Spankenstyne
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi folks.
Just wanted to say hello, and thank you all for the hours and hours of reading i've been doing here for quite a while now, so much so that i had to finally register and ask a few questions of my own.
I used to be into the hobby many years ago, not anywhere near as hardcore as most here and had only done the old FW tanks with plastic plants route. I was mainly into Oscars back then so it was big tank with little decor deal. I never got into any higher end equipment or canister filters etc either.
I see so much more information available now, but lots of it really delves deep into some technical aspects which while very informative perhaps skips some of the basic questions i have.
I want to start up a nice planted FW aquarium, but in regards to cycling would i be better off to start with a few plants or mostly a bare aquarium and concentrate on water quality & all the right levels before introducing plants? Or should i be setting up the substrate with a few plants and cycle it that way, then add more plants and eventually fish over time while maintaining my quality levels?
Unless i'm really reading it all wrong it seems ideally i'm best to leave out any fish until the tank has at least properly cycled ? I've read of people using fish, or pieces of dead shrimp to help cycle but it also seemed those methods were mentioned as more of a shortcut way of going about it which i'd rather avoid and try and do it right. Maybe i read into that wrong?
Anyways my end goal is to have a natural style tank in sort of a FW version of what people get with the SW reef tanks. I just want to make sure i start it right and have a good base of strong plantlife going.
Thanks to anyone who bothered to read this far haha.
Oh and did i maybe post this on the wrong forum? Would it be better served on the beginner one?
Just wanted to say hello, and thank you all for the hours and hours of reading i've been doing here for quite a while now, so much so that i had to finally register and ask a few questions of my own.
I used to be into the hobby many years ago, not anywhere near as hardcore as most here and had only done the old FW tanks with plastic plants route. I was mainly into Oscars back then so it was big tank with little decor deal. I never got into any higher end equipment or canister filters etc either.
I see so much more information available now, but lots of it really delves deep into some technical aspects which while very informative perhaps skips some of the basic questions i have.
I want to start up a nice planted FW aquarium, but in regards to cycling would i be better off to start with a few plants or mostly a bare aquarium and concentrate on water quality & all the right levels before introducing plants? Or should i be setting up the substrate with a few plants and cycle it that way, then add more plants and eventually fish over time while maintaining my quality levels?
Unless i'm really reading it all wrong it seems ideally i'm best to leave out any fish until the tank has at least properly cycled ? I've read of people using fish, or pieces of dead shrimp to help cycle but it also seemed those methods were mentioned as more of a shortcut way of going about it which i'd rather avoid and try and do it right. Maybe i read into that wrong?
Anyways my end goal is to have a natural style tank in sort of a FW version of what people get with the SW reef tanks. I just want to make sure i start it right and have a good base of strong plantlife going.
Thanks to anyone who bothered to read this far haha.
Oh and did i maybe post this on the wrong forum? Would it be better served on the beginner one?