Cycling with eco complete ??

[Fedex3d]

I'm about to begin a 125 gallon tank with Rivercats advice. I'm going to put 1 1/2 inch of miracle grow & 1 1/2 inch of eco complete. Give it 7 or 8 days with daily water changes then plant heavily. Do I need to add ammonia or anything to cycle if I'm going to wait a month before adding fish ? And any suggestions on the plants ?

 

[tiger terror]

You'll definitely need a source of ammo for your bb..if you use liquid ammonia be sure to use pure ammonia(no detergents or fragrances).

 

[Fedex3d]

Thanks! Do l need to add it while lm doing the daily WCs to remove the tannins from the miracle grow or after the 7 days when l plant it ? How much needs to be added ?

 

[jetajockey]

What's the reason for waiting to plant? If it's heavily planted I wouldn't bother ammonia dosing at all and just stock as soon as you get a 0 ammonia reading from the initial setup.

 

[Fedex3d]

That would be great to do it that way! I was tryin to follow what rivercat had said in another thread about planting after 7 days of wcs with the miracle grow & eco complete ? Maybe l misunderstood. Yea l will plant right off the bat if that's ok. Haven't ever done a fishless cycle before and have never cycled anything bigger than 30g. Kinda of apprehensive, & don't want to kill any of the fish l move over to the new tank.

 

[jetajockey]

There's a bit of info on planted tank cycling here http://www.aquariumadvice.com/fishin-cycling-step-dark-side/

The biggest thing is to get the plants settled in before stocking so they deal with the ammonia that the fish create. And also stock lightly initially so the ammonia production is more manageable.

 

[Fedex3d]

There's a bit of info on planted tank cycling here http://www.aquariumadvice.com/fishin-cycling-step-dark-side/

The biggest thing is to get the plants settled in before stocking so they deal with the ammonia that the fish create. And also stock lightly initially so the ammonia production is more manageable.

Thanks for the link! I will read up on it . Gonna start planting next week then when the eco complete comes in & wasn't planning on adding fish til probably the first of October. So l should be in good shape then. Any suggestions on a good variety of plants ?

 

[jetajockey]

If you like the look of swords, Amazons get big and really fill out a big tank without needing a bunch of plants. Otherwise just go with the low demand stems like anacharis, ludwigia, rotala, as well as crypts and hygro. As long as your lighting is sufficient you have a myriad of options.

Just remember that heavy rooting plants make a huge mess when uprooted in dirt tanks, so try to initially plant with a plan.

 

[Fedex3d]

Thanks for all the help !! I look forward to posting some pics in a coupled of weeks.

 

[Fedex3d]

There's a bit of info on planted tank cycling here Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice

The biggest thing is to get the plants settled in before stocking so they deal with the ammonia that the fish create. And also stock lightly initially so the ammonia production is more manageable.

Just got done reading your article on cycling with plants. One part I need you to clarify for me please. Since I'm cycling a 125g, I could start with 12 1-2" fish. I was not going to have that many even when finished stocking. I am going to have mostly SA cichlids. If I cycle in the begining with 6 or 7 at the 1-2" size, will that put enough load for the biofilter ?

 

[jetajockey]

Just got done reading your article on cycling with plants. One part I need you to clarify for me please. Since I'm cycling a 125g, I could start with 12 1-2" fish. I was not going to have that many even when finished stocking. I am going to have mostly SA cichlids. If I cycle in the begining with 6 or 7 at the 1-2" size, will that put enough load for the biofilter ?

Yes, it's just a rough guideline. Less is always better when it comes to cycling. Assuming the plants are doing well and all is gpod in the tank I wouldn't hesitate to put 6-7 small fish in. The biofilter grows or shrinks based on its available resources, so there's no minimum load required to "keep it going", so to speak.

