Growing plants in uncycled tank for someone will poor plant skills

I am setting up a 20 gal. I have a sponge filter running in my long established 29 gal to gain BB. I want to put plants in my 20 and beef them up in the next month while that sponge sits in my 29 gal. I am not experienced with plants like I am fish. Will the plants be all right like this? There is a filter running on the 20 gal but it is too weak for the 20 and I am not cycling that filter. I ordered Thrive and have some Seachem ferts and Excel. The plants are the easy plant package from aquatic arts- java moss, java fern, moneywort, and anubias (also moss balls but I am not worried about those). I have a full spectrum led light and Seachem black flourite for substrate. How can I ensure these new plants will flourish before and after I add livestock? I do have some plants in a 10 but my anubias are all dying, my frogbit seems all right and my hornwort is the only one doing excellent. (Hornwort to be added to the 20 later)

 

Yes the plants will be fine in a tank while it cycles.

Those are all easy plants to keep / grow.

Mos boss will likely perish with my recommendations, but most other plants will do well.

Thrive is a good option, I would follow the directions that it comes with.

Keep the photoperiod to 5 hours per day max (slowly increase back up to 8 hours per day over a few weeks).

Ensure you are providing adequate nutrients for the plants (unhealthy plants promote algae). Thrive is a good option for this.

Dose Flourish Excel at the “after water change” rate on the Excel bottle once per day. This will likely hurt the moss balls, but you said you don't care about them.

Manually remove all algae you can, if you see it.

Manually remove excess organics in the tank by gravel vacuuming and cleaning filter media in old tank water every water change.

Manually remove any decaying or dead plant matter.

If algae is bad in certain areas, consider spot treating or dipping plants / hardscape in a Flourish Excel, Met14 or H2O2 + water solution. Google search which method you think would work well, and for general ratios to mix a safe solution. Certain plants can’t tolerate these chemicals, so ensure you do a little research prior to dipping / spot treating plants.

 

Thx for the tips. I will toss the moss balls
in one of my many tanks and focus on the other plants.

I looked up Met14 earlier but didn't find anything. What is it?

I have read elsewhere that I should cut down on the Excel once I have animals in the aquarium. It'll be loaded with ghost shrimp.

 

Thx for the tips. I will toss the moss balls
in one of my many tanks and focus on the other plants.

I looked up Met14 earlier but didn't find anything. What is it?

I have read elsewhere that I should cut down on the Excel once I have animals in the aquarium. It'll be loaded with ghost shrimp.

Excel only works if it's dosed at a higher rate.

Seachem would not allow for a high rate if it wasn't safe for livestock.

Excel has a short half life, and won't accumulate day over day.

Metricide14 is a glutaraldehyde product just like Excel, but it's more concentrated and cheaper. It works the same as Excel at a cheaper price. It's a dangerous chemical, so use it with caution.

 

Hello Chanyi, where do you source this Metricide 14?

 

Hello Chanyi, where do you source this Metricide 14?

Metrex - 11-1401 – Payless Medical

Do not use the small bottle of activator it comes with, throw it straight in the trash and only use the large jug.

 

Thanks appreciate it. Would it have an expiry date, or basically never expire?

 

Thanks appreciate it. Would it have an expiry date, or basically never expire?

It might have one on the bottle, but it shouldn't be too early.

 

Update, I put the seeded filter in yesterday and added a large mystery snail and shrimp. The plants are all doing well aside from one anubias that had rhizome rot and a some hornwort that shdded terribly. (See other posts on that.)