A planted tank will rarely cycle!!! The plants are ammonia users. I put fish in within hours of redoing a tank. Mulm under the substrate is also a good idea to give the substrate an instant source of food..
i then realised that i hadnt put the plant substrate in, there was no way i was going to empty it again so as gently as i could i put it in the tank. as you can see it kicked up a load of dust so will now wait for it to settle before adding sand
Doh. Tropica is clay based and is now in your water!!!!
Always need to do things properly I'm afraid!!!
You will need a bucket, sieve and some kitchen towel and a large jug
Empty all the water out of the tank up to the Tropica. when you get to a point where there is only an inch or so of water left. Stop syphoning.
Get the sieve and put the kitchen towel in it. A couple of sheets. Sit the sieve on the bucket. Get the jug and scoop water and substrate up and pour into the sieve The water will go in the bucket and particles (Tropica) will stay above the kitchen towel. Do this until the lot is out. Use new sheets of kitchen towel until the whole tank is empty of water and Tropica.
You don't need to clean the tank. Just wipe the sides and front/black clean. The rest of the dusty residue can go in the bottom of the tank.
Now before you go about the next step get a filter off one of your other tanks. Squeeze a couple of the sponges and pour all the dirty water into the tank (this is the mulm and will seed the substrate.)
Use the jug and empty the Tropica back into the tank. Spread it as you go so you don't push all the mulm into 1 area.
Once you are happy you have it all in, clean your bucket out.
Slope the substrate as you want it and then add the sand on top.
Fill with water and make sure you put a bowl or something under where the water is coming in. Best to do the first third of the filling slowly. If you already have the plants put them in at this point and then fill the other 2 thirds afterward.
p.s. I answered you on the HC thread
AC
