) and it worked until the bioload become too much for the plants to handle. The filter is a nice and necessary addition if you want to have fish. Tanks are heavily planted, and floating plants are ammonia hogs, so everyone is happy.

@mbsqw1d is right, as everything with this hobby it all depends on your tank size and inhabitants.