Silent Cycle

[Karackle]

Hi Everyone,

I've tried searching this forum for more information on Silent Cycling but have only found tidbits here and there, so I was wondering if anyone could give me more information on Silent Cycling

I set up a 5.5 gallon tank with quite a few plants a couple days ago and I was wondering how long I should wait before putting my Betta in to start the "silent cycle"?

My tank is 5.5 gallons
16" 14 watt fluorescent bulb
2 large Crypts
2 small crypts
1 Anubias Nana
~6 stems of purple cabomba
~6 stems wisteria
2 stems Anachris

I'm heading to the store tonight to pick up a couple more plants.

for more info on this tank I posted for advice here:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/planted-100637-2.html#post848345

Thanks!

 

[theotheragentm]

I'm not too familiar with the silent cycle, but those plants you have there are going to be a bit much. The Wisteria itself can fill up the tank. I have one engulfing some of my decorations as I haven't been trimming due to a planned move in a week or so.

 

[Karackle]

hahaha....I was told that I don't have enough plant density actually I'll just keep them trimmed back, and if need be transplant some to my 20 gallon. I'm new to the hobby so i may lose a lot too...we'll see what happens!

Thanks though!

 

[Purrbox]

The wisteria is a great nutrient sponge and will be a great help with the silent cycle and getting the aquarium established. As theotheragentm mentioned it probably isn't the best selection for that size aquarium long term, but for the first few months it should be fine. You'll probably find that several of your other plants get too large for the aquarium, but by removing the adult plants and keeping the baby ones you'll be able make do for awhile. I believe that it's the ultimate size of the plants you've chosen and not the number of plants that theotheragentm was referring to.

For a silent cycle you need to plant densely and it's important to have fast growing stem plants. You've probably got enough plants already to cover the silent cycle, so adding more would be mostly to improve the appearance. You'll want to let you plants get established for approximately 1-2 weeks. What you are watching for is the plants to start putting out new growth. Often plants that have been recently shipped or in an LFS that doesn't understand plants will take longer to get established. On the other hand plants that have been transplanted from another healthy aquarium (yours or other local hobbiest) often only need a few days to settle in. Once you see the plants putting out new growth (especially the stem plants) you can go ahead and add your Betta.

 

[Karackle]

Great! Once again, thank you for the excellent, clear advice Purrbox! I really appreciate and I think have put to use everything you've told me, or at least tried to! I've got a couple more plants to add and a little rearranging to do and then I'll let it settle for a while before adding my guy!

Hopefully by the time the Wisteria and Cabomba get to be too much to handle (if they fair well that is) I'll have upgraded the lighting on my 20 gallon and will be able to transplant them to there and order some smaller plants online for the 5 gallon. But for now, I'm happy to prune them back and remove the older plants as they get too large and keep the smaller shoots.

Thanks again, and I'll post pictures back in the other thread once i've finished the modifications as discussed there earlier