Can you put plants in an uncycled tank? I am in the process of cycling a new 55gal. I made a hood with (4) 40W bulbs for this tank. I have a 29g with low light and a couple of plants that aren't doing that great. I want to move them to the new tank to give them more light, but I don't want to kill them either. I do have diy CO2 in the 29g that I could switch to the 55, but it didn't do much for the 29g yet.
plants in uncycled tank?
- Thread starter rdelbalso
- Start date
Yes, you can put plants in an uncycled tank. Many people think that this is the most natural way to cycle a tank. It does require patience however. I just set up a quarantine tank that way. If I'd been in a rush I would have used ammonia and cycled it in 10 days or so. But I loaded it up with fast growing, "nutrient eating" plants and let them establish themselves for a few weeks.
I also took the sponge that I was going to use in the new tank's filter and sat it in one of the filters in my established tanks for a couple of weeks before I even set up the new tank, so that it could load up on "nutrifying bacteria". Then used it in the new, uncycled tank's filter. Doing that gives you big head start to-wards a cycled tank.
About 2 weeks after I had it stuffed with plants and running one of my angels looked a little funny and I wanted to isolate him and stuck him into the new tank, and he was fine, and in fact, I'm sure helped finish the cycling process.
So if you have the patience and the money, pick up a bunch of nutrient loving, fast growing plants. Buy as many as you can and stuff them in there. One good thing.....the plants you'll use are some of the least expensive ones to buy.
One last thing. You will be running about 3 watts/gal. with that lighting, so IMO, you definitely will need at least a couple of bottles of CO2 running to help get the plants going quicker, or you stand a good chance of having an algae problem. Newly set up tanks are prone to algae blooms until the plants establish themselves.
Len
I also took the sponge that I was going to use in the new tank's filter and sat it in one of the filters in my established tanks for a couple of weeks before I even set up the new tank, so that it could load up on "nutrifying bacteria". Then used it in the new, uncycled tank's filter. Doing that gives you big head start to-wards a cycled tank.
About 2 weeks after I had it stuffed with plants and running one of my angels looked a little funny and I wanted to isolate him and stuck him into the new tank, and he was fine, and in fact, I'm sure helped finish the cycling process.
So if you have the patience and the money, pick up a bunch of nutrient loving, fast growing plants. Buy as many as you can and stuff them in there. One good thing.....the plants you'll use are some of the least expensive ones to buy.
One last thing. You will be running about 3 watts/gal. with that lighting, so IMO, you definitely will need at least a couple of bottles of CO2 running to help get the plants going quicker, or you stand a good chance of having an algae problem. Newly set up tanks are prone to algae blooms until the plants establish themselves.
Len
You should join the local club there, SVAS, they meet right near you. Lots of plant folks.
You can cycle a tank a number of ways. Here's the best methods for a planted tank:
1) Vacuum some of the 29 gallon's gravel bed. Save the "dirt/mulm that settles on the bottom of the bucket after a 5 minutes or so.
Add some of this to the bottom of the gravel layer along with 2 handfuls of *ground* peat moss(eg Scott's brand etc). Cap with 2-3 inches of sand or flourite etc. There you go, a cycled tank. Add a bit of the mulm to the filter's intake to seed the filter.
Change 50% of the 29 gallon's water and add it to the 55.
You can also run the 55 filter on the 29 for a week or two.
Perhaps the most important thing is to make sure the 55 gallon tank has a ton of plants from day one. As soon as you turn on the lighting and add CO2, add the plants and pack the tank to the gills.
Make sure to add the CO2 and plants etc at the SAME time as you add all that light.
There is no cycle per se in a planted tank if you set it up right. The NH4 that's produced by any critters or fish is immediately snapped up by hungry plants.
It's never makes it to NO2 or NO3. Plant tanks never measure any NH4(or very little and not for long). So there is no cycle sp to speak.
Regards,
Tom Barr
You can cycle a tank a number of ways. Here's the best methods for a planted tank:
1) Vacuum some of the 29 gallon's gravel bed. Save the "dirt/mulm that settles on the bottom of the bucket after a 5 minutes or so.
Add some of this to the bottom of the gravel layer along with 2 handfuls of *ground* peat moss(eg Scott's brand etc). Cap with 2-3 inches of sand or flourite etc. There you go, a cycled tank. Add a bit of the mulm to the filter's intake to seed the filter.
Change 50% of the 29 gallon's water and add it to the 55.
You can also run the 55 filter on the 29 for a week or two.
Perhaps the most important thing is to make sure the 55 gallon tank has a ton of plants from day one. As soon as you turn on the lighting and add CO2, add the plants and pack the tank to the gills.
Make sure to add the CO2 and plants etc at the SAME time as you add all that light.
There is no cycle per se in a planted tank if you set it up right. The NH4 that's produced by any critters or fish is immediately snapped up by hungry plants.
It's never makes it to NO2 or NO3. Plant tanks never measure any NH4(or very little and not for long). So there is no cycle sp to speak.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Thanks for the info. I will try some of the suggestions. Its also good to be aware of the algae bloom problem. I hope I can prevent it from happening.
Also, what is SVAS. When I do a search I get an astronomical society. While that sounds interesting I don't think that's what you were talking about.
Also, what is SVAS. When I do a search I get an astronomical society. While that sounds interesting I don't think that's what you were talking about.
rdelbalso, there's a guy on another forum giving away a pretty large quantity of anacharis. You'd probably only have to pay for shipping. He lives in Tx. If you're interested I'll get his e-mail address and you can contact him.
This plant, IMO, is not what I'd keep in my tank over the long haul, but is a really good nutrient eater for starting up a tank, and who knows, you might like it.
Len
This plant, IMO, is not what I'd keep in my tank over the long haul, but is a really good nutrient eater for starting up a tank, and who knows, you might like it.
Len