Foggy fishtank
- Thread starter rob8027
- Start date
Your water will turn all kinds of colours before it's ready to be stocked. This is due to various microfauna blooms in the nutrient-rich water. They'll come and go. My tank has gone from brownish to greyish to greenish brown to crystal clear. The only thing I've added has been ammonia to keep the cycle going. Next weekend- massive water change, huge planting operation, then I get to stock!
So, after you plant, will you start adding fish right away? Or will you let things 'settle down' for a while?
I plan to try the fishless method with my next tank, which will be Africans.
I plan to try the fishless method with my next tank, which will be Africans.
I'm going to do the massive water change, test for nitrates, see if any more water changes are necessary to get nitrates down to trace levels, add 4ppm ammonia, and once it gets back down to about 2 ppm, I'll plant, the next day it should be at 0, with 0 nitrites, and trace nitrates. Then I'll stock.
Or could I still plant during the last week of the cycle- that way the plants would have some time in the tank before it gets stocked? Or should I just do the way I planned to?
Or could I still plant during the last week of the cycle- that way the plants would have some time in the tank before it gets stocked? Or should I just do the way I planned to?
Yes,! your aquarium will be cloudy when it is trying to cycle but you need to use water test kits to determine when the cycling is complete so you can add the rest of your fish.
As far as I know, you can add your plants anytime. I'm in the middle of a fishless cycle and I added plants just the other day. From what I've read, plants have no problem with the cycling. Just don't do a water change after planting because you don't want to suck up any of the beneficial bacteria that's in the gravel you disturbed by moving it around during planting. Let everything settle.