Aquarium Forum - View Single Post - Would adding plants now cycle my tank faster?

NursePlaty · 06-17-2010, 04:19 PM

It wouldnt cycle faster because the plants would consume the ammonia, making less readily available for the bacteria to break down and multiply.

However, if you are cycling WITH fish, plants would be a good idea because it would prevent the spikes from hitting the fish hard (Keep in mind that this would require a lot of fast growing plants, not just a few stems). And all 3 nitrogen levels must be low to prevent health problems to fish. Keep it low with water changes.

If you are doing fishless, its faster and I recommend adding plants afterwards and using liquid ammonia to cycle, its faster than fish food and rotting materials and plus, you can control the ammonia ppm whereas it will be harder to do with fish food and etc. Keep it at 5.0-6.0ppm. Looks cleaner too .

06-17-2010, 04:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
NursePlaty Queen Platy NursePlaty's Photo Gallery Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 931 Name: Annie Pham Location: Dallas Ft Worth, Texas Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Welcome to Aquarium Forum" 266 Times Said "Thanks" 41 Times Was Thanked 183 Times in 177 Posts	Re: Would adding plants now cycle my tank faster? It wouldnt cycle faster because the plants would consume the ammonia, making less readily available for the bacteria to break down and multiply. However, if you are cycling WITH fish, plants would be a good idea because it would prevent the spikes from hitting the fish hard (Keep in mind that this would require a lot of fast growing plants, not just a few stems). And all 3 nitrogen levels must be low to prevent health problems to fish. Keep it low with water changes. If you are doing fishless, its faster and I recommend adding plants afterwards and using liquid ammonia to cycle, its faster than fish food and rotting materials and plus, you can control the ammonia ppm whereas it will be harder to do with fish food and etc. Keep it at 5.0-6.0ppm. Looks cleaner too . __________________ 55gallon Light - 6500K CFL, 23wattsx5 5hr/day Substrate - Red Mexican Clay, Sphagnum Peat moss, Eco-Complete Misc- Pressurized CO2, EI Dose KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM-B Plants -Limnophila Aromatica, Stargrass, Dwarf Hair Grass, Christmas Moss, Baby Tears (HM), Dwarf Baby Tears(HC), Rotala Rotundifolia, Ludwigia Glandulosa, Riccia Fluitans Last edited by NursePlaty : 06-17-2010 at 04:29 PM.