How do i fishless cycle a planted tank??

You don't want to go too high. Even the bacteria have a limit as to when ammonia becomes toxic and not just a food source. I haven't read any literature on specific levels but 4-5ppm generally seems to be the max people recommend as mentioned above. Really, it only serves to decrease the time between doses. The bacteria will grow at the same rate regardless as to whether you have 5 or .5 ppm.

I think the stock either minus the CPDs or the cardinals will work better.
 
If the tank is well planted, then you can probably "Stealth" cycle it. Add the shrimp and snails. While it's true they don't like ammonia, with a decent amount of live plants you wont see any. The bio-load of those first few critters will be so small that there will be no "spike" in the ammonia, the plants will just suck it all up.

Then gradually add more fish over the next few weeks.

Alternatively, you can fishless cycle, but don't go over 5ppm. Higher than that and you start to kill of the cycle bacteria themselves. If you add 2 or 3 ppm ammonia, and it's gone after a couple of days, then you have enough cycle from plants alone for a few fish.

Ian
 
I have never fishless cycled a single tank, let alone a planted tank, I think it's simply not ever required for a planted tank........the plant roots have active bacteria and the leaves and surfaces do as well.

I've never once been able to detect ANY NH4 or NO2 in any planted tank I've ever done.

If you have an established tank already, then use the dirty filter water to seed a new tank.
New tanks should get frequent good size water changes anyway, so there's no point at all in doing this and it's frankly, a waste of time.

But what do I know.
 
plantbrain said:
I have never fishless cycled a single tank, let alone a planted tank, I think it's simply not ever required for a planted tank........the plant roots have active bacteria and the leaves and surfaces do as well.

I've never once been able to detect ANY NH4 or NO2 in any planted tank I've ever done.

If you have an established tank already, then use the dirty filter water to seed a new tank.
New tanks should get frequent good size water changes anyway, so there's no point at all in doing this and it's frankly, a waste of time.

But what do I know.
Click to expand...

The bacteria are in the filter media not the water. But, yes, if you have an establised tank then using some of the filter media will seed the new tank.
 
I have done numerous planted tanks and I have never bothered with a cycle. I simply set them up, planted the tank heavily and added some fish. The plants are a huge buffer..
 
plantbrain said:
I have never fishless cycled a single tank, let alone a planted tank, I think it's simply not ever required for a planted tank........the plant roots have active bacteria and the leaves and surfaces do as well.

I've never once been able to detect ANY NH4 or NO2 in any planted tank I've ever done.

If you have an established tank already, then use the dirty filter water to seed a new tank.
New tanks should get frequent good size water changes anyway, so there's no point at all in doing this and it's frankly, a waste of time.

But what do I know.
Click to expand...
That's an interesting thought. If the plants come from a healthy environment, it makes sense that they would bring BB into the tank with them. That on top of their natural ability to take in ammonia makes for seeding the tank as well as a natural ammonia buffer. Then you throw in some good ol' filter squeezin's and you should be set. Thanks, Tom!
 
the wizard said:
The bacteria are in the filter media not the water.
Click to expand...
I am sure that some bacteria lives in the water. A much more accurate statement would be: "The majority of the bacteria is in the filter media and substrate."
 
Considering the natural ability of the bacteria to multiply rapidly my guess is that any bacteria actually "lost" (ie. residing in the water column) can be considered a near negligible amount.

It really depends on which plants you choose and how heavily you initially plant. I would hesitate to fish cycle with just a few java ferns and anubias, for example...
 
jpappy789 said:
Considering the natural ability of the bacteria to multiply rapidly my guess is that any bacteria actually "lost" (ie. residing in the water column) can be considered a near negligible amount.

It really depends on which plants you choose and how heavily you initially plant. I would hesitate to fish cycle with just a few java ferns and anubias, for example...
Click to expand...
+1!!! I totally agree.
 
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