Cycle help

[alivenwell82]

Hey.

I know this has probably been covered before, so I apologize. But can someone give me step by step instructions on how to cycle a planted 10 gallon freshwater tank? Do I need fish to do it? If not, what cycles it? When do the plants go in?

Lame, I know.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Guest]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15

Thats a good article on how to do a fishless cycle, seems like the best way to me. good luck

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The best way is to go fishless. I'm not too sure how the plants affect it since none of my tanks are planted, but basically you can get a piece of dead shrimp and put it in the tank and let it cycle that way or you can add pure ammonia to the tank. If you cycle with fish it's very hard on the fishes health and you have to do daily water changes to keep the Ammonioa levels down.

 

[oxymoron]

I am currently doing my first fishless cycle, I added a java fern and amazon sword from day one and it doesn't seem to be effecting the cycle at all. Both plants look fine and in the middle of week 2 I already have nitrites and my ammonia is starting to come down. My only problem is the small snail colony that tagged along on my plants, make sure you wash your plants thoroughly and check them for eggs/snails. Please see my other thread if you have any advice for the snail problem.

 

[FMJnaX]

In my experiences and reading, plants don't usually have an effect on the cycle: Fishless or not. It's kind of baffles me as to why, however, since plants [can] use the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate as nutrients to grow. I suppose the bacteria is just more aggressive and take their fill before the plants get it, but I'm not sure.