A few questions / ideas fishless cycling & plants

[Prez]

:hi:

I apologize if this goes off on a ramble.......here goes.

Equipment waiting to begin its journey:

Amiracle Pro-Line 2000 wet/dry filter
Magnun 350 canister (not certain if needed)
Mag7 pump
48" All-Glass twin light hood w/ 1-Power-Glo & 1-Life-Glo 40w bulbs
250w sub heater
All-Glass 72g Bow tank with Mega Flow


I want to have a planted tank and have done lots of reading on plant types, lighting, substrate etc.. Also, have read a lot about it's not recommended to do a fishless cycle with a planted tank. How do you do a fishless cycle and then plant the tank? Empty the tank to lay substrate and plant? It's seems very daunting to plant a tank after cycling....any advice?

Now, what I think is a unique question :duh: ...

Can I do a cycling in only the wet/dry? Attach a pump to circulate the water through the chambers - bio-balls -. Add Bio-Spira.?.?.? Wouldn't this accomplish the same thing? I will not have to fill the 72g tank up and I could take time to plan the layout. I understand that if this does work out and after i plant the tank, there may be a "fight" for the ammonia by the plants and the bio-balls for food. I would think the plants would win and there will be some die-off in the bio-balls. But, I think that's a fair trade off.

I'm asking this because I'm uncertain how well I will do at planting a tank. I would love to have a well planted tank but expenses are tight (not choking) atm and I thought having a cycled filter ready would be a backup/safety net if the plants fail.


Thank you much for taking thetime to read through! I look forward to any replies. :coffee2:

 

[Kasakato]

The canister isnet needed, and its not really a good one to begin with.

Yes, you can cycle like that, As long as you dont mess with the media out will be fine. Just remember the ammoina every day.

How much light is in that lighting strip?
Are you going to be injecting C02?

 

[Prez]

I have looked through a few DIY CO2 systems and I thought I would just buy one that's about $30. and you add tablets to a chamber. I've done a bit of reserach on CO2 systems too so, I don't want you to think I'll completely clueless about them.. Everything from the 2liter bottles to studying how much surface area and contact time with water and air is recommended. I know the $30. is not the best but, it's one of the only ones I can feel comfortable with right now.

The lighting is not the brightest and I know I won't be able to have a great variety of plants. The choices for a beginner planter seem to have low requirements anyways. The 2 bulbs are listed above =) They only equal 80w....below the 1.5w/gal rule.


I've tested the tank out for about 3 days just to look for leaks and such. I placed some filter material (the blue poly stuff) in the mid chamber before the bio-balls and also placed some on top of the bio-balls to lighten the sound of the water pouring through the drip plate -- was that ok? It was all just a test, I didn't begin any cycling and the tank has been drained. But, if I do start up again I would like to keep that configuration in the wet/dry.