New Riparium Questions

[drewdavis]

So I have two questions.

One, is there anything I have to put in my tank while it’s cycling for the plants? Like water plant food or something?

Two, I set up this tank for my parents and she doesn’t want to let it cycle. She already put snails and shrimp in there the first day we set it up and almost all of them died. I don’t know scientifically why cycling the tank helps it and because I can’t explain the reason other than “everyone does it” and “it works” so she’s being stubborn about it. Does anyone know exactly why cycling is needed? Also how long should I let a planted 50 gal tank cycle before adding fish?

[face]

All animals produce ammonia it’s toxic cycling a tank is just letting bacteria grow that eat the ammonia turning it into less toxic stuff (nitrite then nitrate )it can take weeks or a couple months for this to happen 

to cycle a tank you need to add ammonia then wait for the bacteria to grow the only way to know when it’s done is to test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate if you already have animals in the aquarium you’d test and when the ammonia or nitrite get to high you’d change water to lower them if you don’t have anything in it yet you add ammonia then just wait for it to go away 

as for the plants they probably don’t really need anything yet depending on how many you have they should be ok until the tank gets settled 

if you want more information I’d read this 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-tank-cycling?srsltid=AfmBOoreRUOQ0ysL2eVhojaGW-nsRqtfZrJ6TG660tX40uPeuX2UW_ZC

Edited August 30 by face

[Solstice_Lacer]

Having a tank that isn't cycled is like a house where the plumbing doesn't work. Waste piles up quick

[Ninjoma]

On 8/29/2024 at 8:23 PM, face said:

ll animals produce ammonia it’s toxic cycling a tank is just letting bacteria grow that eat the ammonia turning it into less toxic stuff (nitrite then nitrate )it can take weeks or a couple months for this to happen 

to cycle a tank you need to add ammonia then wait for the bacteria to grow the only way to know when it’s done is to test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate if you already have animals in the aquarium you’d test and when the ammonia or nitrite get to high you’d change water to lower them if you don’t have anything in it yet you add ammonia then just wait for it to go away 

^This is all correct. Personally I like to cycle tanks with fish in them so I can use fish food and fish waste as my ammonia and nitrite sources and don't have to manually add ammonia to the tank. Also once your cycle is finished in this way, you know that the bacteria in your tank is enough to keep up with the fish in your tank. I add bacteria in a bottle like Fritz Zyme 7 or Seachem stability to kickstart the process and dose the tank with a water conditioner every day like Fritz Complete or Seachem Prime to detoxify the ammonia and nitrite (rendering it harmless to fish). I test the water everyday and do water changes daily when ammonia or nitrite are over 1.5ppm.

For shrimp, I would definitely wait until the tank is done cycling, is established and is growing algae. They also require (in my opinion) 3+ hour long drip acclimation to survive the acclimation process consistently. Shrimp are pretty sensitive to changes in water and benefit from having detritus and algae to nibble on.

[Mississippi fish guy]

What’s a riparium? I have heard the term a time or two but I don’t know what it means.

 

[DavinCantu]

On 8/30/2024 at 8:53 AM, face said:

All animals produce ammonia it’s toxic cycling a tank is just letting bacteria grow that eat the ammonia turning it into less toxic stuff (nitrite then nitrate )it can take weeks or a couple months for this to happen 

to cycle a tank you need to add ammonia then wait for the bacteria to grow the only way to know when it’s done is to test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate if you already have animals in the aquarium you’d test and when the ammonia or nitrite get to high you’d change water to lower them if you don’t have anything in it yet you add ammonia then just wait for it to go away 

as for the plants they probably don’t really need anything yet depending on how many you have they should be ok until the tank gets settled 

if you want more information I’d read this 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fish-tank-cycling?srsltid=AfmBOoreRUOQ0ysL2eVhojaGW-nsRqtfZrJ6TG660tX40uPeuX2UW_ZC

Thank you for the link that helps a lot.

[Martin]

On 8/30/2024 at 8:00 AM, Mississippi fish guy said:

What’s a riparium? I have heard the term a time or two but I don’t know what it means.

This is how I have always understood it:  If you think about the transition from land to water in nature, let's say at the shoreline of a lake, the transition can be broken down into 3 zones: fully terrestrial, fully aquatic, and then the transition in between where there is some land and some water.  If we "enclose" any of these areas we get:

1.  Terrarium:  An enclosure that houses an environment that is fully terrestrial
2.  Aquarium:  An enclosure that houses an environment that is fully aquatic
3.  Paludarium and Riparium:  An enclosure that houses and environment with both terrestrial and aquatic features with a paludarium being primarily terrestrial but includes some level of water feature, and a riparium being the opposite: a predominantly aquatic environment with some terrestrial components.

Though, I am a little brain, so if one of our resident big brains has any corrections, I am open to education.

On 8/29/2024 at 10:31 PM, Solstice_Lacer said:

Having a tank that isn't cycled is like a house where the plumbing doesn't work. Waste piles up quick

You can also substitute "children" in place of "plumbing" and the analogy would be more accurate in my case.

Martin

Edited September 11 by Martin