 

[Rivercats]

Kind of getting in late here but I used an organic soil call Just Natural Organic Potting Soil. My soil was much heavier and more light mulchy texture, not light like Miracle Grow. The reason I had to wait 7 days was so I could empty and refill my tank because the tannins my soil released were super heavy. I mean I couldn't have seen my hand to plant in the first days. I've heard many people who use MG plant right away. But they do a couple water changes if needed to clean/clear up the water first. The only thing I disagree with jetajockey is on the planting. I fully planted my tank heavy from the beginning and with the 7 days of 100% WC's (ammonia was in the water from all the organic matter in the soil) and 2-3 days after planting my ammonia and nitrite readings were 0. I had like 10ppm of nitrate which disappeared a couple days later and I actually had to get and start doing ferts. Don't know if my speed cycle was a fluke but I had my first fish (BN Pleco) in the tank about 3 days after planting. Next came the angels (10) within the next week. I never had any ammonia spikes, nothing. Hope this helps. If you want to add fish like ram's then let you tank age alittle, they were the last fish I added. The one thing about a big tank is if you add cycling fish you don't want in the tank (which I don't know if that was what you were planning to do or not) it's a bear to try to catch them back out.

 

[Rivercats]

Sorry I misread jetajockys post, he was talking about lightly stocking fish not plants. Which is right I added fish in a few at a time over about 6 weeks total (estimated since I can't remember exactly).

 

[Rivercats]

Here's a list of what I started with plant wise:

Telanthera Rosefolia (Alternanthera reineckii)
Ambulia (Limnophila indica)
Limnophila aromatica 'hippuroides'
Proserpinaca Palustris
Rotala Indica (Rotala roundifolia)
Rotala macrandra
Anubias barteri v. Nana
Anubias barteri v. Coffeefolia
Bolbitus heudelotii
Pogostemon helferi
Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides)
Java Fern, Lace (Microsorium pteropus v. Windelov)
Crinum Calimistratum
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Florida Sunset'
Tiger Lotus, Red (Nymphaea zenkeri)
Cryptocoryne Parva
Cryptocoryne lutea
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Bronze (Cryptocoryne wendtii v. Tropica)
Amazon Sword (Echinodorus bleheri)
Ozelot Sword
Dwarf Baby tears
Corkscrew Val

The other day I finally removed the water sprite (used it to start as it is good for mopping up excess nutrients in a newly dirted tank), the Alternanthera reineckii (just didn't like the upper leaf color), and the Proserpinaca Palustris ( tends to drop lower leaves when it gets tall). I added Nesaea pedicellata 'Golden' (unbelieveable color-pink stems with deep yellow gold leaves) and Rotala Wallichii (beautiful plant). Ambulia is super easy to grow and fast especially in a dirt tank. The swords went from about 15 inches to out of the tank in 2 weeks. I have to constantly trim leaves to keep it in the space I want. If you leave the sword grow and fill in naturally in a dirt tank it will get huge! Crypts grow bigger than I thought they could and never had any melt. Corkscrew Val grew slow but spread nicely. Dwarf baby tears work good in dirt but if you get them buy them on a mat, it works so much better in getting a carpet going. Stay away from Proserpinaca Palustris (pain to keep neat) and Pogostemon helferi (which is a hard plant to get established). Rotala Indica is easy but Rotala Macrandra is a bit harder. Limnophila aromatica 'hippuroides' was slow to get established but the color is worth the wait. Anyway this gives you an idea of how much you can fit in a 6 foot tank... alot! I also have two fairly good sized pieces of DW in there too. Good luck with the planting and have fun!

 

[Fedex3d]

Thank you both, jetjockey & rivercats, ya'll have been a GREAT help !! Been kinda apprehensive about starting a tank this big for me, and really wanted to try my hand at a natural planted tank. I will follow your advice and get it off to a great start for both the plants and the fish. Will post some pics in the next few weeks

 

[cyris69]

Don't forget to poke the substrate daily to remove gas build up for several weeks. I use 10 inch tweezers and poke around all over.

 

[Fedex3d]

Yes I will do that. Thanks for the tip.