Starter Plant Question

[777james777]

I am about to start the process of cycling my tank with my testing kit. I have also purchased Tetra Safe and ammonia, with help from a few in here ive been given some good advice on starting the water cycle.

My questions relating to plants are as follows....

- Will adding plants speed up / help the water cycle?
- I have a 160 litre tank 100x40x40cm is there a max amount of plants i can put in?
- Which plants are good to start with / avoid
- My substrate is have snad and half gravel (quite small gravel)

 

[Wills]

Glad to see you getting into plants too Have a look on YouTube for some of the planted people like George Farmer.

In terms of getting started though - in the early stages of a tank plants will take up a lot of ammonia once they get growing. There isn't really a limit on the number of plants but it just depends on how much you want to maintain it or how much you want to see your fish

All kinds of plants that you can get started with you cant really go wrong with Cryptocorynes, Anubias, Java Ferns. Fast growing stem plants will be really helpful at the start - my favourite is Limnophilla Sessiflora but there are plenty of others like Hygrophilla Siamensis, Hydrocotyles, Ludwigias, Cardamynes etc.

When you say you have half sand half gravel do you have a picture? Over time these may mix in so since you are early in your set up it might be worth going all sand - I prefer sand as there are no real drawbacks where as with gravel certain fish dont do as well on it and others really need sand to live properly like Geophagus or Corydoras.

Wills

 

[sharkweek178]

If you have enough fast growing floating plants in your tank, you can bypass the traditional fishless cycle method. Plants like salvinia minima, Amazon frogbit, water lettuce, anacharis, red root floaters and others absorb so much ammonia that the tank doen't need the nitrogen cycle. The caveat here is that you have to have a substantial amount of them and you have to make sure that they are growing before adding fish.

 

[sharkweek178]

When you say you have half sand half gravel do you have a picture? Over time these may mix in so since you are early in your set up it might be worth going all sand - I prefer sand as there are no real drawbacks where as with gravel certain fish dont do as well on it and others really need sand to live properly like Geophagus or Corydoras.

Wills

And it's cheaper too. Much cheaper. You can pay $5-15 for a 5 pound bag of aquarium gravel. Or you can go to Home Depot and pay $6 for a 50 pound bag of Quikrete play sand that's perfect for aquariums.

 

[Wills]

And it's cheaper too. Much cheaper. You can pay $5-15 for a 5 pound bag of aquarium gravel. Or you can go to Home Depot and pay $6 for a 50 pound bag of Quikrete play sand that's perfect for aquariums.

eeehhh I'm on the fence I knows the hardware store stuff is cheap and good but I personally like aquatic brands and the choice of colours and textures so depends on what you are into

 

[Essjay]

If you add ammonia to the tank you need to wait until the cycle is finished to put plants in. Fish excrete ammonia in tiny amounts24 hours a day. The total amount may be 3 ppm, but it's not excreted all at once. Having a lot of ammonia in the water, as with adding all at once, can kill some plants.

Yes the tank can be cycled with plants but you still have to wait. You need to be 100% certain that the plants are actively growing and not about to die. The recommendation is to plant the tank and take a photo. Two weeks later, compare the tank to the photo. If there is a lot of new growth, it's safe to add fish. If there's no new growth, wait a bit longer. For someone just starting with plants, fish should be added one group at a time, testing for ammonia and nitrite for several days after. If they remain at zero, get the next batch of fish - and the plants will have grown some more since the previous batch.



I killed every plant I tried for years. Finally I found plants that grew. These were slow growing plants which are attached to decor rather than rooted in the substrate. I progressed from there and now have a few plants attached to decor, but many planted in the substrate. I discovered that for me I need to stay with plants in the 'easy' category. The website of the plant supplier Tropica is useful as you can search by difficulty. I don't buy anything in the 'medium' or 'advanced' group.

The right aquarium plants - Tropica Aquarium Plants

The right aquarium plants

tropica.com

 

[sharkweek178]

eeehhh I'm on the fence I knows the hardware store stuff is cheap and good but I personally like aquatic brands and the choice of colours and textures so depends on what you are into

Fair enough. When I was just dealing with a 10 gallon (in which case, I didn't need anywhere near 50 lb of sand), I thought Carib Sea Natural Sunset Gold was quite nice looking. Although I don't think unnatural colors of sand like pink or blue are good for the fish. But otherwise, I wouldn't begrudge someone their preference.

