Planted Aquarium - Fishless Cycle Necessary?

[mark4785]

I'm in the process of setting up a new open-top planted aquarium with the aim of making it a high-tech co2 set-up. I recently asked about whether or not a fishless cycle (with pure ammonia) would need to be conducted on such an aquarum which is likely to be very populous with plants on the UKAPS forum. They explained that it would not be necessary at all because the plants, if there is a lot of them, will absorb the ammonia and nitrites.

I'm not the best aquascaper, I'm very much a novice and will therefore probably suffer some algal problems and dieing plants before I get the balance of nutrients, co2 and light sorted out. Thus, I would not want my plants to function as a nitrogen filter as due to my inexperience they would probably not be absorbing the ammonia/nitrites efficiently.

Also, there is the type of stocking to factor in. I'm a huge fan of Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi fish which are quite sensitive to ammonia/nitite fluctuations. They won't survive in an uncycled populous planted aquarium will they?

I'd appreciate some input on this subject because I'm not at present finding any logic to being told not to bother with a fishless cycle with a tank which will have a massive external filter with plentiful space for nitrifying bacteria and which will eventually house a sensitive species of fish.

 

[Tizer]

The idea behind it is that the plants absorb the ammonia the fish produce and you effectively do a "silent" cycle. However, you need the tank to be utterly jam packed with plants for this to happen and i mean seriously jam packed, like the Japanese underground trains at rush hour ;D. They also need to be healthy, growing well and not rotting away in your tank. The better idea would be to do a fishless cycle on the filter, then crack on with your plants and fish afterwards. simples.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

fast growing stem plants are really easy to grow, and you could easily pack a tank full of them for relatively cheap.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/299827-why-we-should-not-fishless-cycle-planted-tanks/

 

[mark4785]

The idea behind it is that the plants absorb the ammonia the fish produce and you effectively do a "silent" cycle. However, you need the tank to be utterly jam packed with plants for this to happen and i mean seriously jam packed, like the Japanese underground trains at rush hour ;D. They also need to be healthy, growing well and not rotting away in your tank. The better idea would be to do a fishless cycle on the filter, then crack on with your plants and fish afterwards. simples.

Thanks for your input,

What is behind this 'silent' cycle? I'm having trouble seeing how the nitrifying bacteria colonises when the plants are eating the ammonia/nitrite.

I think I'm definitely going to do a traditional fishless cycle with a bottle of pure ammonia because I don't see any other way of creating a really healthy aquarium.

 

[Tizer]

there are always trace elements of ammonia and nitrite in the water, it never 100% disappears, so its a slow process.