Tank Cycling Strategy

I'm close to being ready to get my 55G planted tank up and running, which
means it's time to figure out how I'm gonna cycle it as well as the
quarantine tank, and how/when to introduce the first fish, etc. So I'm
wondering if I could get some feedback about what I'm thinking of doing
(it's sort of a morph of what Chuck Gadd recommends on his web site).

First, since I want to quarantine even the first fish (3 siamese algae
eaters & 6 ottos), I need to get the cycling of my 5.5G quarantine tank
underway. I though of doing a fishless cycle using fish food. I would also
try to get a nice growth of algae going in the quarantine tank so they have
something to munch on. I'm guessing this cycle should take 4 weeks (correct
me if I'm wrong, please).

Once the quarantine tank is cycled I'm gonna purchase the first 9 fish. By
this time the 55G should be ready to be setup (still waiting for a few parts
& pieces). I'm going to setup the main tank with all the plants put in
right away. After two weeks of letting the plants settle in, I'm gonna
transfer the first 9 fish into the main tank, and also move a sponge filter
from the quarantine tank into my Fluval 404 filter (attached to the main
tank). This way I have a cycled filter that is perfectly ready to take on
the 9 new fish (since it was already doing that in the quarantine tank).
Since I will also have a Duetto 50 in my quarantine tank, which gets left
behind, I now will have cycled 55G tank and a cycled 5.5G quarantine tank,
ready to accept the next batch of fish (right after I clean off all the
algae).

So how does that sound?

Thanks,
Harry




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