New aquarium + cycling + live plants?

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genie

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
Messages
4
Location
MO
I'm getting all of my aquarium together and soon I'd like to start building it, but I have a few questions:

I have an Eclipse Hex 5, and I'm just going to (once it's cycled properly) house one betta, maybe a snail when I get more confident. I'd like to have live plants, but can I do a fishless cycle on my tank with live plants in the water? The amount on ammonia I'd be adding to the water wouldn't be large enough to harm them, right?

Or, being a beginner, should I invest in some silk plants and just hang out until I get the hang of keeping fish, before I get live plants?

Another thing I've been wondering is, when I get my fish, are there any other things I should have on hand (other than the obvious gravel vac, the water conditioner, the test kit)? The guy at my LFS said that it wouldn't hurt to have some Protect-Ease, and that it might even be beneficial to add some when I get my fish. I guess (according to the bottle) that it's a preventative of all sorts of nasty.

Also, salt. I've read in places that aquarium salt, in teensy amounts, can be good for bettas and keeping them healthier/keeping bad bacteria away. I've also seen skeptics, so I'm not entirely sure, but LFS guy said that it would be good to have.

tl;dr: live plants for a beginner? Live plants in cycling tank? Protect-Ease? Aquarium salt?

Thanks so much! This site is a lifesaver, literally. My future fish thanks you. (I'm planning to call him Cougar. Cougs for short.)

Also, how should I tag this post/do I tag this post? I see the option, but I haven't found anything about tagging on the site. Thanks again!
 
Ok first a live plant will not do anything to the cycle at all so your good there. But make sure that it is actually fully aquatic.
Second Live plants for beginneres well there are swords that are really good. Amazon swords dont need much light and are really good looking.
Third protect ease is good but there are others like stress coat some Melafix and primafix and some test kits mainly Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.
Lastly salt is unneccersay dont bother with it it is annoying and hard to get right and really dosnt do much for the fish health. You can also keep some Malaysion trumpet snails. They are excellent for keeping and they will keep the bottom clean of waste that the fish dont eat.
 
tl;dr: live plants for a beginner? Live plants in cycling tank? Protect-Ease? Aquarium salt?

Sounds exciting. What kind of lighting are you planning?

If you are going with what comes standard with the eclipse, I'd avoid swords, they need more light.

There are many good lowlight plants you can start with. You might want to look at crytocorynes. They require very little light, come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and are usually easy to find.

Other lowlights that grow easily are anubius, java fern and java moss.

It is okay to grow these while cycling, but they can slow down the process as the plants will eat some of the ammonia before the beneficial bacteria does.

I wouldn't both with this protect-eze. If you keep your tank clean (change 25% or more of the water weekly) you should have no issues with bacterial infections.

Like Jason said, melafix might good to have on hand if it turns out the betta you eventually put in there is ill, but that is unneeded.

As for salt, I really wouldn't recommend it unless you are treating for ich, (a parasitic infection that causes white spots on the fish.)

If that becomes neccissary, you can get a much less expensive salt (any non-iodized will do) than at the LFS.

Keep us posted on what you do!
 
Ok first a live plant will not do anything to the cycle at all so your good there. But make sure that it is actually fully aquatic.
Second Live plants for beginneres well there are swords that are really good. Amazon swords dont need much light and are really good looking.
Third protect ease is good but there are others like stress coat some Melafix and primafix and some test kits mainly Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.
Lastly salt is unneccersay dont bother with it it is annoying and hard to get right and really dosnt do much for the fish health. You can also keep some Malaysion trumpet snails. They are excellent for keeping and they will keep the bottom clean of waste that the fish dont eat.

Thanks so much for the info! I'm glad plants will be okay in the tank. And I'm kind of relieved that I don't have to bother with salt, because it seems like a hassle to get right and pretty easy to get wrong.

Just googled the snails you suggested and they're really pretty! From what I'm reading, their population would stay in control as long as I don't overfeed my fish, right?
 
Sounds exciting. What kind of lighting are you planning?

If you are going with what comes standard with the eclipse, I'd avoid swords, they need more light.

There are many good lowlight plants you can start with. You might want to look at crytocorynes. They require very little light, come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and are usually easy to find.

Other lowlights that grow easily are anubius, java fern and java moss.

It is okay to grow these while cycling, but they can slow down the process as the plants will eat some of the ammonia before the beneficial bacteria does.

I wouldn't both with this protect-eze. If you keep your tank clean (change 25% or more of the water weekly) you should have no issues with bacterial infections.

Like Jason said, melafix might good to have on hand if it turns out the betta you eventually put in there is ill, but that is unneeded.

As for salt, I really wouldn't recommend it unless you are treating for ich, (a parasitic infection that causes white spots on the fish.)

If that becomes neccissary, you can get a much less expensive salt (any non-iodized will do) than at the LFS.

Keep us posted on what you do!

I probably would go with what comes standard, for now. It's cool that the plants will help with getting rid of ammonia - I knew they'd be helpful for the tank overall, but I wasn't really aware of how big of an impact they would have.

And the crytocorynes are nice looking! I guess that since they don't need so much light, they don't grow as fast, which is nice. A few of those and a nice little cave will be nice for my fish! It's neat that I'm making this little ecosystem, haha.

The LFS guy mentioned melafix too, so I might pick that up just to have on hand.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely keep you posted!
 
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