Plant cycle help?

[Perseusmom]

Hi was just reading all your posts and saw that your new guy attacks the turkey baster that is so funny...lol Does he have any plants in with him yet ? Perseus attacked the Hornwort for a couple of hours after I put it in, his first real plant he didnt know if he liked it or not at first but now he loves all the plants. You got a real feisty guy thats great !!!

I think you will love the Anacharis its a very nice looking plant and easy care I have never used any ferts with my plants as of yet. I want to get a Java Fern I have heard those are easy and grow fast. I am going to need a bigger tank though before I get anything else, I think I will upgrade to a 10 gallon this next Spring and then I can also get another Betta for the 5 gallon...Yeaaaaaa !!!!!

[RedRaz]

Bettanewbie60 I will have to work on getting a grow light as well. Which one did you get btw?

Perseusmom LOL! Yeah he is pretty aggressive. I don't have any plants in his tank because Babe is very active and loves to swim fast through the tank but it's only a 2.5 gal and if I put plants there really won't be much room for his to swim. He does have a treasure chest and a IAL that has now sunk to hide in and under. That is why I'm setting up the 10 gal with lots of plants for him. He can swim all over the place in there. ;)

Perseus is so funny! lol! He showed that plant who's tank this is. ;) I'm probably certain that would be Babe's reaction too. :/ Men! lol! Oh I'm happy to hear you are getting a 10 gal soon too. Yay! Exciting! Perseus will love that. ;)

[Bettanewbie60]

Originally Posted by RedRaz

Bettanewbie60 I will have to work on getting a grow light as well. Which one did you get btw?

Perseusmom LOL! Yeah he is pretty aggressive. I don't have any plants in his tank because Babe is very active and loves to swim fast through the tank but it's only a 2.5 gal and if I put plants there really won't be much room for his to swim. He does have a treasure chest and a IAL that has now sunk to hide in and under. That is why I'm setting up the 10 gal with lots of plants for him. He can swim all over the place in there. ;)

Perseus is so funny! lol! He showed that plant who's tank this is. ;) I'm probably certain that would be Babe's reaction too. :/ Men! lol! Oh I'm happy to hear you are getting a 10 gal soon too. Yay! Exciting! Perseus will love that. ;)

This is the light I have been using..I leave it on between 10 and 12 hours a day...It says 4200k on the package, but the bulb is a T8 7800k actually..It has worked great for me.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lights-of-...xture/16879945

[RedRaz]

Originally Posted by Bettanewbie60

This is the light I have been using..I leave it on between 10 and 12 hours a day...It says 4200k on the package, but the bulb is a T8 7800k actually..It has worked great for me.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lights-of-...xture/16879945

Thank you so much! I will need to pick one up very soon. My plants will be here by Friday. Yay! I'm excited and very nervous. lol! I appreciate all your help. I'm sure more questions will come but for right now I'm out of them. This is very rare for me too. :D

[Bettanewbie60]

Originally Posted by RedRaz

Thank you so much! I will need to pick one up very soon. My plants will be here by Friday. Yay! I'm excited and very nervous. lol! I appreciate all your help. I'm sure more questions will come but for right now I'm out of them. This is very rare for me too. :D

LOL..you are most welcome, anytime! I'm excited for you! Don't be nervous...message me or post the extra questions!

[lauraannq]

so are snails good? my anacharis came with a snail...

[Perseusmom]

I bet it is a pond snail they come with most plants, its fairly normal to have them on plants you buy. The only thing with pond snails is that they do lay alot of eggs and you could end up with to many to keep up with in your tank. I keep mine in their own little tank but a couple still got in my tank even though I put the plants in QT to check for any snails. Every now and then I will see one in my betta tank but as long as its just a few its fine with me I just dont want to get over run with them.

[RedRaz]

Update on my planted tank: So far everything is going well. I've been doing a plant cycle for almost three weeks and only saw a slight increase in nitrites the first week. So far ammonia, nitrites and nitrates have stayed at 0. I have been doing 50% water changes every week. Should I try doing less to see how things go? Like a 25% weekly change?

Plants are growing like crazy BUT I do have a bit of a snail problem. I guess the 2 week QT was not enough because a few snails sneeked in my 10 gal tank. I suspect the anacharis is the culprit. :D So now I'm scooping out snails on a daily basis. I am going to get an assassin snail soon if things get out of control. I'm hoping to add my betta in a few weeks if all goes well. I just want to make sure everything is safe for him. :) Here is a picture of my 10 gal tank so far. I have hornwort in QT right now that I will add in another week.

[aokashi]

Dont feed the snails, clean regularly and you will be fine. I got my first pond snails in march. about three of them. today Im lucky if I can even count ten. usually I can only spot 4 or 5. I've had times where their population blommed and other times when it died back. all directly related to my feeding practices

[RedRaz]

Originally Posted by aokashi

Dont feed the snails, clean regularly and you will be fine. I got my first pond snails in march. about three of them. today Im lucky if I can even count ten. usually I can only spot 4 or 5. I've had times where their population blommed and other times when it died back. all directly related to my feeding practices

That is great advice! I noticed that I am seeing less baby snails. I don't put food in there but can they eat my plants? I will admit I have a small critter keeper where they go to when I take them out of my tank. I just want to make sure I don't have a boom in population because I'm unsure how many are in my tank already. Once I get a good count I will leave a couple (2) in my tank, lol! I do feed the snails in my critter keeper but I make sure there are no eggs. ;) I really want to get some nerite snails. They come in so many different types. I found this seller online who does muti pack in different amounts. I might try a few.