planted tank procedure question

LunchBox

LunchBox

Me fail english? that's unpossible!
Feb 7, 2006
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Kalamazoo, MI
so I'm still planning a new tank, and had plotted out how i was goign to proceed, but I wanted to bounce this off some good folks here and see if I might be forgetting something. here's the scoop:

I want to do a fairly heavily planted tank, not sure on the fish yet. the plan so far is that I was going to get my substrate (flourite) and get it in the tank, hook up the filter, fill the tank and styart a fishless cycle. once the cycle was done I planned on putting in the plants and decorations. then I was going to let the plants grow in a bit before adding fish, but that may not be the best idea since it may be awhile before the plants really "grow in".

so I guess the question is, if I do a fishless cycle and then add plants should I add fish at the same time or is there a way to maintain a strong bacteria colony with the plants in the tank while I wait to purchase my residents (all "grow in" ideas aside, I was thinking a couple weeks at least)? I assume I could keep dosing the tank with ammonia in the meantime, and then do a big water change before adding fish, but I wasn't sure if I'm taking the long way round if you know what I mean.

thanks for any advice!
 
If you plan on doing a heavily planted tank anyways - then there is no need to go through a fishless cycle aslong as you go easy with the fishload at first.
 
I'd look into a "silent cycle" I think there is an article about it in the article list, but basically you use the plants to cycle the tank. Might be the best way for you.
 
Tank size and planned residents might make a difference here. I would say that once you get the water in the tank you'll be fine getting your plants in there before the dust settles. I mean you'll be stirring up a bit of dust anyway when you plant. Then after the dust settles and your filter is running you could start adding fish in small batches relative to tank size. Say 4-6 weeks between batches and keep testing your water parameters of course. The plants themselves should be able to process the waste from a small amount of fish directly even without a bacterial colony established. By testing the water regularly you will be able to ensure that you are adding fish at a proper rate as you should be monitoring ammonia and nitrite levels in particular.
 
see now that's why I like you guys: you know when I'm going around something the long way :)

I thought I might be taking more steps than I needed to but I was trying to be thorough about it. so once i fil lthe tank the plants are ok to go in, and then basically go by the silent cycle instructions in the articles (I've seen it before.. .would need to re-read it though)

so ok, it's a 10 gallon tank, with very few residents planned for. I've been bouncing between 1-2 dwarf gouramis (male/female pair if I am lucky), a single betta, some guppies, or a pair of killies and haven't decided on any of them yet. If anyone has any better ideas I'm all ears though ;) I'm avoiding tetras since I have plenty of those in my 29 gallon tank.

the killies, gouramis and betta idea was to have the plamts be the attraction with basically a single or pair of centerpiece type fish in there for color. the guppy idea was kind of an "in passing" kind of idea, and I'm pretty sure I won't go that way. I was planning on getting shrimp for bottom feeders, but I'm not certain if all the fish I've considered will eat them (the gouramis in particular are sticking out as shrimp eaters).

long story short, once I add my 1 or 2 fish to the tank that would be it.
 
I think a pair of gouramis would be beautiful in a planted tank, great colors and personalities. If you would like to have a few more colorful fish, I would consider rasboras and platies over guppies.
 
You going highlight or medium-low light plants? CO2? If you are thinking high light and CO2, I highly recommend you get the plants going *before* you add the fish.

From someone who did it bass ackwards I can tell you that if you try to do a high-light, CO2 tank with fish from the get go, it's a LOT harder to control algae etc.,.

With no fish in the tank you can sock the CO2 and ferts in, ask your questions and make your mistakes with no danger to the fish or worries on your part.

By the time you get those plants growing like weeds and add the fish, you'll already have a healthy happy tank full of plants.

Just a thought

Roan
 
that was kinda what I was thinking originally with letting them grow in before adding fish. basically i can do what I need to do to make sure my plants are ok before adding the more water sensitive residents ;)

my plan is to go for about 2-3 watts/gallon of light and to use one of the DIY CO2 plans with the yeast and jello and whatnot (will be re-reading all that prior to trying actually building it for sure).

I've been hunting around the web looking at plants rated as "easy" or "very easy" ;) not sure exactly what to put in there yet, but java fern is high on my list so far because of its reputation for being pretty hardy and easy to maintain (from what I've seen anyway).

as far as ferts go, I'll be doing some reading on that in the near future so that I know what I need to do to make sure my nutrients are balanced enough to keep the algae down :)
 
if you want to get some readings, I recommend "Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" by Peter Hiscock, I still use it as a guide when I'm looking to get new plants
 
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