cycling

[denimous]

i just set up my 46 gal bowfront, 36x15x20. i have an eheim 2213 running and heater. here are my steps,

i dechlorinated the water.

i added micro sword, baby tear. and a small crypt to the tank after partially filling it with water. the plants are all pretty small, without very established roots.

i also added 11 very small harlequin rasboras (one of two schools i plan to have, i bought "extras" in case a few get sick during cycling). when i added these fish i put in some melafix (i think thats what it is...).

in addition, to reduce stress to fish, i added bio-spira.

my questions...should i add co2 to the tank right away? do the rules of planted cycling apply?...bc my plants arent large.
should i still expect detectable spikes in my test kit readings?...bc i heard plants can often make this cycle harder to "read".

any advice will be appreciated!

 

[denimous]

oh, another quick question, should i raise the temp? its at 77 F right now, but i heard cranking up the heat a bit can help the cycle?

 

[denimous]

water parameters:
pH 7
Ammonia 0-.5ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
KH 5dKH
GH 15dGh

 

[Davy]

Raising the temp will make it go faster. Because you have fish, do not raise it too high. 82 is probably good. I don't know the answer to your plant questions. Sorry.

 

[rdmpe]

CO2 shouldn't hurt anything as far as I know. Are you going for a heavily planted tank? How many watts/gallon of lighting do you have?

You may find that with good plant conditions but not a lot of plants (yet) you'll have some happy algae. You may want to prepare now so that the algae doesn't get too much of a foothold, especially if you have strong lighting. Malaysian Trumpet Snails are great for taking care of algae and cleaning up the tank. I like them, Oto cats and Siamese Algae Eaters.

Raising the temp will make the ammonia and nitrites more toxic, I think it causes the ammonia to stay in a more toxic form, chemically speaking, but I don't know the details. So you may want to look into that before raising the temp. My tanks are all established, but I generally keep them between 78 and 80F.

 

[denimous]

i am going for a moderate -->heavily planted tank. i have a 95 watt powercompact retrofit kit for my hood (36 inches).

i started the CO2 today, so it prob will be "running" by tomorrow.

since its not a fishless cycle, im not going to be raising the temp anymore than i already have (its at 78 degrees).

today, per suggestions and research i decided to add more plants to aid in the cycling, and keep algae from developing. i added cabomba, sword, a crypt, moss ball, some ludwigia, and a yet unidentified plant...=b.

i cant add otos, sae, or corys yet, i am not introducing anymore new fish until after the cycle.

thanks for your advice!

 

[rdmpe]

Aren't those moss balls some weird form of algae? I'm thinking of buying one cuz the sound so neat. I haven't seen any around here, will probably have to get it off ebay or aquabid... Then again, my snalis and otos may eat it!

 

[FroggyFox]

Other people have questioned me on this one...but I have read/been told that Harlequins are pretty sensitive to changes in water chemistry...so I would say "some getting sick" during cycling would be a conservative estimate.

I would suggest bringing them back and doing fishless BUTOn the other hand...you have a planted tank, so perhaps those changes won't be too much for them. I have also heard that a moderately planted tank can make your tank cycle quickly or at the very least you won't be seeing any large spikes in ammonia or nitrite.

Good luck! (Sorry I don't know much about plants) What is your second school of fish going to be?

 

[Igor The Cat]

you have not enogh lighting for any swerd plant a 3wpg min.

-Java

 

[denimous]

i discussed using the harlequins to cycle with the lfs, they said since my tank will be moderately planted, with some fast growing stem plants as well, that the stress on the harlequins can be minimized. none have gotten "sick", but one of them was bullied to death, it looked like a female (the only one too), i only wish i couldve caught it while it was happening. the reason i didnt go fishless was bc i dont think the plants would survive it.

my second school will be rummy nosed tetras. i plan to have gouramis, hatchetfish, otos, black/red/yellow phantom tetras, and some cherry shrimp.

as for the marimo "moss" balls, i heard that otos and snails wont touch it. personally, its one of my fave "plants" so far =D.