FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Well I just started my first tank in like 15 years. I decided to do a planted tank with a couple of swords and a bunch of bogwood that I found at the LFS. I kind of rushed putting my plants in though.
Anyways I don't know if I got some friendly bacteria from my plants or if I just did something odd in my fishless cycling but I haven't had a huge spike or anything and my nitrates are holding at a steady 20ppm. I did float my plants in the water overnight in the plastic baskets.
I'm curious if I should get my first little group of tetras or cory cats this weekend or not?
Has anyone else tried cycling with a planted tank? What were your experiences?

What did you add as an ammonia source, and how much? Perhaps you just didn't add very much. If you did add ammonia properly and your cycle has gone like you described, it's probably okay to get your first fish.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

rock wool (the stuff that is arond the roots of potted plants) usually has some bacteria and the leaves and crevices of the plants woould also, but not enough to spped up a cycle very much. i would suggest you finish the cycle as it hasnt piked yet and therefor it seems a cycle has not happened... if you add a hardy terta you might be ok, but i wouldnt recommend you do it until you get a good cycle...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I have had excellent success with fishless cycling in both my 10g and my recently set up 55g. I added a few drops (not much at all) of ammonia daily until I saw the ammonia spike. Then I let the cycle do its thing. I used some filter media from an established tank, and I used plenty of bacteria "boost" (in a bottle).

After a few days to a week you'll begin to see nitrites slowly build, then spike and the ammonia goes to 0 ppm. Once the Nitrites come back down to 0 ppm, you'll be cycled. You'll probably have nitrates the whole time, you'll just see more nitrates as the tank cycles.

There's an excellent article on fishless cycling, just lookin the articles section. It's really quite simple and should only take a week to two weeks. My 55g took two weeks, my 10g took a few days.

While the plants wont hurt the cycle, they probably won't add alot to the process either.

You could go with a few zebra danios to hasten the cycle, but really there's no need to add fish before the cycle is complete, you jsut need patience. Don't add just any old fish before the cycle completes or you'll severely burn or kill them. And that's just no fun! lol

Good luck, keep us posted! Welcome to FP!

Well I had looked at this method for planted tanks.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm
However, I did use some bacteria boost as well and it was my understanding that you could use fish food as an ammonia source but I haven't tried that as the planted tank method said it was unnecessary. Hmm, maybe I will experiment with some clear ammonia this weekend to see if it can handle it. I did get that white cloudy water thing happening though, a bit after the boost was added, assuming that was the bacteria bloom.
Thanks for all the info everyone and if you have any more it will be greatly appreciated

Just add the ammonia slowly and monitor the levels as they grow... once I hit 1 ppm for a few days straight, I pretty much let the cycle take over and quit adding ammonia. Test daily and add ammonia sparingly, a few drops at a time.

Make sure it's clear, pure ammonia only, no additives, colors or scents.

Ok
I got some ammonia and going to see what happens. By the way, I was getting a 0.25 - 0.5ppm reading on my ammonia test kit today before i put it in. I will test everything tomorrow just to see what's going on. Thanks again for the help!

good luck, my friend... like I said, sneek up on that ammonia... you jsut really want to get the thing started, the bacteria will do the work, you just have to give them some ammonia to start with.

Quick update:
woke up this morning to find a snail doing laps around my tank... not sure what kind it is but man.. i never saw a snail move that fast.

lol, I have seen the same thing in my tanks... it's liek they run races, hilarious....

Ok i got my ammonia/nitrite spike done.
I have noticed that my alkalinity keeps reading really low but my hardness is really high. I did a water change around 50% tested my water before introducing into the aquarium. Everything reads great. Put it in and test it about an hour later and still getting these weird readings.
Can the bogwood be lowering my buffering capacity. I have never really used it before and wondering if I should take some of it out.
Any ideas?

Hi,
Depending upon the KH reading of your tap water, the bog
wood will lower your pH toward the acidic, and generally,
if the KH is low the GH will also be.

KH is the Carbonate Hardness and is an indication of
the buffering ability to neutralize acids. The acids
in the tank are the results of the breakdown of organic
wastes into organic acids, and also the wood releases
tannic acid (like in teas) into the water. How much those
acids affect the tank depends upon cleanliness and the
type of wood.

Generally you would want your KH to be around a 3 or 4.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I use a small amount of established gravel from an existing tank. Have to check for previous outbreaks of desease/bacteria though unless you trust the source.

Well just to let everyone know, I have some happily active black neons in the tank now. I just got 5 to start with but might get a couple more in the long haul, want to see how things play out. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.

great! hows the cycle? did you get through that ok??

Yah the cycle went fine. The black neons are very active now and don't go into hiding as much. They have started swimming up to the front of the tank when I look in at them. The plants also seem to be doing a bit better as well.

Isburton, glad to hear things are going well... just keep a close eye on the water quality, do a 20-25% water change weekly, vacuum 10-20% of the gravel weekly and you ought to keep things nice and healthy in there for your little tankmates!