Time, please.

[Jennet2 60]

I recently retired early and couldn't wait to get the fish stuff out again. So it is partly that too, but mostly just my impulsive nature and getting too many ideas churning around in my head that I can't possibly execute all at once.

That's what I found helpful about joining this forum. All of the different sections about things I could read up on, and seeing peoples responses to topics on the daily updates board. Really good.

 

[GaryE22 137]

I see you, @Chickadee and I raise you a million projects... I retired (early) almost 6 years ago now. I thought I'd have more time, but somehow, the vacuum I expected was filled with the ability to do things my working hours either didn't allow, or didn't allow me to savour. I had tanks and enjoyed them, but I had to unlearn a little efficiency, and relearn just straight up enjoyment.

I had always done poorly with planted tanks. I had a set group of plants that thrived here, and that was that - unchanging. With retirement, I've been able to experiment a bit, and give more time to learning that side of the hobby. It's starting to bear fruit, and I'm becoming more and more pleased at what is happening in my tanks. I've slowly added trick after trick, to see what works.

We give and get a lot of advice here, and sometimes we lose track of the simple fact that the environment in tank A in country B can be radically different from tank C in country D, even if outwardly, they're the same. We may report the same water hardness and pH, but are those parts per million we quote the same minerals? I have 85 of something in my water, and my plants like it. If you have even a slightly different chemistry there, different plants sometimes thrive.

You'll find clashes of opinion here, different systems, crazy ideas and scientifically tested ones. We end up at opposites sometimes, but please bear with us as there are many ways to the same result. There are also plans and ideas that aren't good ones, and there you have to figure it out.

 

[WhistlingBadger19 1]

My plants all died early on too...then I discovered lights.

 

[Jennet2 60]

I didn't start by doing any type of cycling as I had fish before I had a tank - my teenaged sons won goldfish at the fair. Once they outgrew the tank we bought (within a year) we gave them away to someone with a pond and I bought a heater and tropical fish. My main tank has been upgraded a few times, always by transferring the filter and decor - no live plants for a few years just plastic then silk.

I have done a fishless cycle though on a small tank for a betta, just to see how TwoTankAmin's method worked. I felt I couldn't really help anyone if I hadn't done one myself. Yes, it is only the first step on the staircase; cycling with ammonia is just the beginning.

Plants can take a lot of patience when first trying them. At first every plant I tried died, then I discovered epiphytes - Java fern and a couple of species of anubias were the first plants I has success with. I still have epiphytes on wood. Later I had too much success - the hornwort I kept took over the tank in a tangled mess so it had to go. More recently I have have discovered cryptocorynes and have several species growing well, if slowly.

I have java fern and anubias, and also bought some hornwort (at least thats what I think it is, we just used to call it oxygenating plant in the 70's. ;-p I can always pull bits off and chuck it out when it gets a bit too much, or tether it in a place I want a bit of shade. I've also got water lettuce that I must get around to getting a suction loop for to stop it moving all over the surface everywhere. I want it in one place so it does not overshadow a lily bulb I have just left on the surface and a reddish plant that I would like to grow in the gravel substrate.

I am thinking of getting a second little tank to possibly get a betta for, but if I'm not careful, I will end up with the little filters that come with these.... can always keep them as secondary or spares I suppose. I'm using little sponge filters on the little tanks so can put cherry shrimps in. Too small for a betta in my opinion really at just 24 litres, although I do really like them.

 

[Uberhoust1]

Never cycled a tank once, I prefer to start with a heavily planted tank wait a few weeks and add a very small population of fish. As the tank and vegetation grow I add more fish. I suspect for some types of fish in might be better to cycle with ammonia first but haven't had an issue with the method I use. I do tend to keep the more robust fish so that might have a factor.

 

[Tomsfish2 45]

My names Tom, I am an impulse buyer.
My behavior is really pretty good now but I have a past and some of it was spontaneous~!
I was lucky enough to have many extra cycled filters when my fish room was running so additions were easy.
Every tank had several sponge filters and most also had HOBs [I love Aquaclears.]
Most everyone got their own tank so the sudden choice made at the LFS or auction was not a big risk for a tank.
I never did the ammonia thing but way back I cycled a marine reef tank with fish food like many do today with fresh water.
It wasn't perfect and took all of 30 days but the first fish introduced was placed in a cycled tank and lived.
Way way back I started doing fish in cycles for fresh water and had success.
You know how?
I learned to change water.
Fast forward 40 years I still change water.
Being a fish first person I found plants much harder to manage.
It took much longer for the level I thought I was at than I thought it would.
I am not a master plant keeper.
I'm a pretty good fish breeder though.