Day 5 planted cycle questions. Newbie here

[Native]

I am sure this has been coverd here before, sorry but I did find any info on planted tanks cycling.

Filter 200 marineland penguin bio filter
Used stress guard in reccomended amount at start up

Plants went in on day 2
2 swords 15" looking good
2 clumps of green cabomba growin 2" a day. WOW
Fish
Day 2 added 3 large zebra danio feisty little buggers
Day 5 added 3 smaller zebras hoping they would all just get along. One big one is a bully.
Fish seem to thriving and the plants as well.

I am on day 5,
Ph 7.5
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Appearance is slightly milky form an ice tea look 2-3 days ago, looks pretty clear and healthy.

Just got my API liquid test kit. And built some thicker batting filters with charcoal.

Question
Is it cycled? I did not test till today for first time.

Are the plants stopping a cycle from completing?

I was thinking plants should have given me a huge shortcut and act as a nitrate nitrite absorber.

I would like to increase the ammonia load without adding more fish to make sure it's cycled.

Can I put a piece of store bought shimp in to increase ammonia load? Like a pea size?

It's my daughters tank as a gift and want this to be a good experience from the start

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I am sure this has been coverd here before, sorry but I did find any info on planted tanks cycling.

Filter 200 marineland penguin bio filter
Used stress guard in reccomended amount at start up

Plants went in on day 2
2 swords 15" looking good
2 clumps of green cabomba growin 2" a day. WOW
Fish
Day 2 added 3 large zebra danio feisty little buggers
Day 5 added 3 smaller zebras hoping they would all just get along. One big one is a bully.
Fish seem to thriving and the plants as well.

I am on day 5,
Ph 7.5
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Appearance is slightly milky form an ice tea look 2-3 days ago, looks pretty clear and healthy.

Just got my API liquid test kit. And built some thicker batting filters with charcoal.

Question
Is it cycled? I did not test till today for first time.

Are the plants stopping a cycle from completing?

I was thinking plants should have given me a huge shortcut and act as a nitrate nitrite absorber.

I would like to increase the ammonia load without adding more fish to make sure it's cycled.

Can I put a piece of store bought shimp in to increase ammonia load? Like a pea size?

It's my daughters tank as a gift and want this to be a good experience from the start

Thanks in advance.

Hi!

The tank is in the very early stages of the cycle. At the moment the ammonia is too high. You need to do a water change to bring it down to at least 0.25ppm. The milky water sounds like a bacteria bloom. Very common in new tanks. It will clear on its own. The plants will not stop the cycle. They will help. They will be consuming some of the Ammonia but not all of it. What size tank is it? I would not add any more fish or any other ammonia source.

Give this a read. It will explain a few things.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[Native]

29 gallon. Thanks you.