Getting ready to cycle - Plants before or after?

[Mgamer20o0]

so tanks with plants are not fish tanks? lol

 

[Rex Grigg]

Nope. They are planted tanks.

 

[Soulcoffr]

Plant. Fertilize. Add fish. No need to add ammonia. Fishless cycling is for FISH tanks.

www.rexgrigg.com/cycle

Heh. It seems I'm one step ahead of you. I've already been reading through your site per advice from another forum (PlantGeeks).

The Coralife is a CF fixture. So I know my light values are high. Although in reading through Rex's site, I'm getting confused by the dry ferts calculations. I'll probably understand it better down the road, but for now I will go with Flourish Excel.

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's giving me confidence to go ahead and just plant the heck out of this tank and let them take care of the nitrogen compounds. I'll monitor the situation closely, however.

If I go with slow growth plants, can I reduce the need for added CO2? The water around here in NE Iowa is fairly hard, although they do soften it a bit at the treatment plant. I haven't tested GH or KH yet, but judging by the buildup in my shower, the water is not that soft. Lots of limestone in these parts.