 

[sharkweek178]

Yes the tank can be cycled with plants but you still have to wait. You need to be 100% certain that the plants are actively growing and not about to die. The recommendation is to plant the tank and take a photo. Two weeks later, compare the tank to the photo. If there is a lot of new growth, it's safe to add fish. If there's no new growth, wait a bit longer. For someone just starting with plants, fish should be added one group at a time, testing for ammonia and nitrite for several days after. If they remain at zero, get the next batch of fish - and the plants will have grown some more since the previous batch.

I should have emphasized this point a little more like you have here. Plant cycling is not an insta cycle method.

 

[Wills]

Fair enough. When I was just dealing with a 10 gallon (in which case, I didn't need anywhere near 50 lb of sand), I thought Carib Sea Natural Sunset Gold was quite nice looking. Although I don't think unnatural colors of sand like pink or blue are good for the fish. But otherwise, I wouldn't begrudge someone their preference.

Oh no not the dyed sands and gravels but the natural ones that vary between different greys, blacks, beiges, browns, reds - like the Wio, ADA, DOOA stuff etc but appreciate its not for everyone.

 

[777james777]

My stone are at either side, this obviously is'nt the finished version of the substrate but i planned on having almost a path way in the middle.

 

[777james777]

If you add ammonia to the tank you need to wait until the cycle is finished to put plants in. Fish excrete ammonia in tiny amounts24 hours a day. The total amount may be 3 ppm, but it's not excreted all at once. Having a lot of ammonia in the water, as with adding all at once, can kill some plants.

Yes the tank can be cycled with plants but you still have to wait. You need to be 100% certain that the plants are actively growing and not about to die. The recommendation is to plant the tank and take a photo. Two weeks later, compare the tank to the photo. If there is a lot of new growth, it's safe to add fish. If there's no new growth, wait a bit longer. For someone just starting with plants, fish should be added one group at a time, testing for ammonia and nitrite for several days after. If they remain at zero, get the next batch of fish - and the plants will have grown some more since the previous batch.



I killed every plant I tried for years. Finally I found plants that grew. These were slow growing plants which are attached to decor rather than rooted in the substrate. I progressed from there and now have a few plants attached to decor, but many planted in the substrate. I discovered that for me I need to stay with plants in the 'easy' category. The website of the plant supplier Tropica is useful as you can search by difficulty. I don't buy anything in the 'medium' or 'advanced' group.

The right aquarium plants - Tropica Aquarium Plants

The right aquarium plants

tropica.com

Yes I did think it may be better to put the plants in once the water was correct. Im in no rush and quite a patient person. I dont want plants dying on me, but going of the pictyre would there be more chance of plants surviving in the sand or gravel?
I also had another idea... plastic boxes almost like ones you get chinese take aways in... if that was filled with "aquarium soil or whatever is best for plants then the plants popping out of holes cut in the lid, would this work perhaps? or is that a silly idea?

 

[Essjay]

I wouldn't bother with 'aquarium soil' for your first tank. A lot of these release ammonia into the water, sometimes for months. Plain sand/gravel is fine for plants. All they need is fertiliser. Some plants such as Amazon swords are heavy root feeders, so they need fertiliser in tablet form inserted into the substrate near the plants. Others are leaf feeders so they need liquid fertiliser adding to the water. Slow growing plants need less fertiliser than fast growing plants, so depending on what you get you would need to adjust the amount - the dose rate is usually for jungles of fast growers.
The gravel in the photo is quite fine so plants will be fine in that and the sand. it's the kind of gravel with really big particles that plants struggle with. Though you will find you end up with sand on the bottom and the gravel on top. The gravel will spread out due to water movement and later with fish moving it, either by picking food off the surface or by actually digging into it.

 

[777james777]

Okay great, well I guess that when I get to that point I can decided on some plants. I do want quite a lot of plants to be honest I want a lot going on in the aquarium, plenty of places for my fish to hide and feel safe if they wish too. Il get the water levels good first of all.

If I get the water levels correct and then add lots of plants… can that make the water levels incorrect ?

 

[Essjay]

No it can't; plants help purify the water.

Question - do you intend having shrimps or snails in the tank at all? By snails, I mean the ones we pay for not the pest snails that come on plants.

 

[777james777]

No it can't; plants help purify the water.

Question - do you intend having shrimps or snails in the tank at all? By snails, I mean the ones we pay for not the pest snails that come on plants.

To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it.

I would say I’m more interested in the fish, but are there any benefits to shrimp and snails