Plants Or No Plamts When Cycling Tank?fishless Cycle

[chubbs9]

as it says peeps,my tank is coming on saturday and i will be doing a fishless cycle...should i add plants from the start (i would rather wait but whatever is besti will do) or just wait till the cycle is done and i add fish too.i will also be getting water from my mates cycled tank to,to speed up the cycle

cheers

chubbs

 

[Aqua Tom]

Wait

Tom

 

[fluttermoth]

Definitely wait until the cycle is done before you add plants.

The water from your mates tank won't do you any good, but if they'd give you a bit of old filter media (they can give you up to 1/4 of what's in their filter without affecting their tank, as long as it's replaced) that would really help you out

 

[chubbs9]

cheers guys thats great
fair play this forum is really helpful and friendly,im glad i joined

cheers

chubbs

 

[Electric Warrior]

Hi all. A few questions... Can someone please explain to me why you shouldn't fishless cycle a tank with plants? I have been reading up on this topic all over the web for over a month now, and there seems to be a very large difference of opinion on this topic. I just acquired a 200L tank, that I plan on setting up a SE Asain river biotope in. This obviously means I will be using specific plants. From my understanding, Crypts don't like new tanks anyways, so I was planning on adding the Crypt species later down the line anyways, but I was planning on cycling the tank with plants already in, like a group of Hygrophila corymbosa or something. I am generally planning on a pretty lo-tech setup as far as plants are concerned, and I really can't be bothered with attempting a silent cycle, because I am not to going to planting 50% + immediately. The question is why can't I fishless cycle with a few plants in? The only thing I was thinking is that the plants could possibly affect the reading on the tests, rather than the ammonia being added affecting the plants? A few of you are saying don't do it, but elsewhere I read a lot of of other people saying that fishless cycling with a small amount of plants added after a few days of dosing the first time is completely fine, and even beneficial to the cycle? Can someone please offer a bit more insight? Thanks.

 

[Tizer]

Plants require light to grow. high ammonia and light = algae.

Silent cycle with plants and minimal fish count might work best, many planted tank owners do this.

 

[Electric Warrior]

Plants require light to grow. high ammonia and light = algae.

Silent cycle with plants and minimal fish count might work best, many planted tank owners do this.

Okay, yeah I understand that... I personally don't want to silent cycle because it usually takes forever if you want to add fish, and I don't think I will want to densely plant, everything, all at once. I would prefer to start scaping and planting, while my tank is still cycling, because I know that will change my mind about the way I want things to look in the tank (therefore densely planting at 50% up seems out to me). I can hold out on adding fish until the cycle is complete, but I think I might have a harder time with waiting on planting/scaping the tank

Is algae the biggest concern with cycling a planted tank, or will it alter the cycle drastically since plants absorb ammonia, etc.?

 

[Tizer]

Algae is just a royal pain in the bum if it sets in, you would do better to spend a lot more time planning your hard scape and stock while it cycles. If you are cycling a tank then i'll assume its your first tank, in which case, your scape and stock are likely to change several times over until you find one you like. 99% of experienced people here will advise you not to rush it, one step at a time

personally i don't think plants absorb enough ammonia to mess up readings of a fishless cycle, but you do get the odd anal perp who will insist that it will and that the whole world will blow up if you don't follow the steps precisely. Me, i fish in cycle, i like doing water changes, but, i'm mental, ehoaheahehoahoeaheaheo

 

[FishFanatic04]

I'm cycling with plants, but only because I already had the plants. IF you don't have them yet then cycle without and lights off.

I only have a 4 hour photoperiod to try and avoid algae issues. Still hard to balance it.

 

[Electric Warrior]

Algae is just a royal pain in the bum if it sets in, you would do better to spend a lot more time planning your scape and stock while it cycles. If you are cycling a tank then i'll assume its your first tank, in which case, your scape and stock are likely to change several times over until you get into the swing of things. 99% of experienced people here will advise you not to rush it, one step at a time

personally i don't think plants absorb enough ammonia to mess up readings of a fishless cycle, but you do get the odd anal perp who will insist that it will and that the whole world will blow up if you don't follow the steps precisely. Me, i fish in cycle, i like doing water changes, but, i'm mental, ehoaheahehoahoeaheaheo

Yeah, it is my first new tank in quite a while, because now I live in a place where there is room for a proper tank (the last tank I had was years ago). I am pretty much decided stocking wise as far as fish go, and I know how I want the tank to look since I am trying to recreate a specific biotope, but I just have this feeling that I will spend forever deciding where to root the plants, etc. since I am going to doing a banked, riverbed look. I am always anal about the positioning of things :roll eyes:

This is my first live planted tank btw.

 

[Electric Warrior]

I'm cycling with plants, but only because I already had the plants. IF you don't have them yet then cycle without and lights off.

I only have a 4 hour photoperiod to try and avoid algae issues. Still hard to balance it.

Yeah, I don't have the plants yet. Maybe I could just convince myself that I could spend enough time and thought into positing the bogwood and rocks/pebbles around during the fishless cycle, and imaging where the plants will go, until the cycle is over? Most people are more overeager to add fish right away, and I am freaking out about plants

 

[FishFanatic04]

Get your wood and rocks situated then you can take a picture and play around in paint on your computer drawing different layouts. It will keep you busy until your cycle is through