Sounds fine.
Or you could always get the decent lighting and CO2 straight away, plant with plenty of fast growing stem plants and stock your fish right away as the plants will do the cycling for you.
This is an extract from my pinned algae article that should help if you're serious about a planted tank -
Getting it Right From the Start
The easiest way to deal with any algae problem is by preventing it. We already know that we need to have the correct lighting, stable CO2 and nutrient balance. But, perhaps the most important aspect to maintaining an algae free tank to plant it heavily enough.
This is particularly important when setting up your tank from the start or performing a strip down/re-aquascaping.
A “sterile” tank i.e. one that is newly set-up or has had a major overhaul (substrate change, re-planting, heavily medicated etc.) will be particularly susceptible to algae as it lacks the necessary biological/chemical balance required to fend off any algae. This is why it is essential to plant heavily with fast growing plants as these quickly establish this necessary biochemical equilibrium. Once the tank has established, say after 3 months or so, then you can swap your fast growers for any slower growing, more demanding plants.
If you are starting out then I suggest the following steps to help achieve a long-term successful, algae free tank.
1. Buy all the right equipment – upgrading as you progress is fine as long as you get the basics right from the start.
You need (I haven’t included the obvious stuff i.e. tank) –
i) Good biological filtration, externals are the best option, avoid excessive surface agitation is this drives off CO2 .
ii) Suitable lighting
iii) CO2 (if required)
iv) Substrate (nutrient-rich preferably)
v) Fertilisers (if required)
vi) Test kits – ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, pH and KH (if you inject CO2)
2. Get your CO2 stable (aim for 30ppm) before commencing lighting.
3. If using dry ferts (EI) then sort out your solutions/planned regime.
4. Plant heavily from the start. Cover at least 50% of the substrate with fast-growers.
Examples of Algae-Busting Plants –
Hygrophila species
Ludwigia species
Rotala species
Egeria species
Brazilian Water Ivy
Small Ambulia
Mexican Oak Leaf
Water Sprite
Hornwort
Floating plants (careful they don’t block too much light)
5. Use a plug-in timer to control your photoperiod. I run a siesta that in my experience helps to further prevent algae. 5 hours on, 2 off, 5 on is ideal. I have tried many combinations of photoperiods from 12 hours on down to 4 on, 4 off, 4 on and find that 5-2-5 gives an ideal balance of plant growth and algae prevention. Many aquarists do not run a siesta and experience no algae problems; this is fine and is really a matter of personal choice.
I do not fully understand the science behind the siesta helping; all I know is that is works well in my tank.
6. Keep your tank well maintained –
Change around 25% water per week minimum; EI users normally change 50% per week. Do not over clean your biological filtration.
Keep the water well fertilised if necessary – particularly if you have >2 WPG and CO2. Test water regularly for CO2 (if used), NO3 and PO4 levels (more on this later).
Prune your plants regularly as required – plant cuttings from stem plants to increase plant bio-mass further helping to win the battle against algae.
Try to keep the substrate fairly clean, this becomes harder as you become more planted but it is possible to siphon detritus from the substrate surface. Thankfully a heavily planted tank uses up a lot of the detritus etc. as a food source.
Stock with plenty of plant friendly algae eating fish/inverts. For smaller tanks Otos and Amano shrimp are ideal. Siamese Algae Eaters (Crossosichlius siamensis) and Bristlenose plecs are ideal for larger tanks (as well as Otos and shrimp).
Malaysian Trumpet Snails are great planted tank maintainers in my experience. They do not eat plants but will eat algae. They live in the substrate mostly during the day, eating waste food etc. and turn over the substrate helping to prevent too many anaerobic dead spots that can lead to problems such as BGA and Hydrogen sulphide.
Nitrates, Phosphates, Ammonia and Algae
In a well-planted tank nitrates (NO3) and phosphates (PO4) are NOT the enemy as previously assumed by most schools of thought.
It is ammonia/ammonium (NH3/NH4) that is the biggest algae trigger; this is why it is essential to have efficient biological filtration and why you must not overstock a planted tank with fish. Simply adding more fish or over feeding to increase nitrates is not a good idea for this reason, the slightest ammonia spike (remember that ammonia is never actually zero, there is always some in the water until it has been bio-filtered) may be enough to cause an algae bloom.
It holds true that too much NO3 and PO4 may results in algae growth but these levels are much higher than previously thought, particularly in a heavily planted tank with good growth.
To re-iterate, if NO3 and PO4 are deficient then plant growth slows or stops therefore leading to algae gaining the upper hand. This is why it is important to dose these nutrients in high growth set-ups. If you have a low light tank with no CO2 then your fish, fish food/waste, and tap water may provide adequate levels.
Aim for -
NH3/NH4 - undetectable
NO3 - 5 to 30ppm
PO4 – 0.1 to 2ppm
With lower light and no CO2 tanks then aim for the lower figure.
Higher light and CO2 then aim for the higher figure.
These figures assume you have a healthy (in terms of quantity and growth) plant bio-mass.
Follow these above guidelines and you should never have algae issues.
