cycling a planted tank?

[Loren]

I've got a 33g tank that I'm going to be starting up soon. I want to try a planted tank. I'm also going to try fishless cycling to get the tank going. Do I want to get my cycle going before I plant, after, or does it matter? I'm just starting my info gathering on planted tanks and haven't found any mention of this yet.

 

[mgkaelen]

if you have enough plants, the PLANTS will cycle your water (i'm about to do the same thing)... they eat up nitritesand (i think) ammonia. put your plants and water into the tank and they should go to work. get more information, though, i'm still a beginner with planted tanks myself!

kaelen

 

[Guest]

Read my FAQ. A fishless cycle is for a fish tank and doesn't work that well for a planted tank.

mgkaelen is correct. The plants will use the ammonia before it gets a chance to harm the fish. But you MUST load up the tank with fast growing stem plants. Amazon swords and crypts are not what you want to use.

Or if you can get some Bio-Spira it works very well to cycle a tank.

 

[Loren]

Thank you both. That's a great article, Rex Grigg; lots of good info...I'll keep it handy.
So, if I'm understanding this properly, I should plant a tank first, and then
start adding fish a few at a time? The plants will take care of the waste products from the fish as long as the plants are well established, and I can use some bio spira to help?

 

[tkos]

Bio Spira will completely cycle your tank and you can add a whole bioload of fish at once, provided you follow directions. Other bacteria products will not work.

And when Rex says load your tank, a few sprigs of Water Sprite won't work. Add a lot of them, duckweed is also a good starter to get things going as it absorbs nutrients (ammonia etc...) really fast.

 

[Guest]

That's correct. You need to load the tank up with fast growing stem plants. Crypts and swords won't cut it either. But now that Bio-Spira is available it is really a moot point.

 

[Loren]

Will the plants be okay without fish for a while if I make sure I'm fertilizing properly. My goal is to get fish into the tank, but I'd really like to see lush plant life first. I now realize that I'm going to have to get some additional lighting, first. I've only got a single tube canopy, and I need to get another light going first. My info-gathering continues....Any DIY canopy/lighting articles in your arsenal knowledge? (I found the AH Supply page...looks promising at first glance).

 

[Guest]

I'm assuming that your 33 gallon tank is the 33 long that is basically a short 55 gallon tank and 4' long. You can't beat the AH supply kits. But you get a double tube florescent fixture and do pretty good. It would give you 2.4 wpg which is not a bad amount of light for someone starting out. With the AH Supply kits you would have to go with either a 96 watt kit which would not give you even lighting or go with a 2x55 watt kit which would but would require the use of a steady CO2 supply. I personally would go with the 2x55 watt kit and get the bulbs from http://www.atlantalightbulbs.com/ecart/10browse.asp?search=F55BX/AR/FS this link.

The plants will do fine with no fish as long as you feed the plants.

 

[Loren]

Dimensions on my tank are 12"x36"x18" (dxlxh). I might go check out the lfs. I know it's going to cost me more, but I'm not sure I can actually build the casing for the lights. We'll see. It's going to get done one way or the other.

 

[Guest]

If you can't build the enclosure and I know I could not unless I wanted it to look like a kindergarten project then you can get a nice one from AH Supply in either oak or black for $40.