planted tank-skip cycle questions

[CHINABOY1021]

i know to have this done, the tank must be heavily planted. but by heavily planted in this case, how much is heavily planted? let's use 35 gallon tank as an example. good lighting, good plant growth. using fast growing plants like horn-wort and amazon swords as plants. how many exactly do i have to get to skip the cycle?

i know that i must accumulate fish very very slowly, but i plan on getting some cardinal tetras. plus i DONT plan on feeding my fish more than once a day with a small sprinkle of flakes.

how many cardianals vs how many fast growing plants to over-ride the ammonia.

hope this makes sense.
plus if i plan on aquiring 10 cardinals at once, is this even possible with this method or do i have to cycle.

another thing is regarding the planted-no cycle process itself. during this process, does it mean no cycle at all? or just cycling slowly due to little ammonia avaliable?

specs:
35 gallon.
good equipment to grow plants well
HOT magnum.

what should i do.

thanks

[Tempest]

You'd probably get more help on this in the planted forum but here is *some* info at least. The stem plants are usually used first for the breakin period. You stuff the tank with cheap fast growing stems. Add a few algae eaters first off but it is best to make sure your plants are growing and not rotting before you add them.

It is not a good idea to add Cardinal Tetras to any tank that isn't well established. I finally added cardinals to my 55 gallon about three months ago after the tank had been established for several months. Mayhap I was being overly cautious but they are expensive here.

[OrionGirl]

There isn't really a magic formula--ie, 3 plants per inch of fish, for example. What you have to do, as with any type of cycling, is test as you go. Add the plants, and ideally some seeded filter media, add fish (and I agree--cardinals tend to be sensitive, though hardy once established--I wouldn't use them as the first fish). Test, make water changes if needed, and then add more fish when the parameters test to 0.

If you'll do a search in the Planted forum, there are a number of threads regarding this process.