# How to cycle a planted aquarium? (the nitrogen cycle) Please help



## Aqua3 (Aug 5, 2016)

My setup:

20 gallon long
eco-complete
finnex stingray LED 30"
aquaclear 30
flourish root tabs

My goal:

a low tech, low light heavily planted aquarium with 1 species of tight schooling fish (white cloud minnows, ember tetras, glowlight danios, harlequin rasboras, etc)
easy, low light plants that will fill the aquarium.


My experience:

I did somewhat setup my aquarium and went to a lfs and they said to use fish, then they gave me 14 fish (2 giant danios, 3 red serpae tetras, and 9 zebra danios) I know that is WAY too much. I personally didn't go to the store but had someone do it as I couldn't go myself. Then I returned them a couple days after, I did get plants from them but they gave way too big of plants and they know I have a 12 inch tall aquarium. My lfs selection isn't great. 



My question:

I have been searching on the internet on cycling a tank so it is safe for fish, and there are so many different opinions on it and it is all confusing. 

How do I cycle an aquarium?

Some people say heavily plant it, with the bacteria that comes on the plants, the snails to provide some ammonia, and then wait a week for the plants to settle in, then slowly add fish.

Some people say add 5 ppm of pure ammonia to the tank everyday, etc. 

Some people say to use hardy fish.



Please can you describe in detail on how to cycle an aquarium and as quickly and safely as possible.

I have eco-complete but did scoop it back up and put in 2 5 gallon buckets as I was thinking about getting rid of everything and not set it up. There is water in there but doubt the bacteria is still alive. Not sure. There may have been snails from the plants I took and then returned.

Someone did say to use adding ammonia to the tank to cycle and swore as it is the only way it seemed. But it seemed complicated, and didn't want to mess it up. Also from research it seemed there were easier options like adding a bunch of plants and then slowly adding fish.


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

Aqua3 said:


> My setup:
> 
> 20 gallon long
> eco-complete
> ...


Ammonia (no-fish method) is perhaps the most popular (I hope) method of cycling your tank. However, I used the "Silent Cycle" method to start my tank. Trying SC is really jumping in with both feet to the process of getting the various elements of the tank, like the plants, working right.

I would heavily plant fast-growing plants like Hygro ( I have Sunset Hygro) (and I hope the light is enough), check the ammonia level the next day, and if it is near zero (should be 0 but I find it hard to read the API? ammonia test) it is possible to add a few fish. Or you can wait a week and really see if the plants are growing well. They take up available ammonia all day long.

It is crucial that you supply the plants with the right amount and kind of ferts for them to utilize the light and grow. I bought them dry and mixed the right dosage for my tank. There is a post that will help with the dosages - Dry dosing and Nutrient Solution Recipes - The Planted Tank Forum posted by Zorfox - excellent, thank you Zorfox.

I hope you reply with more questions. Have fun with this stuff.


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## geisterwald (Jul 18, 2016)

From @Diana:



> Here is the fishless cycle. I know it is long, but there is a lot of info that may be helpful.
> Cycle: To grow the beneficial bacteria that remove ammonia and nitrite from the aquarium.
> 
> Fish-In Cycle: To expose fish to toxins while using them as the source of ammonia to grow nitrogen cycle bacteria. Exposure to ammonia burns the gills and other soft tissue, stresses the fish and lowers their immunity. Exposure to nitrite makes the blood unable to carry oxygen. Research methemglobinemia for details.
> ...


This is the best way to cycle a tank in my opinion. To safely start a tank by just adding plants and fish, you need to add a LOOOOOT of plants. Like, you're probably going to be spending in excess of $50 to get your tank planted enough to do that (and maybe that's an option for you, but I'm poor and cheap so I try to avoid that). On the other hand, if you already have plants and your plants are "too big," you can probably split them off into smaller plants (google by species how to do it). Not sure what you mean by that though, whether your plants will outgrow your tank or they're already too big to fit...? But even if you can plant heavily, if you add too many fish too quickly, you could still end up doing a fish-in cycle, which is neither quick nor easy--you'll be doing a lot of water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite at safe levels for your fish. You can do a fishless cycle as described above with a fully planted tank.


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## BioChemWorld (Aug 29, 2016)

I always do the *fishless / plantless* cycle to be safe. Hasn't failed me yet. This is how I do it.

*Items I Use:*
Biohome Mini Media or Biohome Ultra Media from greatwaveeng.com
Filter Starter Balls (Balls of Bacteria) from greatwaveeng.com
Blue Ribbon Clear Ammonia (3% Ammonia)
Use tap water for cycling only (to prevent pH from going too low - can kill bacteria). Make sure to dechlorinate tap water.
Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate Test Kits 
(Optional) Seachem Ammonia Alert Indicator

*How to Cycle:*
1. Remember, patience is required. May take weeks to a few months to complete.

2. Start in the morning. Add 5-6 ppm of Blue Ribbon Clear Ammonia. Test with ammonia kit to make sure you've reached 5-6 ppm.

3. Test at least twice a day (once in morning, once at night). When ammonia concentrations start to decrease, its a sign nitrite is starting to be formed (the second stage of the nitrogen cycle). You need to maintain 5-6 ppm of ammonia at all times.

4. Eventually, the third stage of the nitrogen cycle begins with signs of nitrate formation. Nitrate is acidic, in which pH will drop, which is why I use tap water for the cycling process. The calcium carbonate in tap water acts as a buffer.

5. Keep maintaining 5-6 ppm of ammonia. Once you've added this concentration of ammonia in the morning, and the ammonia and nitrite levels read zero, at night, the nitrogen cycle has completed. It is now safe to add fish and plant. You may change water to RO/DI water to your set of water parameters.

Hope this helps!


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## charlie 1 (Oct 22, 2006)

You may find this informative, works every time for me

https://web.archive.org/web/20120531154758/http://www.rexgrigg.com/cycle.htm


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## AdamTill (Jan 22, 2015)

Funny you should ask, this just came out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guT1GKJ7jIo


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## Albtraum (Dec 27, 2009)

Jeez Aqua3, how many more threads you gonna make on this? I feel like your tank could have been cycled by now.


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## geisterwald (Jul 18, 2016)

BioChemWorld said:


> I always do the *fishless / plantless* cycle to be safe.


There's no reason to cycle your tank before planting, most plants can tolerate ammonia up to 3ppm but if you want to be safe, you can dose 1ppm twice a day which will not harm any plants that I know of, and will grow the same amount of beneficial bacteria. This is how I cycled my most recent tank and it worked great; the cycle finished in almost exactly a month.


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