First Tank: Cycling Question

[zbaidy]

Hi,

I am setting up my first shrimp tank. It is a 10G tank with 6 tear drop plants.Once Cycled I will introduce Crystal Red Shrimp.

My Water parameters before planting.....

[FONT=&quot]Ammonia: 0.25 ppm (mg/L)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nitrite: 0 ppm (mg/L)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nitrate: 5.0ppm (mg/L)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]PH level: 8.8
[/FONT]


I planted the tank 5 days ago with 6 tear drop plants. I use a canister filter and dosed CO2 everyday. Tank gradually turned a white cloudy color that is now starting to fade.


Now I have the following Parameters...
[FONT=&quot]Ammonia: 0.25-0.50 ppm (mg/L)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nitrite: 0 ppm (mg/L)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nitrate: 0 ppm (mg/L)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]PH level: 6.8[/FONT]


My Questions.....

1) Am I on the right track ? Will plants help the cycle ? How ?

2) What should I do next ?

3) What can I do to speed up the cycling so I can introduce Shrimp sooner

2) Will my plants survive the cycling? Should I fertilize them since I have a gravel substrate or will that screw up the cycling ?


[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[Banjardini]

1) Am I on the right track ? Will plants help the cycle ? How ?
No plants alone do not help the cycle , but it might if it brings some stowaway bacteria.

2) What should I do next ?
Wait.

3) What can I do to speed up the cycling so I can introduce Shrimp sooner
you can buy some bottles with suspended bacteria cultures(biosphera, I think). Or get some gravel from an established tank or squeeze a sponge filter that has been operating with fish.

2) Will my plants survive the cycling? Should I fertilize them since I have a gravel substrate or will that screw up the cycling ?
I don't see how the plants would die... btw do you know what cycling does or means... seems like alot of questions should be answered one you grasp the basic concept.

 

[zbaidy]

plants alone do not help the cycle , but it might if it brings some stowaway bacteria.

Yes, white clouding happened immediately after I planted. I think its from either nutrients or bacteria that came from the plants.

you can buy some bottles with suspended bacteria cultures(biosphera, I think). Or get some gravel from an established tank or squeeze a sponge filter that has been operating with fish.

I already added Micro Bacter to the tank twice over last 5 days (since clouding started). The Clouding started clearing today. I'm just wondering what I should do once the nutrients for the plants run out in the tank.