okay , so I’ll try out one of the suggested bacteria’s , how long should I let my tank cycle ? I’ve looked it up but can’t find any other way to speed up a cycle unless anyone can think of anymore ?
Speeding stuff up and impatience do not normally lend themselves to a successful enjoyment of the hobby. Mistakes are made and, perhaps more importantly, living things die.
Usually, to then rectify those mistakes, more time and sometimes even money is required and the previous haste was a false economy.
I performed lots of water testing and noticed, after 12 days, some physid and mini ramshorn snails, that'd probably come in on my plants. After a couple more days, I went for it and added a brace of nerite snails. These did very well (and continue to do so), but I was begginning to get the suggestion of a hair algae problem, so I tweaked my light settings and this issue has since disappeared.
Whilst cycling with fish is possible, it requires very careful management and even then, there's a strong possibility that the fish will be subjected to unnecessary stress.
Cycling with plants was my preferred option, as this definitely speeds up the cycling process.
Without running a control tank, I cannot state that the snails have speeded up the process further, but I suspect that this may be the case, with algae being controlled by them, as well as any plant detritus, which would contribute to the water's ammonia load.
That said, once I decided NOT to nuke the snails with toxins*, I had to monitor my water even more closely.
*Actually, a very bad idea, 'cos dead and dying snails would've added to the unwanted ammonia. If I wanted to reduce the snail population, I would've set a trap.
So now I'll be 4-weeks in on this coming Sunday and, if my water parameters remain stable, I might be adding a small number of Black Neon Tetras into the mix.
