# how should i keep it cycled



## myles (Feb 27, 2005)

Hi there, im jsut planning ahead for my new tank. jsut wondering, when the tank is all cycled, i want to grow my plants for a wile and get them astablished befor i add fish, and jsut wonderd what i should do, should i keep adding little bits of amonia or what? or does the tank stay cycled , and then i can jsut addd fish when im ready and it will be fine? also does a tank need to be cycled for plants? thanx


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Without a sustained ammonia source, a cycled tank will 'un-cycle' (no idea how you call that... lol) quite quickly. Just like with any other organism, if ammonia- and nitrIte-consuming bacteria don't get food, they die.
So you'll have to find a way to provide a constant ammonia source - using pure ammonia or some pieces of shrimp/mussel will do the trick, but that might be pretty hard to dose correctly. So instead, I'd use a number of expendable fish that combined have about the same bioload as the stock of fish you plan to introduce later.

As far as I'm aware, a tank doesn't need to be cycled for plants: the absorb small quantities of ammonia and nitrItes, so even help keeping the water clean to a certain extent, but these two substances are by no means their primary food sources (light and CO2 are).


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## myles (Feb 27, 2005)

kool, yeah that would be great if they didnt need a cycled tank, because im sure it will take a few weeks to cycle, and in that time i can do a little gardening


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## DonD (Mar 11, 2004)

The more plants you have, the less you need to worry about a cycle. While lite and CO2 (for the carbon) are indeed main foods for plants, ammonia and nitrate are right up there as well. Look at a bag of fertilizer and check the ingredients next time you are at Home Depot. Ammonia and nitrate will be primary ingredients. So a heavily planted tank can alleviate the need for cycling. Though I would not recommend fuly stocking the tank with fish plants or not.
Also, as the nitrifying bacteria do cling to all available surfaces, the plants will bring a small colony of bacteria with them. Granted, if you dont have fish right away, they will die off, but just something to keep in mind.


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## myles (Feb 27, 2005)

oh kool, thanx for the info







. so i need to buy nitrate aswell as amonia? and if i get a bactria bloom, it would be like a white coudy color right? and if so for how long? and after the tank is all cycled i can jsut go and get the fish orderd right? would liqued firtilizer be enough to firtilize the palnts? at the lfs we seem to only have liqued firts, and plant plugs, those sticks u like jam under the roots. so with that plsu light be enough? thanx


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