Cycling Question

[pascados]

when cycling a new tank setup is It okay to add plants or should I wait till the cycling process is over befor I do

 

[minxfishy]

Its entirely up to you, the only downside I can see to adding them before the cycle is finished, is the fact that they may get covered in the algae that often builds up during a fishless cycle.

 

[pascados]

thanks Ill keep that in mind =D

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you can safely add some plants, however plants absorb ammonia so you may find it tinkers with your readings, however you need to have a lot of plants for it to have any practical effect. just something to be aware of really.

if you intend to have the tank fully planted then you should read up on silent cycling.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree. The "fishless" algae is often heavy and hard to get off the leaves. On the other hand, there is the possibility at least that plants carry a tiny bit of live "inoculant" (a bit of the good bacteria we want) to perhaps give a bit faster introduction than the normal tiny random bit an empty tank gets. Plants are also give some entertainment of sorts during fishless cycling and provide practice time prior to fish when you can think about what parameters you are going to adjust for the plants. Also, the fishless cycling environment won't hurt them - the warmer temp is ok and as long as the tank is not heavily planted, they won't process very much of the ammonia.

~~waterdrop~~