Nitrogen cycle

[Caidenh24]

on aquarium coops new video about nitrogen cycle he says he doesn't test for ammonia all he does is add plants and wait for growth. Once you see growth does that mean the cycle is done?

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Once plants are growing then that means that they are feeding off of nutrients in the water column such as ammonia and nitrates. I haven’t had time to watch the video yet (I will tomorrow honestly) but I’ve heard him talk about it in the past and have done this method before, and while it’s very nice and hands off, I will say that for the new fish keeper it is a bit more risky, but for the well seasoned aquarist it’s a good way to hands off cycle a tank. The reason I say that is if for some reason you did have an ammonia problem once you added fish, a seasoned aquarist will be able to recognize it a lot faster and know what to do, whereas someone new to the hobby won’t have the experience to know if something bad is happening, and if so what. 
 

Basically, if someone is newer to the hobby then I think it’s in their best interest to still test the water and keep an eye on nutrient levels throughout and for sometime after the initial cycling process.

[Caidenh24]

6 minutes ago, Steph’s Fish and Plants said:

Once plants are growing then that means that they are feeding off of nutrients in the water column such as ammonia and nitrates. I haven’t had time to watch the video yet (I will tomorrow honestly) but I’ve heard him talk about it in the past and have done this method before, and while it’s very nice and hands off, I will say that for the new fish keeper it is a bit more risky, but for the well seasoned aquarist it’s a good way to hands off cycle a tank. The reason I say that is if for some reason you did have an ammonia problem once you added fish, a seasoned aquarist will be able to recognize it a lot faster and know what to do, whereas someone new to the hobby won’t have the experience to know if something bad is happening, and if so what. 
 

Basically, if someone is newer to the hobby then I think it’s in their best interest to still test the water and keep an eye on nutrient levels throughout and for sometime after the initial cycling process.

What way do you think would be the best to cycle a tank besides a already cycled media filter because I don't have a extra one to use.

[RyanU]

Fish less is definitely the way to go if you don't have seeded material.  You can use a product called Dr.Tims ammonium chloride. You dose the tank to 2ppm and you can add some beneficial bacteria to get your tank cycle started. Once you are showing 0 ammonia dose the tank again to 1ppm. When you show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites in 24 hrs your tank is cycled. 

[Guppysnail]

Tons of fast growing stem plants or as in the video order from ACO and stick rock wool pot and all in tank. This is a very reliable bio booster to introduce bb into a tank. Bottle bacteria is extremely unreliable at best if it works at all when I was new to the hobby I tried about everyone I could find and my tanks cycled SLOWER. 

[lefty o]

plants, and fritzyme7 or fluval cycle do a very good job of kick starting an aquarium. this whole messing around adding ammonia and waiting weeks and months for a tank to "cycle" is to me silly.

[Patrick_G]

On 6/6/2021 at 10:17 PM, Caidenh24 said:

on aquarium coops new video about nitrogen cycle he says he doesn't test for ammonia all he does is add plants and wait for growth. Once you see growth does that mean the cycle is done?

I’ve read this advice from George Farmer, Cory and others and it’s the method advocated on the Aquarium Coop website. I think the key to success is a very high ratio of plants relative to the size of the tank and stocking levels. 

@Beardedbillygoat1975 posted a pic of his newly scaped 15g with a very high plant density. 

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by Patrick_G

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Caidenh24 when I see plant growth and algae I use it as a barometer that I’m getting close with maturing a tank. I still use a test kit. Cory is a professional, he does this for a living so not sure his techniques are always applicable to us as hobbyists. Also he’s dealing with vats of water many times what we keep at home, an auto water change system and all the tools you could ever want. If he loses some livestock he calls Robert and orders more or goes on Aquabid. For us it’s a little different. So I’m conservative, I plod along before I put in livestock, I sometimes put in a couple test fish to see something hardy like a zebra danio or 3 after I’ve got parameters that point to a maturing or seasoning tank. It takes me months because of my conservativism when it comes to putting fish/shrimp in. The only exception has been when I’m taking substrate, hardscape and filters from an existing setup and doing a new setup I’m more likely to move quicker. Thanks @Patrick_Gfor the shout out. 

[Patrick_G]

@Beardedbillygoat1975, sorry to put you on the spot! 

[The Goatee]

I cannot speak to what others have observed, but I’ve setup 10 tanks in the last year ranging from 2.5 to 20 gallons. Add live plants from Co-Op to them all at the start. Basic gravel, eco-complete, or Fluval Stratum depending what I was trying out. I use API quick start and stress coat+. Pretty much every tank cycled in 2 to 4 weeks. I did monitor it all the way. Ammonia typically appeared within 7 days. Nitrite appeared a couple of days later. My cycling typically had longer time getting nitrite processed than ammonia. Brown diatoms appeared in most tanks about the time the nitrite finally got totally consumed.

One tank I tried dosing Fritz powdered ammonia when it was an inert tank (all fake stuff). After a month, it never got bacteria going. I added a water sprite and the ammonia went away in a week and nitrite appeared finally.

I am guessing Cory may not monitor ammonia because if you have nitrites that appear and zero out, good chance the bacteria is handling ammonia. I’ve never encountered a spike in ammonia or nitrite to this point in any planted tank once cycled. I think with starting with light feeding and a good clean up artist or two starting out, the tank will stay pretty balanced and build up to the bio load fine.