[Danno79]

I am going to cycle a tank with ammonia, I am also planning on adding some gravel and plants from another cycled tank. I just wanted to make sure that the bottled ammonia won't harm the plants.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[OverStocked]

No.... plants eat ammonia...

 

[mistergreen]

To a point... ammonia is toxic to all life forms including plants at certain concentrations.... Don't go over 4ppm.

Algae is a problem when starting a tank. I'd leave the lights off so I wouldn't put plants in there but then again, it couldn't hurt. Algae is our friend.

 

[Danno79]

No.... plants eat ammonia...

That's what I thought. Thanks

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[Danno79]

To a point... ammonia is toxic to all life forms including plants at certain concentrations.... Don't go over 4ppm.

Algae is a problem when starting a tank. I'd leave the lights off so I wouldn't put plants in there but then again, it couldn't hurt. Algae is our friend.

Good point about the lights and algae. Maybe I'll just throw in some java moss and leave it by a north facing window and see what happens. It's only a ten gallon so I can always move it.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[Fishly]

Didn't Tom Barr find that ammonia causes algae outbreaks?

 

[Danno79]

Didn't Tom Barr find that ammonia causes algae outbreaks?

But there is gonna be ammonia present no matter what isn't there? Isn't some initial algae inevitable? Gonna look into it any way.


Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[Danno79]

Googled Tom Barr and ammonia. Found the thread, and now I see what you mean about ammonia and algae. Gonna read through the thread again. Might need to re-think things. Hmmm don't know. So much information!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[wendyjo]

If you have access to an established tank, which it sounds like you do, then you don't really need to do a fishless cycle with ammonia. Just add filter media from the already cycled tank to the new one and then you can slowly start stocking. Unless you are planning to add very large or messy fish you shouldn't see a spike.

 

[Fishly]

Seeding a tank is great as long as there's nothing in the original tank that you don't want in the new tank (disease, hydras, etc). Another option is to use SeaChem Stability, which will cycle the tank in about a week, decreasing the amount of time the ammonia is available to algae.

 

[wendyjo]

Yeah but in his first post he said he's adding gravel and plants from a cycled tank. My point is just move some filter media over from that same tank too and call it a day.

 

[Fishly]

Oh, duh. Sorry, missed that. :icon_redf

You know, you don't even have to move the media, you can just squeeze out some mulm and put that in the tank.

 

[Danno79]

So this is what I have done so far. Took java moss and water from an established tank. Mixed the water with fresh declorinated water. Put a HOB filter on and added a filter pad that has been running in an established tank for a couple weeks into the filter. Haven't added substrate yet. I have a bunch of plants that I could put in there once I do. Am I on the right track then? Making this too complicated? Missing some thing important? All of the above??

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[Fishly]

Sounds like you're doing great! Your tank is probably about 90% cycled by now. Go ahead and add some ammonia or fish food, and test it after 24-48 hours. If you get nitrate but no ammonia, the tank is cycled. If there is some ammonia, give it a week or so until the ammonia's gone. Then you should be ready to add fish.

 

[Danno79]

Excellent. Thanks for all the input so far. It's crazy how many different things I've learned from this one post. So many different ways to cycle a tank. Thanks again!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[Fishly]

Excellent. Thanks for all the input so far. It's crazy how many different things I've learned from this one post. So many different ways to cycle a tank. Thanks again!

Glad to help. What are you going to put in the tank once it's cycled?

 

[Danno79]

Glad to help. What are you going to put in the tank once it's cycled?

Shrimp. Haven't decided what kind. Had some ghost shrimp for a while and thought they were really fun. My goldfish thought they were super tasty! So I decided that I want a shrimp tank. I figured that the tank would take longer to cycle and that I would have more time to decide on what kind of shrimp to put in there so I will have to feed the bacteria for a bit while I make up my mind. Assuming all goes well.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[Fishly]

If ghost shrimp are all you've had so far, I would start with some variety of cherry shrimp. The most common and affordable ones are regular cherry shrimp, fire red cherry shrimp, yellow shrimp, and blue pearl shrimp. I haven't checked lately, but I think you can get fire reds for a good price ($1-3 each) at the Swap N Shop here. If you're having trouble deciding, I suggest you look at videos of the shrimp on YouTube to get a better idea of how they look as a group in a tank instead of singled out in a photo. Whatever you get, I suggest starting with at least 10 shrimp.

 

[wendyjo]

There's not much benefit to adding water from an established tank - most of the bacteria is on the surfaces - mostly filter media but also the gravel and decor. Since you've already moved over some filter media be sure there is a source of ammonia to keep it fed, or it will die off.

 

[Danno79]

If ghost shrimp are all you've had so far, I would start with some variety of cherry shrimp. The most common and affordable ones are regular cherry shrimp, fire red cherry shrimp, yellow shrimp, and blue pearl shrimp. I haven't checked lately, but I think you can get fire reds for a good price ($1-3 each) at the Swap N Shop here. If you're having trouble deciding, I suggest you look at videos of the shrimp on YouTube to get a better idea of how they look as a group in a tank instead of singled out in a photo. Whatever you get, I suggest starting with at least 10 shrimp.

Thanks I was thinking cherry shrimp would be a good place to start and checking them out on you tube is a good idea.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk