Cycling confussion

K

kaseysfan9

'Berque born and raised :)
Sep 23, 2008
13
0
0
Las Vegas, NV
I have been researching freshwater cycling on the Internet, and I've read up on the different methods. I think I'm going to go with the fish-less cycling because:

1. It's not possible to harm the fish, when there are no fish in the tank (which means less stress for me.)
2. I'm in no hurry because I want this aquarium to be amazing and that takes time.
3. And last but not least, I really like the idea of being able to add most of my fish at once.

I'm pretty sure I understand how the cycle works and how to do it but I have a few questions. Most of the sites I looked at all said roughly the same thing. However none of them mentioned when to add the gravel, plants (live in my case) and decor. Should I add everything before I start cycling? Will the ammonia and nitrites hurt my plants? Should I just have gravel and add the plants with my fish? :confused: I have no idea. I tried to google it, but just came up with the same pages about what cycling is and how to do it. They never mentioned the other things. Please help!!! Any advice is appreciated.
 
Yes, you add the substrate right from the start? The plant issue may be better answered if we knew the size of your tank, the substrate you will be using, what kind of plants you plan on and your lighting.

In general, plants can be in from the very beginning.
 
decorations should be able to be in at the very beginning
 
In most cases the plants go right in. The only thing I can think of to avoid is such dense planting that the ammonia won't be in the tank long enough to establish any beneficial bacteria. Plants are not harmed by the ammonia and nitrites. When you have plants, they will mostly view ammonia as fertilizer, just like the farmers near me do when they are adding ammonia to their fields in the spring before planting. It can make maintaing the ammonia levels a bit harder if the plants keep stealing it.
 
The tank is 72 gal. I was thinking of some Java Fern, Temple Narrow Leaf, Anacharis, and maybe some water sprite. Not too much because this is my first attempt at live plants. (in an aquarium, I'm actually quite good in the garden.)
 
The only plant on your list that can grow quickly enough to eat all of your ammonia would be the anacharis and that will only have an effect if you have lots of anacharis from the very start. If you make a nicely waterscaped tank without too much crowding the plants will not cause you any trouble.
 
Actually, if you're densely planted so that the plants take up the ammonia, you are running what's called a "silent cycle" and can start stocking straight away, albeit slowly. It doesn't matter that the plants prevent such a large bacterial flora developing, because the plants mean you don't need one - only one big enough to mop up what the plants don't take. A flora of that size is what you'll end up with once you plant anyway; even if you build up a big flora without plants, once you put the plants in the bacterial flora will shrink because the plants are using some of the ammonia.

Well planted, moderately lit tanks with moderate stocking often don't have any significant oxidation of ammonia by bacteria; many owners of such tanks report that if their filter fails or the flow reduces to a dribble the problem is oxygenation when the lights are off, not ammonia or nitrite.
 
Roughly how many plants would I need to get the silent cycle started? Also, I would not add any fish until I was sure it was safe for them. Is that OK? or would I need to add fish to keep the silent cycle going? With this method, would I still need to add ammonia?
 
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