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My tank is in the 5th week of cycling right now. How long should i wait to add live plants? Or should I not? ARe they a big pain?

Definetley consider live plants.

I would say you could have added live plants right away
They are NOT a big pain. When I set my tank up I used fake plants, I wish I had not. Too much money spent on garbage.
Pick plants that are easy to grow, just pick low light ones like java fern, anubias, pennywort, amazon sword, wisteria, etc. Make sure your gravel is nice and thick (3 inches is usually good), and dont gravel vac too too much at the start of their planting cuz they will need the fish wastes to start their growth. Make sure you leave your lights on at least 10-12 hours a day, and If possible put a lamp nearby to give a little extra light to spur on the growth after transplanting.
Buy a good aquarium fertlizer, make sure it has no phosphates to create excess algae. Dose half what it says every time you add a new plant, and dose regularly until your plants have rooted and are growing, then you can lower the plant fertilizer until just once a month or so.
Hope this helps! Good luck, live plants are a blessing, and help maintain the health of an aquarium!


[span class="edited"][Edited by Sneaky_Pete 2004-07-10 04:38][/span]

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I would wait until you have a decent amount of nitrates for the plants to feed on.

Fake plants are easy to grow, just pick low light ones like java fern, anubias, pennywort, amazon sword, wisteria, etc.

LMAO Mr Bubbles LOL

"Fake plants are easy to grow, just pick low light ones like java fern, anubias, pennywort, amazon sword, wisteria, etc."

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