fishless cycle

[wt1961]

Hi.
I performed a fishless cycle to my 200L planted tank. Now I wont to continue with plants only without adding any fish, so how to mantain the bacteria,s colonies alive (without the wastes of fish)?
Must I continue to add pure ammonia and howmatch? or what.

My tap water GH = 12 I need to now for this GH value and when
KH = 12 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 11 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 10 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 9 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 8 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 6 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 5 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 4 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 3 PH = ? (How match PH must be)
KH = 2 PH = ? (How match PH must be)

Thanks.

[Mightyraven]

Well once your cycle is done, to keep the current bacteria colony alive you must add as much ammonia as you've been adding. You ad less and the bacteria will have less "food" and some will die off. I went for 3 weeks adding ammonia to my 75g planted while I waited for my fish.

[Matak]

Have you considered adding a few small tank cleaners? (SAE's, Oto's, Mollies etc) You will probably want these in a planted tank in time and adding them now will help maintain a bio load without having to add ammonia.\

Otherwise, I don't think adding ammonia will harm the plants, as long as your ammonia does not exceed 3 parts per million.

If you are using water from the same source all the time, your pH should always be the same (except for seasonal changes) It is not a good idea to use chemical pH adjusters. There are more natural ways to adjust pH though.

Are you looking for CO2 values that are present with your pH and KH? Give me a minute and I will find a CO2 chart.

[Matak]

Here is the CO2 table. (http://www.sfbaaps.com/reference/table_01.shtml) (click the underlined link)

[Mightyraven]

Be careful about adding just a few fish, when it comes time to add more fish you'll have to do a few at a time so the bacteria colony can grow up again. Granted with the plants they'll absorb some of the ensuing ammonia spike, but you'll still need to do a few at a time.

[Matak]

Yes, MightyRaven, good point.