Help!!! 27 Gallon Cube

[bjmcconk]

Hey guys and gals! New to the site and cant wait to dig into all the information on here. So i took the plunge again! Its got to be about 10 years or more since I had a 20 gallon tall tank.

This time I want to do something big (as big as 27 gallons get) but not breaking my wallet.

So I do have all the hardware that i hope i will need. I got the Marineland 27 Gallon Assembly with stand and light.

Its a blank canvas and I have looked at some Driftwood and low care plants but not sure what to get or how to start!

Tank is not cycled and back in the day i tried the fishless cycle and i think i messed the whole tank up because i didnt have the best time keeping fish. So i need the easiest best way to go about this. Thought about just going with the fish food method. Not sure about the additives, some seem better than others. Whats your take on this?

Do i put plants in with out the tank cycled or do i put the plants in for cycling? No idea on that either!

Help me out!

Thanks in advance!

[blink]

Looks like a good start, I had the same tank kit and filter and it was well matched to one another.

[bjmcconk]

Was also wondering on additions to the tank, shimp and fish. I do like rainbow fish and the cherry shrimp.

Any ideas on what type of fish would do well in a decently planted tank?

[bjmcconk]

So I just put an Order in on Ebay for a nice piece of driftwood. Going to get the low maintenance habitat plant setup from AZgarden.com They seem to have the most supplies and a decent website with a ton of information so I figure that know what they are doing.

Wood should be here next week hopefully, we will see. Any recommendations on if i should add any fish right away? Reading up on AZgarden they said that they recommend planting right away and then add fish just after the planting is in. Also add the Tetra Safestart additive and then wash conditions.

Anyone object to this idea???

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

i love cubes man, you want to plant it fairly heavily from the start. You can add a few fish to kick start the cycle if you'd like but its not necessary. I prefer a fishless cycle myself.

[bjmcconk]

Plants are on their way here. sometime next week I would think. I'll throw those in there once they get here just to kick it off. I think the drift wood will take a little longer to get here, so once that is here I will probably have to rescape everything the way i want it.

Plants that are arriving

Includes:

2 Anacharis
4 Rotala indica
3 Blood Stargrass
6 Japanese Fans
3 Dwarf Lily Plants
15 Dwarf Onions
2 Ambulia
15 Tall Sagittaria subulata
2 medium red-spot Ozelot swords
15 Crypt Walkeri
4 Java Ferns

Tell me what you think!

Thanks

[defender.TX]

What Marineland light is on top? Single-Bright, Double-Bright, or Aquatic Plant System? Also what substrate did you put in it? Tough to tell from the picture. I think going with a plant substrate right from the start will give you the best results with a planted tank. I tried to use a white gravel for my first try and as soon as I switched to Fluval Stratum I saw a dramatic increase in growth with the same plants (even in my low-tech tank).

[bjmcconk]

Flora max is the bags of substrate that I got. 2 bags total are in the Tank. The light is the double bright. Hoping I can get away with that but if not I'd like to get something that looks similar to the led cleanliness.

[Hawkian]

If you aren't doing a fishless cycle you'd better keep a very close eye on your water parameters once you start adding fish. Did you get a master test kit for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph? You'll want to keep a close eye on those after about a week or two of having added fish. The plants will help. The more the better.

I envy you man! Tank looks great!

[defender.TX]

The double bright should be fine for a medium light low tech tank. Looking good! I would plant it fairly heavy to begin with, and make sure you have a master test kit! Otherwise you're just flying blind.

[bjmcconk]

Yeah I have the API master test kit. Ph was 7.6 everything else is 0 right now.

[Redtail84]

My tank went through a completely silent fish cycle when I started it with a lot of plants. I tested the water daily, and never had ammonia or nitrite show up. One day, I started getting low nitrate readings, and it's held steady ever since. That was about a year ago.

[bjmcconk]

Is it possible to add a clean up crew right away? I wasnt able to order the plants as I had planned, I will probably be another week out on the plants. Driftwood will be here today.

I was wondering if it would be possible to order the plants and a clean up crew at the same time and be able to put them all in at once. Tank doesnt have any signs of ammonia or anything just a pH of 7.6.

Id also like to see if it would be possible to lower the pH or is it needed?

This would be the clean up crew:

25 nerite snails, 4 SAEs, 1 Flying Fox, 5 Otos, 7 Red Cherry Shrimp, and 8 Amano shrimp

[babydragons]

You should really hold off on the fish and the shrimp. There is no algae or biofilm buildup in your tank yet. You can get a few snails. Maybe 3, 25 is too many to start with, but you will need to supplement their food source. Snails however are a great way to help a tank cycle

[defender.TX]

I would hold off on all the shrimp and fish for sure. The snails are probably fine. Your tank can't cycle right now because nothing is adding ammonia to the tank, hence Nitrifying Bacteria won't show up because they have nothing to consume.

If you want to cycle with fish you should get one hardy fish, like a Betta Splendens, and monitor the Nitrite and Nitrate levels. As soon as you see Nitrates you can assume the tank is cycled and add the Shrimp and more delicate fish. A lot of people use a Betta to cycle and then return it to the local shop when it's complete.

If you want to go with a Fishless Cycle then you need to put a piece of raw shrimp in some cheese cloth, tie it up, and drop it in the tank. Once you see ammonia readings it's simply a waiting game until the tank is cycled.