Newbie cycling question..

jay2k6ie

Ive never heard a bad thing said about cycling a tank with plants.. im actually getting some established filter floss from an experienced fish keeper on tuesday which should do a lot of good for my cycle

cerianthus

What you know, I've learned something new today from Lupin. That's why i love these Forums. It was my understanding adipose fins were characteristic of characins. I can't recollect that Emperor Tetra was missing adipose fin even though this was one of first Tetra to spawn for me.
As far as Scientific Name is concerned, I do agree, like most African ciclids, dwarf cichlids, killies are known in SN in the trade. This will definitely avoid confusuion.
But I still believe so called Asian Rummy Nose is not a Tetra. It is definitely Cyprinids although i did not have the pleasure of keeping them. hopefully soon!!!

iamntbatman

There shouldn't be any problems cycling with plants. The only foreseeable "problem" is that plants use up ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as they grow. This could cause your tank to cycle "silently", which means that the plants use up excess amounts of these chemicals so you never see them spike as you normally would during the cycle.

Lupin

I forgot to point that one out. Yes, they're definitely cyprinids. The only surefire way to distinguish them is characins have a set of teeth shown whereas cyprinids have teeth near their pharynx which means you really cannot see them clearly at all. Location is also a factor. No cyprinids originated from America. No characins originated from Asia.

cerianthus

Definitelty no characins from Asia as far as I know. Although most of Cyprinids are from Asia, Europe and Africa, there are Cyprinids from North America such as a Shiners (Notropis sp.), Minnows (Pimephales sp). etc....

As far as adding Live Plants when cycling, I do understand that some may feel it may slow down the process of establishing bio-activities since will consume waste product of fish, but Live Plants are source of bio-activities when added to tank which can populate the amount of bio-activities faster. Not to mention ability to control sudden spikes depending on the amount of plant and amount of fish's waste.
When balancing pros and cons, I would do w/ plant rather than w/o if one is going for DUTCH AQUARIUM.