Cycling and fertilizers

[tempest104]

I’m brand new to aquarium keeping and recently purchased a 10g tank. I already had it set up with about 15lbs of a fine gravel substrate, but after a bunch of research, I figured that, rather than waiting through a fishless cycle, I would try going the silent cycle way – a lot of plants and no fish. I’ve heard of eco-complete and stuff like that, but don’t want to have to redo the entire tank and waste my original gravel. What’s the best thing for me to do regarding fertilizers with the substrate I already have?

[livingword26]

That depends on what kind of plants and lighting you have. With low light plants, you just have to add a little Flourish, and maybe some Flourish excel (for carbon since you have no fish to put out co2) With high light plants you will need to dose dry ferts and have co2 injection. Rex's site has some good info:

http://www.rexgrigg.com/

My advice would be to go with low light plants and maybe 20 or 30 watts of light per gallon on that 10 gallon tank. It will be much easier to maintain and learn with.