question about cycle

[JMMG]

hello guys:
i am cycling a brand new 75 gallon aquarium with some live plants and decorations. The filter is a emperor 400 from Marineland .I chose the fisheless method because no harm to the fish. I just drop some fish food(frozen mysis shrimp) one and other day.My question is that after a week i dont see a ammonia spike. i used seachem prime the first day for dechlorinate the water and i used some bacteria(the ones they sell in walmart) could this be the problem? or maybe the live plants are consuming the ammonia? i am worried because a week have passed and i can't see a ammonia spike. i am using the freshwater master kit from API. help me out please, thanks.

 

[DaveK]

Live plants, especially if the tank is heavily planted, can consume a tremendous amount of ammonia. In fact, it's often a favorite food of plants. Because of this you may not see a huge traditional cycle.

One thing you can easily check for is your plant growth. Have they grown or greened up? If so, they are likely doing well. Test ammonia and nitrite and if they are 0 your all set.

At this point, I'd say it was safe to add a few small fish. Don't over do it. Something like 4 to 6 small fish are fine. If they do ok, after a few weeks you can add more.

 

[JMMG]

Live plants, especially if the tank is heavily planted, can consume a tremendous amount of ammonia. In fact, it's often a favorite food of plants. Because of this you may not see a huge traditional cycle.

One thing you can easily check for is your plant growth. Have they grown or greened up? If so, they are likely doing well. Test ammonia and nitrite and if they are 0 your all set.

At this point, I'd say it was safe to add a few small fish. Don't over do it. Something like 4 to 6 small fish are fine. If they do ok, after a few weeks you can add more.

thanks a lot

 

[HotelSoap]

for cycling gold fish work best for me.....or you can add some of the nitrifing bacteria they sell in the bottle. it works better for freshwater then it does salt.

 

[JMMG]

for cycling gold fish work best for me.....or you can add some of the nitrifing bacteria they sell in the bottle. it works better for freshwater then it does salt.

thanks

 

[JMMG]

i added 4 small tetra, so far so good but they were choked at first cause i didn't acclimate them long enough. life is so easy when you move from saltwater to freshwater lol. i rather watch saltwater fishes on youtube lol

 

[flathead1319]

ive never cycled my freshwater tanks. im just starting out in the saltwater game and i know it is huge over there.

What kind of live plants are you using?

 

[JMMG]

ive never cycled my freshwater tanks. im just starting out in the saltwater game and i know it is huge over there.

What kind of live plants are you using?

sorry, long time i dont enter this site. i am using the cheap and hardy plants that petsmart sells. the ones that look like "onions plants". man i had enough of saltwater tanks. saltwater fishes are only good when you see them in another people aquariums or maybe in the internet lol. i just sold my chiller today and plan to buy many beers this weekend. :winner:

 

[DaveK]

ive never cycled my freshwater tanks. im just starting out in the saltwater game and i know it is huge over there.

What kind of live plants are you using?

While not ideal, you can get away with not cycling a FW tank. This is because FW tanks are typically kept at a much lower pH. At these lower pH levels a lot of the ammonia is in the form of ammonium and much less harmful to your fish.

In SW systems, with a much higher pH most of the ammonia is in the form of ammonia an much more deadly.

 

[DaveK]

.... i am using the cheap and hardy plants that petsmart sells. the ones that look like "onions plants"....

Be really careful about purchasing plants from such sources. Many that are sold are not true aquatic plants and will not survive long term under water.

 

[JMMG]

Be really careful about purchasing plants from such sources. Many that are sold are not true aquatic plants and will not survive long term under water.

wow, now i see why they are getting brownish

 

[flathead1319]

a better quality plant is the best.

the best thing for new freshwater setups and during water changes is (in my opinion) stress coat.

 

[JMMG]

a better quality plant is the best.

the best thing for new freshwater setups and during water changes is (in my opinion) stress coat.

thanks