# Cycling planted tanks.



## etbarry

Hey all i new to the planted tank relam of aquariums and have a question about cycling. Does the tank need to be cycled before you add plants or can you just plant and add fish slowly over time. If you can plant before cycling i was going to plant with setup wait 2 weeks add oto's wait 2 weeks add rasboras.

Equipment: 
10gal tank 
flourite substrate
50watt heater
AC 20
diy cfl hood (26 watts) 
diy yeast co2 with diy reactor
and diy bubble counter

Fish: 
3 oto's 
5 rasboras

Plants being considered:
crypt's of some kind
java fren
anubis nana
some kind of carpet (any ideas?)

Any input is appreciated thanks all. elliot


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## crabcake

i usually don't do a formal cycling period, opting instead to start out with some hardy live plants and an amount of substrate borrowed from an existing established tank. i then proceed by adding just a few small fish and gradually introducing more over time.


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## danakin

I would not start cycling with the otos if you do the traditional cycling. Pick a less sensitive fish to start. The rasboras might be better to add first, then the otos. 

Give http://www.rexgrigg.com/cycle.htm a read.


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## Dave k

I have a ten galllon that just cycled.I had fast growing plants in there while it was cycling.Took about 2 wks.I did it this way for my fiftyfive gallon too,took longer though.I just didn't like having fish in a cycling tank.


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## etbarry

im not sure that this answers my question or at least im not understanding..
lets just say i was doing a tank with no fish, i do not need to cycle correct? and then like danakin had suggested after the plants get established add the rasboras then like a week or so later the otos?
thanks for all the speedy replys


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## Axelrodi202

What I did to cycle my 15 gallon tank was really simple. I just put in plants, let it run empty for a month. It was already ready for fish, But I couldn't find just the right species until December (tank set up in September). The reason why this works is because the snails that come in with the plants populate the aquarium, providing an ammonia source and cycling the tank.
For the carpet, I would suggest baby tears (Hemianthus cuba?). It grows very low and spreads by runners.
For the fish, I would add the rasboras first, two at a time. If they thrive in your tank, and there is a sufficient algae growth in a month, put in the ottos.


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## etbarry

Thanks all for the input and thanks danakin for the article made things much more clear.


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## johngfoster

I may be different here, but I don't cycle a tank if I plant it. Most plants already come out of tanks with fish in them, so they already are covered with a layer of bacteria. Plus, the plants will live off the fish waste, keeping the levels down. I have never had trouble with fish dying because I didn't cycle a planted tank. I guess it also helps to not over-stock the tank, and stock it with fish that are hardy, like rainbowfish.


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## Hoppy

[email protected] said:


> I may be different here, but I don't cycle a tank if I plant it. Most plants already come out of tanks with fish in them, so they already are covered with a layer of bacteria. Plus, the plants will live off the fish waste, keeping the levels down. I have never had trouble with fish dying because I didn't cycle a planted tank. I guess it also helps to not over-stock the tank, and stock it with fish that are hardy, like rainbowfish.


I have never cycled a tank either. As long as you heavily plant it from the beginning, you can just wait a week or so, to make sure the plants are going to grow, then add a few fish. Works very well.

Remember the nitrogen cycle bacteria depend on having ammonia/nitrite for their food supply. If you "cycle" a tank by adding ammonia or a dead shrimp, you may well trigger a bacteria colony to establish itself. But, once you remove that colony's source of food, ammonia, the bacteria can't continue to live and reproduce. Bacteria numbers will grow and ebb as their food supply grows and ebbs. A heavily planted tank will start with some bacteria already on the plants, and the plants will consume a large part of any ammonia that is introduced to the tank by fish waste, so the bacteria colony will be whatever can live off of the leavings. A fish only tank is a totally different story.


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## RandomKayos

I agree with John and Hoppy. If you are putting in decent plants to start with the cycle is almost instant. I have been doing alot of scaped small tanks and the heaver I plant them the quicker it cycles. I also use snails to offer a decent bioload and keep the plants fed as well as the bacteria.

In regards to the Otto's. I would not add them until you see alge growing at least around the edge of the substrate. I have had great sucess with otto's and then the tank gets nice and clean and they start to dissappear. They don't seem to like the alge disc's at all. So the cleaner the tank the faster they dissappear. I never find a body, they just are no longer there.

Anyway, my point is that in my experience the more plants and snails the faster the cycle happens. I often over plant and later, once the colonies have established, start the trimming and scaping a bit at a time so as not to kill the cycle that is there. Good luck!!!


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## Hoppy

I find Oto's something like Cardinal tetras in that if they survive the first month in your tank, they will live for a few years quite happily (I never hear any complaints, anyway), even with widely varying algae availability. Mine disappear quite often too, and I think they have died, but eventually they show up again. I still have no idea where they go when they disappear.


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## Bugman

10 of my tanks are planted and I go along with the not cycling crowd. I have not cycled any of them.................but I do plant very heavy from the start and I feel to suggest to someone that they don't need to cycle as long as they have plants to be a mistake usless they understand that they need a LOT of fast growing plants in the tank or seeding of some kind from an established tank.

Otos are quite often one of the first fish I add but I am very very carful with the acclimation. I roll the top of the bag so it will float in the tank or secure it to the side of the tank using a mag float and then add about half a cup of tank water to the bag every 20 to 30 minutes until the bag is full. Then net and place them in the tank. I started doing this with otos and GBR's but now do it with all new fish.


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## NightSky

My uninhabited aquarium actually does have a source of ammonia. I think that's from the substrate, though.


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