Restarting The Tank

[Naringlo]

Hello! I am restarting both my tanks because I did it without proper research. A lot of my fish died after a month. I have given the rest back to the store. Some of the fish did die of ick. Anyway, I've emptied both tanks completely and re-filled them with clean tap water and cleaned the tanks while they were empty. I completely cleaned the filters as well so the tanks are like new. I currently have both of them running but I haven't got any dechlorinater or filter start. I will buy some on the weekend and add them to both tanks. I have aquarium salt but I don't know when or how to add that. I've heard that a little aquarium salt is good for a tropical fish tank. One tank is 170l and the other is 33l. The 33l has no decor, just gravel, a filter, a hood light and a heater. The 170l contains a filter, hood light, heater, sand (substrate), decor, a moss ball and an amazon sword (live plant). Can anyone tell me how to proceed further and how long to wait for the cycling because I want to do this right this time. Thanks!

 

[guppi]

Glad you've decided to try again.
I suggest you have a good read here first and go fish less cycle.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If I were you, I would move the live plants to the smaller tank to keep them alive while you fishless cycle the larger tank.

I would suggest you read the fishless cycle thread in my sig to properly cycle the larger tank. The smaller tank you can also cycle a little, but I wouldn't add much ammonia to it. Just a drop or two to allow the plants to take some food from the water and survive until you are ready to get everything up and running fully.


You don't want to add a lot of ammonia to a tank with plants, because plants need light to survive. Light and ammonia also produces algae. To limit the algae production, don't add much ammonia to the tank with the plants. Then move the plants to the fully cycled tank before cycling the other one the rest of the way.



I'd also check out the planted section for more recommendations of how to deal with live plants. They aren't hard, but they do require a little extra effort.