Hi all, I have a nice new 55 gallon tank with a Penguin 350 power filter, heater, and air pump. I'm about 90% done with a custom canopy and custom LED lighting, and have started a fishless cycle (seeing ammonia levels climb from 0 to 0.5ppm with just some flakes added so far).

I want to set it up as a planted natural environment, with rocks & driftwood. Not really sure where to start, obviously no fish until it cycles, but I'm up for ideas.

I would love to do a native species tank, but from what I've read it's probably not a good first tank, and a 55 is maybe too small for many of the local fish as well (I'm in central IL).

Anyone have a good source for rocks in the winter time? Most landscape places are closed for the winter, and the big box stores (Lowes, Menards, Home Depot., etc.) have very limited stock this time of year.

So, I'm open for suggestions. What plants should I look at? Local selection is pretty slim, only Petco & Petsmart, plus a LFS about 20 miles away that is great but doesn't have many live plants. Am I right in assuming that live plants will be OK during a fishless cycle? Haven't done anything yet because I don't have lighting yet (probably done this week).

When I finish the canopy, I'll post some pics. Just put the final coat of paint on it, and doing a coat of poly tomorrow. Lighting will hopefully show up tomorrow, then I just have to wire it, and bring it home

Thanks for reading my incessant ramblings,
Don

Cant wait to see the finished product!! a couple things to keep in mind is how much light your LED fixture is emitting (im not the guy to ask there :p) certain plants need more light and care. also is it going to need CO2 injector or not. save some bucks you can DIY as well. if its going to be heavily planted though you may want to invest. im not a fan of petco/smart plants as they usually have plants that aren't really made for fully submergable. at least the ones near me. and my LFS has an OK variety but not alot of what im looking for. check out the for sale forum section. There is a guy close to the top who has some plants posted and some shrimp with pictures for some. ive never bought from him but a friend of mine has and loved what he got. for a natural look (my preference) try out slate or other bed rock. i live in ny so its a bit hard to find now but luckily its been warm out and i have a small river near me. if you do i would see if you can get some from a local river or creek before it freezes over. you can check Mi or other craft stores see if they have any larger rocks and stuff too. when starting the plants a cool way to get a really good natural effect would be some type of moss over top of the slate/rocks which is a good start.

Welcome to the hobby, and the forum!

1. Glad to hear you're doing a fishless cycle and doing things the right way (i.e. knowing exactly what you're doing BEFORE you do it). Also, kudos on the DIY LED fixture. You should post a thread detailing your construction techniques.

2. Species tanks are tough, especially here in the US where the fish aren't very well suited for tank life. Biotopes are cool (all the same fish and plants and decorations from the same part of the world). I was looking at a South American ram biotope until I realized how truly difficult it is keeping German Blue Rams and settled on gouramis instead. You could do an angelfish biotope, an Amazon River tetra biotope, etc.

3. Talk to local rock climbers. They'll know some good skree fields you can go to to collect some rocks for free. If you know any geologists, they can get you the info you'll need as well. To test if a rock is safe for your tank, drop some vinegar on it. If it smokes, it's a no-go. I would suggest shale or slate, solely on personal preference.

4. Stay simple in the beginning. Low-light, low maintenance plants like java moss, java fern, anubias nana, maybe some wisteria, etc., until you get the feel and know exactly how effective your LED hood will be at growing plants. Don't discount the addition of CO2 injection - it will really help your plants and diversify the potential group of plants you can grow.

5. Absolutely. Plants like nitrogen, in any form they can get, and ammonia and nitrite (the beginning and intermediate stages of the nitrogen cycle) are the two easiest ways for plants to get nitrogen. If the ammonia concentration is too high it might burn the plants, but in an aquarium you have little to fear in that respect. Put enough plants in, and you can add fish sooner. It's called a "silent cycle", if you use plants to handle the brunt of the ammonia and nitrite generated.

Hope this helps!

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Thanks for the ideas. The LED lighting system I'm building is actually going to be 4 control channels. One is cool white, and is a continuous strip across almost all of the tank (except a few inches on each end). The other 3 channels are blue, green, and UV. The white will most likely be on or off on a timer. The other 3 are going on a 3 channel dimmer so I can color mix a nice moonlight look for night time. I'm actually thinking about ditching the dimmer and building the whole thing from scratch with an Arduino, which I've started programming recently (been programming other stuff for most of my life).

I'm curious if I should consider adding in the UV LEDs with the white for daylight? I would imagine it helps plants, but never tried it.

I'll post a full thread with the hood and lighting when it's done. Got the first coat of poly on the hood, except the lids which needed a second coat of black paint. Lighting should be here this week, and I already have the power supply.

Don