regard to water plants

Question
hello, thank you so much for the reply.
Is cycling of water same as changing 1/3 of water?

-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
hello, i am very new with freshwater aquarium.
I just bought 10 gallon tank with heater, filter, flou light, and some pebbles. I just put 3 dainians in and they are doing very well. water has been stress coated and left for few days. What i want to do is to glow some living sword life plants and neon tetras.
What equipments and things should i do for the plant?

-----Answer-----
Hi,
Congratulations on your new tank!!
I am very sorry, but I am not an expert about aquarium plants. Though I can help you with basics.

Sword plants are pretty easy to care for. All they really need is light. There are certainly other things you can do to make the plants healthier.

The plants usually do better in harder water (which means more mineral dissolved in the water). You can make the water harder by using "buffer up" or freshwater aquarium salt (make sure you do not use too much!). There is also aquatic calcium that you can buy for your water.

You should use the gravel vacuum to change the water every week or every other week. This prevents growth of large amount of bacteria.

Sorry, but this is all I can tell you about plants. I recommend researching about aquatic plants from Internet and library. That is what I use to do for all my free time.
Here is a web page about caring for aquatic plants:

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plants/PlantProfile1.htm

Woojae, I would like to ask you this:
Do you know about cycling the aquarium water? If your water has not been cycled, your neon tetra will not be able to survive. If you have any question about setting up a new aquarium and cycling, please ask me a follow up question about it. I would be more than happy to answer your question. I hate to see the die because they were put into the tank that was not cycled.

Hope you the best,
Barb

Answer
Hi again Woojae,
No, cycling water is completely different than water changes. I am glad you are asking me this question because a neon tetra will not survive through the cycling process.

Cycling is when you are colonizing beneficial bacteria for your aquarium.

When your fish produce wastes, the bacteria called ammonia grows. It is very harmful and can be deadly to the fish when it is highly concentrated. There is another type of bacteria that "eats" ammonia, called the nitrites. Unfortunately, Nitrite is just as harmful and toxic to your fish as ammonia. Then, there is another bacteria that eats nitrite, called nitrate. Nitrates are not harmful to your fish, unless there are large amounts of it. The only way to prevent the nitrates from being highly concentrated is to change the water 10-25% weekly/biweekly.

You will not want to put many fish until your tank is completely cycled. There are not many types of fish that can survive through cycle, but here are few examples: zebra danios and platies. I am sorry to tell you this, but cycling process take usually 4-6 weeks.

Here is how you cycle the tank. There is a fishless way to do it, but I will give you the way to do it with fish. I know how it feel to have an aquarium and not have any fish! it is too frustrating!

1. Set up the tank with water, and let the tank sit for at least 24 hours. With all the plants and supplements like you would with a fish.
2. Get one or two zebra danios or platies. You will also need test kits to test the levels of your bacteria. The best kits to buy are: 5 in 1 test strips from Mardel, and ammonia thermometer, also from Mardel.
3. Do not overfeed them!!! test for each bacteria every day. Make sure you do 10-20% water change every week!
4. After a week, ammonia level will rise, but DO NOT put bacteria suppliment or ammonia drop. It will totally slow your process, and it can take up to 6 months.
5. After two weeks, ammonia level will drop and nitrite level will begin to rise.
6. Around third week, your ammonia level should be at zero. Nitrite level will high.
7. Still do not put any supplements.
8. Around fourth week, nitrite level will drop and nitrate will start to rise.
9. Around fifth week, nitrite level will be at zero, or close to zero. After that nitrate level will building.
10. To prevent high nitrate level, do water change ever week (10-20%) or every other weeks (15-25%).
11. You can start to add more fish, but not lots at a time. No more than two per week.

I hope this info helped, and feel free to ask me any follow up question. I would be happy to answer!

wish you the best luck,
Barb