Cory's video on using plants to "cycle" a new tank

[newFish]

I was so excited to come across this video that Cory did about using plants to cycle a tank rather than focus solely on beneficial bacteria.  I started a small betta tank earlier in the year knowing full well that I didn't have a cycled tank, but put a betta in there anyways.  Luckily, I had also brought some floating plants (salvinia) from Craig's List and threw that in there along with the betta on day one.  I did have an ammonia test kit.  I was surprised that the ammonia stay very very low from the beginning, almost zero on most days.  I also observed the floating plant grew super fast.  It wasn't until later that I realized the salvinia's ability to take CO2 straight from the air and decent lighting were key to keeping ammonia level low.

I really liked this method of cycling a tank, even though it was an accident on my part.  Fishless cycling is so very boring and takes so long.  But using floating plants to cycle a tank encourages observation skills and fosters the ecosystem approach to aquarium keeping.

Just wanted to say thanks.

 

 

 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@newFish congrats on the success of your betta tank. Because the bioload you put on the system was low you had success. If you’d continued to stock with more and more fish the consequences can/could be disastrous. Cory has been doing this for a long time and that allows him to do things in a way new hobbyists shouldn’t. If in addition to the salvinia you had hornwort, guppy grass, and wisteria and or other fast growing plants ( essentially ammonia sponges) then maybe but I wouldn’t try to repeat your results with a larger more heavily stocked community tank with salvinia. It doesn’t sound like you are thinking of doing that but I still want to define the idea. For example without some other things to speed up the cycle - media and substrate plus plants from your betta setup and even more plants you purchase - I wouldn’t  just throw a decent size group of fish in a tank with salvinia alone. I am super happy that your beta tank has been a success just want to make sure some of the nuance of the plants to cycle the tank approach is not lost. 

[Guppysnail]

@Beardedbillygoat1975 gave some solid words. I have used this method whenever I had to start tanks without preseasoned media. The key is very low stock levels and algae. If algae is not growing it’s probably not reliably safe to house fish but that’s my amateur thoughts. Congratulations on your new tank. 

[HotTunaCartel]

This method is fantastic.  The last tank I started was done this exact way and worked beautifully.  

I filled the tank with active substrate, planted it out and just let it "simmer" for a few weeks and fed some flaked food every other day.  When I started seeing algae I took some water tests and saw 0 - 0 - 20. Did a 50% water change and bam it was ready for fish.  

[lefty o]

just my view point, but i truly dislike the classic fishless , plantless, no nothing add ammonia "cycle". so much better  to get the tank to be a viable thing sooner. the whole point of the "cycle" is to establish enough bacteria to break down waste in the tank, well adding plants, and bacteria from another source does it without the long wait, and without the big question, is my aquarium cycled?? for newbies in particular, start slow and stock lightly.

[binkysmom]

as others have, I've stocked newly planted tanks lightly and fed every couple of days. Just test your water and be prepared to do bigger, more frequent water changes in the beginning. I usually set up a tank first and let it run a few weeks anyway.

[PineSong]

On 11/4/2021 at 2:15 AM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@newFish congrats on the success of your betta tank. Because the bioload you put on the system was low you had success. If you’d continued to stock with more and more fish the consequences can/could be disastrous. Cory has been doing this for a long time and that allows him to do things in a way new hobbyists shouldn’t. If in addition to the salvinia you had hornwort, guppy grass, and wisteria and or other fast growing plants ( essentially ammonia sponges) then maybe but I wouldn’t try to repeat your results with a larger more heavily stocked community tank with salvinia. It doesn’t sound like you are thinking of doing that but I still want to define the idea. For example without some other things to speed up the cycle - media and substrate plus plants from your betta setup and even more plants you purchase - I wouldn’t  just throw a decent size group of fish in a tank with salvinia alone. I am super happy that your beta tank has been a success just want to make sure some of the nuance of the plants to cycle the tank approach is not lost. 

When I set up my new planted tank in July I thought my cycle would be accomplished without a hiccup because I added a ton of plants as well as half the gravel, some wood, and filter media from my 2.5 year old betta setup. That’s 3 servings of bacteria plus whatever came in the Rock wool etc from plants. Well, I was very unhappy with the results. Only later did I realize that even 100% of the beneficial bacteria in my betta tank added up to one low bio-load fish worth. Putting in multiple guppies and three platies in a tank with a bacteria population that could process waste from one betta was a recipe for disaster and I was lucky to save the fish I did.

[Torrey]

On 11/3/2021 at 10:12 PM, newFish said:

I was so excited to come across this video that Cory did about using plants to cycle a tank rather than focus solely on beneficial bacteria.  I started a small betta tank earlier in the year knowing full well that I didn't have a cycled tank, but put a betta in there anyways.  Luckily, I had also brought some floating plants (salvinia) from Craig's List and threw that in there along with the betta on day one.  I did have an ammonia test kit.  I was surprised that the ammonia stay very very low from the beginning, almost zero on most days.  I also observed the floating plant grew super fast.  It wasn't until later that I realized the salvinia's ability to take CO2 straight from the air and decent lighting were key to keeping ammonia level low.

I really liked this method of cycling a tank, even though it was an accident on my part.  Fishless cycling is so very boring and takes so long.  But using floating plants to cycle a tank encourages observation skills and fosters the ecosystem approach to aquarium keeping.

Just wanted to say thanks.

 

 

 

Welcome to the Forum!

I am so glad you had success, and that you also clearly stated for any new aquarist reading along that you got lucky.

I would love to see pictures of your betta, I no longer have any and I miss their antics. I was lucky, most of mine lived a long life despite my ignorance around bettas😳

I had bred them before, and still learned how much I **didn't** know when Gianne gave her Aquarium Co-op Members Only talk a few months ago. I'm pretty sure if I had known everything listed by Gianne (especially the part about wrapping the lid in saran wrap to increase humidity for the labyrinth organ) my last 2 bettas I had here in the desert would have lived longer, more enjoyable lives.

Congratulations on your success, and look forward to watching your progress!

[Patrick_G]

 This forum gets questions from a lot of people who are frustrated with cycling their tank. The answer usually seems to be lots of plants and just a few fish.