Cycle almost complete...added 2 live plants....

Morbius

Morbius

The Living Vampire
Aug 24, 2006
156
0
0
56
Saginaw Mi
hello all.As of right now I have a 35 gal long,1 piece of driftwood,assorted plastic plants, a small cave,standard gravel,an air stone,a skeleton gizmo that produces bubbles(he has a jug that goes up to his mouth like he's drinking!) I have the second nature whisper power filter, a heater and a perfecto lighted hood.(no idea what size bulbs are in it...sorry) I have been doing a fishless cycle since aug 26th.as of today my levels are:ammonia .0mg/l(but still dosing),Nitrite levels have continued to drop (0.8mg/l) and nitrate is between 25 and 50mg/l.I was @ petsmart today looking @ the fish I am going to add when I saw some live plants. I dont know diddley squat about plants so I asked the lfs girl.She commenced to tell me that Frill and Anacharis (these were the plants I was considering buying) didnt need any special treatment; co2,special gravel,or lighting.So, needless to say I bought them and now they are in my tank.First....I had the temp up to 85 degrees to accelerate the growth of the bacteria(worked like a charm by the way!) I have since started to decrease it back to normal temp. Second being that my tank hasn't finished cycling, will this hurt or kill the plants???? I'm still dosing the tank with ammonia....so I wonder does this pose a problem? I know I probably shouldnt have bought plants without consulting here 1st....but impulse took over and I did it anyway....How much,if any....damage have I caused???? :help:
 
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Plants consume the same thing that your biological filter does, nitrogen (ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates), so you won't harm your plants by adding ammonia. Plants won't mess up or your cycle, the only thing plants may do is make your nitrate readings low or not detectable (doubtful with just two plants).

Since you already got plants, I would suggest getting even more. The more plants you have in there, the less likely algae will become a problem. With enough plants, you don't need to worry about the cycle process, the plants will take over as the biological filtration.

A more important question is how much lighting do you have? Anacharis can do well in a low light setting with around 1-1.5wpg, frill usually needs a little more light to thrive.
 
Plants and light added to a tank with heavy ammonia dosing is a recipe for algea blooms. This is something that can be dealt with, but not something you really want I'm sure. Fishless cycling is best done with the lights out for algae reasons, adding plants requires light and more importantly imports algae into the tank where it will thrive with that much ammonia.

Here is an article that covers all of the details pretty clearly.

Cycling a tank
 
Thanx for the response guys! Bigscout, I have been following the cycling a tank link you have there coupled with the advice from rbishop....My thinking on getting the plants was I have been cycling my tank since 8/26th and being that my ammonia levels drop back to zero after each dosing(I only does enough to keep the bacteria fed) and my nitrites are in the final stages of depletion(0.8mg/l...) I figured it wouldnt be that crucial in regards to creating an algae bloom.But scout....are you saying no matter where in the cycle stage you are....potential for algae bloom is always an issue? Also...I have no idea what the diff in low lighting versus high lighting is....where would I find this out????
 
i thought that the problem with adding plants during a fishless cycling was that the plants would eat the ammonia, depriving the ammonia eating bacteria of their dinner - meaning that you haven't got such a big colony of the bacteria as you otherwise would have, and so can't stock your tank so quickly (or run the risk of further ammonia spikes.

I am a novice, so this is all from stuff I have read, not experience. The answer is of interest to me too because my tank is in the same state as Morbius's (apart from the cool skeleton drinking from a cup!) - and I have a heap of aquarium plants arriving on Friday. I was planning on keeping them in a bucket until the tank had cycled, but if they can be added without upsetting the cycle, this would be preferable.
 
hello Astro. I think judging by both replies,we might be ok. Bigscout has a link to cycling a tank that covers plants....are you as far along into your cycle as i am????if so you should check out the link...I am now!!!!!!
 
yup - 45 gallon, started on 8-28. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.8, Nitrates 5 (low - thats another story!). Will check that link...
 
As long as there is light and nitrogen, you have a potential for algae. Even after your tank is cycled, if you leave your lights on for 4+ hrs you will have algae issues. That is why I recommend getting more plants. If you have a sufficient amount of fast growing plants, which the frill and anacharis are, they will outcompete the algae for the nutrients. This is the plant or "silent" cycle covered in Dave's cycling article, which will not work unless you have enough lights to grow plants.

How much light is enough? In general, you'll want between 1-2 wpg (watts per gallon) of fluorescent lighting for your plant choice. Since you have a 35g tank, you'll want a light fixture that supports something within the 40w-70w range.

To answer Astro's question about plants competing with the biological filter - yes, plants will compete with the bacteria but the overall impact to the cycle process will be the same (the removal of nitrogen). In essence, the plants will become part of the biological filtration in your tank.
 
Phanmc, I purchased these plants @ 12 noon today,my lights have been on since....I should turn them off yeah??????
 
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