I think the point has already been made that plants will help numerous times. It is not just someone's opinion that live plants are extremely good for a tank...I'm pretty sure it is a well known fact.

The problem you face is the fish that are in the tank. They (plants) will not do well with them constantly beating them up. This will elimate nearly all stems, but some you may be able to get away with. I have found plants listed that could work with goldfish. I figure if they will work with them, cichlids should be easier. Some of those are:

Saggitaria Subulata - Dwarf and Tall versions
Sagittaria chilensis
Ozelot Swords
Java Fern
Java Moss
Some anubias may work well also
Possibly Anacharis

If you go to a cichlid site and ask what others are doing, or maybe a simple Google search, you will have other plants that will do fine.

You'll need lighting to support them, but the light requirement will not be much for these because they are all low light plants. It may just be a bulb change and not have to mess with your fixture you have at all. Possible anyway.

As far as the substrate goes, your choice on how painful you want it to be. These plants will grow in small pea size gravel just fine. There is nothing special required. Some cichlids may stir stuff up a little, so you don't want something that will just end up a mess. There are hard ways to do it, like mentioned above, or easier ways. Before you change anything...let the cycle complete. Now is not the time to change anything.

Thanks to everyone, jrman an beaslbob. you have been alot of help to me and have been atient with all the questions that ive been asking and reasking due to me not understanding. So do not do anything but 50% till my nitrites are down to 1ppm. at that time switch back to my 5 gal changes. when my cycle is all done wait a good 2 to 3 weeks before doing anything then at that time i can go ahead and change my substrate, add live plants if i choose too, and possibly add a fish or 2. HOw does this plan sound to everyone? Thanks again to ya'll. I really appreciate it!!

Hey Chevyman. That's why we are here.

Sounds spot on. My only addition, IF you wanted to add plants. You can add them now. Priority of finishing the cycle though.

Picture of substrate! We need a thread devoted only to the colorful substrates!

edit: you have fish that hate plants. while live plants are good, dead decaying plants may be more trouble than you need right now. I retract my addition. Wait till cycle is over before playing. :D

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100 Dirt + Stuff. To be Angel baby tank.
37 Planted. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f45/pla...nal-20774.html
29 Tall community tank. 5+ Years up and running.
15 Soon to be RCS tank.

I would stop adding food and nitrItes will drop to 0 with no water changes.

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

Beaslbob, i have not added food for 3 days.

Nitrites will drop on their own, but the unknown part is just how long. If this were a tank that the nitrogen cycle had already completed, it could be possible to see it gone in a day or less since all the beneficial bacteria would already be in place to process it. Since it isn't, not doing a water change potentially endangers your fish. Not worth it when a water change takes a mere 30min.

When your cycle has completed and looking at your bio-load (amount of fish), personally I think you'll better off doing 50% weekly changes. 5g per week is not likely to keep up with the rising nitrates that you'll encounter. Also true if you end up putting plants in the tank. Many cichlids are pretty big waste producers. The plants will help though.

Before I found out about macro algae for marine tanks I would not add food for a week after adding the first fish. NitrItes would peg the kit for a few days at about the 4 day period. Then drop to 0 in a day or two.

One time it took a couple of weeks in a tank I had been feeding for a month or so.


sounds like your tank is about to drop to 0 any day now.

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

When i go home tonight ill test the water and check back in here with the results and what ill be doing next.

Well it dropped alot quicker than i thought. i took a water sample to my lfs had them test it and everything came back at 0, well my nitrates there was just a hint but nothing major. so now im just gonna play it cool for about 3 weeks then ill change my substrate. A fella at my local store said that the 1 in of fish per gallon does not apply to cichlid that i could probably got a quarter to half over the size of the tank( so i have a 35 hes saying that i could possibly go to 52.5 in. of fish if my math is right). is there any truth to that? i have not heard that at all and am curious to hear what you guys have to say about it.

It depends on your filtration. If you have more filtration you can get away with it. You also need to look at the fact that you honestly have less than 35 gallons after adding gravel and decorations as well. I wouldn't trust his advice personally.

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congrats. Once you get it balanced out it does drop down. I only hope you feel as good as i did when that happened to me.

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 definatly felt good about it finally leveling out. Well heres another kicker. i got home from work today, and my firemouth was dead. His eyes were all peckd out. so now im trying to figure out if it was due to the other fish bullying him or if he couldnt take the high nitrate and nitrites? i called my lfs and there thinking that he was just so stressed out by the cycle that it ended up killing him. he did have red on one of his gills, which i know is not a good sign for the other guys. i will be watching that other fish to make sure they dont start having problems. i wont replace him right away, ill still wait a couple of weeks. and as far as having alot of cichlids i asked a different person at the store and she seemed really suprised that the other person would tell me something like that. she said i could possibly have about 40 to 43 in and that is max! i have a marineland 200(rated up to 50 gallons) anyone have any input on the situation?

Glad to hear all is done. Nothing like the power of a water change. I'd still test for a couple of more days just to make sure. Shift to doing water changes weekly and with your bio-load I would do 50% like I said before.

Fish going through the cycle can be stressed and I have read that it actually decreases their lifespan overall. I am sure it did not help.

I also would stop asking the advice of personnel in your lfs. The problem here is most have never kept fish and only pick up things here and there and try to pass along advice. Keeping fish in a store does not match what people must do at home as out systems are much different and fish usually aren;t in the store for very long. In the 2 Petco, 1 Petsmart, and 2 local stores I have been to in my area, about 3 of them actually have fish at home to take care of. If they give you an idea great, just don't decide on it until you have come home and researched it. I'm not sure what the person was saying to you? That you can have more fish or should have less?

He was saying that since i have a cichlid tank, that i can cram fish into the tank. What he told me was that since i have a 35 gal. that i could have close to 50 inches of fish. which i know the rule of a inch of fish per gallon. This is the first time iove heard of this. I have a filter for a 50 gal on my 35 so i know i could maybe have one extra fish but that many?

I have heard of overstocking slightly for Africans. The keeps territorial issues from forming supposedly.

Well i have been doing alot of research in my free time( which seems to be getting less and less) and thats what ive been finding out too. i can crowd a little but not as much as the fella at the lfs was saying. now i gotta replace my firemouth and find another 2. (in a few weeks)