waterspider
Seedling
Has anyone here ever tried a fishless cycle (w ammonia) in blackout to avoid algae? I saw a passing reference to it on one post for starting a low tech planted tank, but found no further details on it. I did, however, read that the desired nitrifying bacteria are photosensitive, so might actually prefer a dark tank anyway, so long as they're wet and have oxygen.
tldr back story, if you're interested.
I'm new on here *waves hello*. I cut my teeth on fishkeeping for the first time less than a year ago, when I moved in with my sister and kind of commandered her somewhat neglected 120ltr tank full of guppies. I've planted it a little, but it's tough working around the fish, and I really like hardscaping layouts. So I decided I wanted to try my own 65ltr planted tank last Nov - with a dominant cliff cave, and a lot of height. I initially opting not to do a fishless cycle (as many here recommend), but algae ripped through it before the plants could establish. (I was trying for a HC lawn - might have been too ambitious for a newb) After fighting with it, giving up on it, then starting at it again more recently - but as soon as I did so, BAM! algae everywhere again. Grrr.
So I've stripped it back to the hardscaping, and as there's no flora or fauna, figured I'd give this a go. Took me a week to kill off the algae and clear dead sludge, and I started the cycle today.
tldr back story, if you're interested.
I'm new on here *waves hello*. I cut my teeth on fishkeeping for the first time less than a year ago, when I moved in with my sister and kind of commandered her somewhat neglected 120ltr tank full of guppies. I've planted it a little, but it's tough working around the fish, and I really like hardscaping layouts. So I decided I wanted to try my own 65ltr planted tank last Nov - with a dominant cliff cave, and a lot of height. I initially opting not to do a fishless cycle (as many here recommend), but algae ripped through it before the plants could establish. (I was trying for a HC lawn - might have been too ambitious for a newb) After fighting with it, giving up on it, then starting at it again more recently - but as soon as I did so, BAM! algae everywhere again. Grrr.
So I've stripped it back to the hardscaping, and as there's no flora or fauna, figured I'd give this a go. Took me a week to kill off the algae and clear dead sludge, and I started the cycle today.