Question about planted aquarium and fishless cycling

Hi GreenAmy, welcome to the forum ！

I am gladly you are doing fishless cycling as it is the safest way to get started. From my own experience, it is ok to add plants before a fishless cycling as long as you do not overdose ammonia during the cycle. Too much ammonia can hurt the plants even though normally the plants use ammonia for food. The exact concentration of ammonia can be tolerated by the plants is not very clear and it can be vary for different plant species. In general, 2～3ppm ammonia should be safe for the plants. Water temperature of 80F is well accepted by most aquarium plants.

By the way, make sure you do not leave the lights on for more than 11-12 hours a day. Too much light can cause an algea boom. Use an automatic timer can be handy.

I have not used the live bacteria product you mentioned. So I can't comment on it. Usually the proven working live bacteria products are all rebranded product of the same invention from Dr. Tim's One and Only. It includes but not limited to Tetra SafeStart, biospira, etc. Tetra SafeStart worked well for me as a jump start for the cycle.

I suggest you just go with plants but keep ammonia concentration low. It would be easy if you use a pure ammonia product.

If I missed any question or if you are still unclear about some answers, feel free to ask any time. ? Good luck with your new aquarium.