best startup practice?

[plantnoob]

having been reading so much info lately , concentrating on the importance of getting flow/distribution/levels of co2 etc spot on from day 1 ( great co2 atricle by ceg on here ), i now have 1 last thing i need to get absolutely clear in my mind before planting. what is the best practice for getting things started and established once the plants are in ?

ive been reading this Tropica Aquarium Plants from the tropica 90 day startup guide that advocates no dosing for the 1st 2 to 4 weeks
does the fact that il be dosing EI make any difference ? ive read some places you can start ei from day 1 , some say you shouldnt , some say completely different advice .

id hate for all the research ive been doing to come undone by less than perfect application of the actual husbandry of the plants and not giving it the best possible start .

 

[Ian Holdich]

Here is what I do...(now every tank is different, but this works for me)

Dose from day one.

Change 25-50% of water everyday for 2-3 weeks, sometimes take it to 4 weeks if things aren't moving quickly. Do the water changes either a while before lights come on or after lights out. This way you run less risk of having to deal with bba

Start with a photo period of 6hrs and after a month ramp it up to 7 or 8 hrs.

Keep your eyes peeled for those melting leaves and when you see they chop em off straight away, this way you get em before they start to produce ammonia.

Get a clean up crew in there within a week of set up. Add a fair few Amanos first, they add some ottos (as long at the tank is big enough, and ensure you have algae wafers in) after a couple of weeks. For me this is the most important part along with the water changes.

Clean the glass whenever you see a film on the inside.

Enjoy your maintainence! This is key.

 

[plantnoob]

cheers mate . its just as well i enjoy tank maintainence eh 🙂 . ive missed having a tank to tinker with . with the planted side its a mixture of cant wait and oh my god what have i let myself in for !

 

[ceg4048]

I would strongly advise to AVOID placing any livestock in the tank. I don't understand this whole concept of "clean up crew". Why not just avoid having anything to clean up? Having livestock in the tank specifically handcuffs you from using the one weapon that is useful against 95% of all tank problems - poor CO2. And shrimp are more sensitive to CO2 than any other livestock. Having livestock limits the range of CO2 application, so why on Earth would you want to restrict you own ability to solve problems?

Cheers,

 

[plantnoob]

tbh ceg im loathed to add any livestock at all until biological filtration is up to the job .

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

to add any livestock at all until biological filtration is up to the job

In biological filtration terms non-planted and planted tanks are totally different. In non-planted tanks you are entirely dependent upon microbial filtration, principally from the filter bacteria, and water changes, or anaerobic de-nitrification, to remove (or out gas) NO3.

It takes a while for the levels of bacteria to build up (to "cycle"). To increase the rate of the cycle people add NH3 and then monitor NO2 and NO3 levels. I would describe this procedure as fraught with dangers on all sorts of levels. Have a look a these posts: <Best Way To Start A Planted Tank? | UK Aquatic Plant Society>.

This isn't true of planted tanks, where plants are the single largest factor in maintaining water quality, once you have actively growing plants, the water you add to your tank will improve in quality over time, rather than decline.
I like to get some plants in and then wait, but if you have a high enough plant mass you can really just add plants and then a few days later your livestock.

Combined plant/microbe biological filtration is about an order of magnitude more efficient at improving water quality compared to microbial filtration alone. I always have plants, in water quality terms it is a no brainer.

cheers Darrel