I was reading up on the fishless cycle and I don't think I wanna go that path... I used two tetras on my 10 gal for my cycle and that worked fine.. even though i read they are not good for cycling..

Now for my 55 gallon, how many danios? what kind? should I buy... I still need to set up a heater first, and get some plants.

imho:

1) get the plants in there and established before adding the fish.

2) With a tank in a heated room there is no need for a heater.

3) get 5 danios and don't add food the first week. (with schooling fish like danios you can add 1 or more then 4 but nothing in between--they need to set up a pecking order so they are more evenly matched to the one above and below in that order)


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Thanks... Yeah i'm going to add plants and finish decorating before I add fish. right now the temp is just at the bare minimum for the safe zone. it is in a family room where it's heated in winter and AC in summer.. so you suggest i dont get a heater?

I wouldn't use a heater. but that's just my


.02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I've never had a Zebra Danio die in a cycle. I'd say 5-6 in a 55 gal.

appreciate all the comments!! once i get some fake plants put in the tank.. I'll add some danios in.. shoot for tommorow maybe

I meant live plants not the plastic types.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I feel live are too much maintenance.. i dont want a whole co2 setup running in my tv. room.. i know my mom would hate it lol..

I just dont think it is at simple as.. plant.. and let it grow lol

With a little peat moss and lots of sand in the substrate it can be exactly that easy.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

really.. thats it?

I already am using sand as my substrate..

Yep

Only use some peat moss to keep hardness from building up over time.

The sand is what will help "root" the plants. So you can basically just push then in and they will stay there.









Kinda.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

so i wont need to add co2... special lighting... add special chemicals?

no co2, no chemicals, no special lighting.

I do recommend 2 watts per gallon of 6500k flourescent lighting.

But other lighting will allow the plants to thrive also.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Beaslbob speaks the truth.

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i may have to go to petco tonight and buy some live plants then!!!

If you can wait a few days, check out aquabid.com or look up ebay seller mikeswetpets. I've had good experience with him. The prices, selection and plant quality are wayyyyy better than petco.

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I've done two of the biggest "Plants cant grow with this" claims on this forum. (most forums actually.)

I have a UGF, (Under Gravel Filter) and a lighting system that has an actenic bulb and a bunch of blue LEDs.
The running theory in some circles is that plants wont work with UGFs, plants will "melt" or never survive with actenic bulbs. Some say any blue bulb will kill them.
Some say you cant keep live plants with cichlids, angel fish, rainbow sharks, or distichodos because they will eat/destroy them.

Every plant in my tank is live, and I have all the above.

In my experience, its incorrect to make a blanket statement like "Live plants wont work with _______"
It would be more truthful to say, "SOME live plants wont live, SOME live plants will survive but not thrive, and SOME live plants will grow like weeds in _______ conditions."

With 14 different types of plants, and multiple plants of about 6 of those, I am actually having to cut back and relocate plants due to growth.

I have had 2 plants that did not work at all, just died out within a week of purchase.
I have two that lost all the leaves after the transplant, but are coming back very well.
4 are growing very slowly, (almost no discernible growth in 2 months on 2 of them) but are vibrant green and very healthy.
2 other types have easily tripled in size in three months.
I removed two types because with about 1.5 to 2 inches of growth every 24 hrs, I got tired of cutting, replanting, and untangling the dang things.

What do I do to grow em?

I bought em, and covered the roots with gravel.


I just recently started using flourish and iron just to see if it would reduce some of the leaf loss form new transplants, or help the slow growers to grow. I've dosed it maybe 3 times.

OH BTW... I am NOT a green thumb.
I have joked that "every plant Ive tried in my house dies. Heck, I even had a PLASTIC plant, and IT DIED!"
But, I hate the look of fake plants in a tank, so I figured I'd give it a shot, cause I mean really... it's not like I could over water them... or forget to water them.

Thankfully, they are working great.

The only maintenance i have with them is occasionally a big fish will decide he wants to bull his way through the thickest part of one instead of going around or easing through a few leaves, and I have to use my "Aquatic gardener" wand to replant it.

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150G, 1 shovelnose sturgeon 8", 1 polypterus endilicheri 9", 1 leopard ctenapoma 4", 1 Distichodus Sexfasciatus 6", 1 Farlowella acus algae eater 8", 2 silver dollars, 2 tank bred angelfish, 1 clown knife 11", 1 Jaguar hybrid syntadonis 4", 6 African cichlids 3+"

i live plants for pet co in a 10g with just the lights that came with the hood . an there gorwing just fine. i try not too over think things .

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if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

Thanks for the input guys! Deff going to order some real plants then and install them. I see they have like the plant seeds at petco I may try those. its only a couple bucks and if it fails.. they gurantee your money back. so worth a try

Never tried seeds myself. Wouldn't have the patience for them.
Be csrefull of tje big box store plants. Often times they have simi aquatic plants labled as aquatic.
As for me, I never bought a plant I didn't see growing in a tank, fully submerged.
Personally, I'd also recommend to stay away from the type that look almost like little pine needles for leaves.
One strand can become a 30 in long spaghetti noodle, tangling in everything, and floating around the top like hair. Some of them shed annoyingly too.

Broad leaf, thick leaf plants & grasses seem to absorb the light better.
I'd start with some fast growing background plants first. Then move to mid and front, shorter plants.
JMO

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150G, 1 shovelnose sturgeon 8", 1 polypterus endilicheri 9", 1 leopard ctenapoma 4", 1 Distichodus Sexfasciatus 6", 1 Farlowella acus algae eater 8", 2 silver dollars, 2 tank bred angelfish, 1 clown knife 11", 1 Jaguar hybrid syntadonis 4", 6 African cichlids 3+"