Fishless cycling with live plants

[FishyTT]

I'm new to this hobby.

I would like to start a fishless cycling by adding Ammonia following Iggy's post on this site. I do plan to have several live plants in my 72g tank.

Is it harmful to the plants with the ammonia added during this fishless cycling?

Is it OK for me to use CO2 during this fishless cycling?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[SANND]

The ammonia won't hurt the plants. I think they might like that ammonia actually. Can't see why the c02 would be a problem, someone else around here can address that better.

 

[f8fan]

I totally know *nothing* about plants - but don't they consume the same nutrients that make your tank, "cycle"? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?
Correct me if I'm wrong, I admittedly know nothing about plants (other than when the plastic ones go on sale at PetCo!)

 

[punkrockfish]

i know the plants wont be a problem, and i doubt the CO2 will be either.

 

[Avalon]

Why use a fishless cycle? Set-up the tank w/ plants, wait a week, then add fish incrementally a little here and a few there. I don't think I'd use ammonia. If you have high light, CO2, and inorganic nutrients, it's possible to add a full load of fish given enough plant mass. I set up all of my tanks like this and have yet to lose a fish, as a large plant mass can negate a cycle. However, since you said you were new to the hobby, use the week after set-up to dial in your CO2 and get it steady. In a tank that large, a cycle is not a big problem when you factor in plants and water changes; the main problem are the "oops" that come with being new to the hobby.

 

[revfred]

I would like to second, Avalon's advice, since I started my first planted tank about 2 yrs ago following his advice to the letter. And believe me, I did load it up with plants. Worked like a charm, and I've set up every planted tank since then the same way. No fish loss, no minicyles, etc.

 

[FishyTT]

Thank you very much for all your replies.

I'll set up the full plants tank first and add the fishes in gradually.

 

[FroggyFox]

If you wanted to toss a little bit of ammonia in while planting the tank and learning how to set up the c02 etc I would think it would just help everything along nicely.

I like plants...but I'm not big into them and if I were to start a new tank off with plants it wouldn't be FULL of plants, as I like to focus more on the fish. I'd think kind of a partial cycle with ammonia might be good to use...but I agree that with a tank that big loaded with plants and adding fish SLOWLY (like a couple a week) you should be fine. Its good to understand the chemistry of the cycle anyway, so reading up on Iggy's cycle was a good idea

 

[SANND]

I always do a fishless cycle because honestly, frequent water changes are a pain in the (_!_) and I'm not patient enough to add a fish or two gradually over several weeks.

 

[FishyTT]

Thanks FroggyFox for your suggestion. That's what I plan to do now. Just start a fishless cycling with plants to learn about all this chemical stuffs related to this new hobby.

I really like to start out my tank with a school of 6 swordtails, 6 cory cats, and a couple of angelfishes. However, the guy at my LFS warned me that the angelfishes might get big and eat all other small fishes. Is that true? I really like the angelfishes.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

If you do plant heavily, the plants are going to need a source of Nitrogen, and if you do not add any ammonia, fish food, or anything else that gives off nitrogen, then the plants are not going to be growing well. I would plant HEAVILY with a lot of REALLY FAST growing plants, then add enough ammonia to feed the plants for each day. Take a few days to figure out how much to add. Better to not add enough then to add too much. After you have the plants growing nicely, stop adding ammonia until the ammonia levels drop off to zero, then add the fish and start feeding. Plants prefer ammonia over nitrates as their source of Nitrogen, but you do want to avoid mixing live fish with ammonia.

 

[Lotus]

I've kept a pair of angels with platies and cories without too many problems. The angels will eat some of the fry, although if you have enough plants, a few from each batch will usually make it. If the angels pair up, they can get a little nasty when they're breeding, but I haven't had any fatalities from it in my tanks.

Personally, I usually do a fishless cycle with ammonia and plants. I'm never certain enough that I have enough light/CO2/plant growth to counteract the fish stock. Maybe I'm just paranoid.