Plant fertilizer while cycling.

[Richmond J.]

Hi Everyone,
So I,m still in the process of cycling my tank, doing a fishless cycle,its been about six weeks now and I,m just starting to get ammonia reading of 4 ppm now, however I,ve noticed recently that my plants are not looking too clever going a bit yellowish,(Vallisnera, Amazon swords,Anubias) I was wondering is it ok to add fertilizer or would that effect the Ammonia , Nitrite levels?

 

[Kolykaf]

Hi Everyone,
So I,m still in the process of cycling my tank, doing a fishless cycle,its been about six weeks now and I,m just starting to get ammonia reading of 4 ppm now, however I,ve noticed recently that my plants are not looking too clever going a bit yellowish,(Vallisnera, Amazon swords,Anubias) I was wondering is it ok to add fertilizer or would that effect the Ammonia , Nitrite levels?

Ferts should not affect ammonia or nitrite levels but they can push up nitrates. So it might cause you to believe that significant cycling has been happening. Whether or not I fertilize depends on the tank. If it’s low-tech I wouldn’t bother, especially if plants are new. They may not look so hot as they start to adapt to their new tank conditions. Maybe there’s even a lot of emersed growth which will die back anyway. Fertilizing at this stage may turn out to be a nightmare and spur algae growth. On the other hand, If you’re running a high-tech system with CO2 and you’ve transferred plants with submersed growth from another tank with similar water parameters it may be a good thing to start fertilizing as growth will be immediate. …I’d be careful with your ammonia getting higher than 4ppm. Even though plants use it for growth they can be negatively impacted at such levels.

 

[Colin_T]

adding aquarium plant fertiliser while cycling the tank is fine.

don't let the ammonia level go above 5ppm or the cycling process will stall. Most people have the ammonia around 3ppm for cycling filters.

 

[Byron]

With live plants, I do not recommend adding any ammonia. This can kill them, and may well be the issue here. Plants need ammonia/ammonium as their preferred source of nitrogen, but too much kills bacteria, plants, fish. Plant nutrients may still be required, just make sure it is a comprehensive supplement--one containing all essential plant nutrients in proportion to each other.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Hi Everyone,
So I,m still in the process of cycling my tank, doing a fishless cycle,its been about six weeks now and I,m just starting to get ammonia reading of 4 ppm now, however I,ve noticed recently that my plants are not looking too clever going a bit yellowish,(Vallisnera, Amazon swords,Anubias) I was wondering is it ok to add fertilizer or would that effect the Ammonia , Nitrite levels?

How did you not get ammonia until after six weeks of cycling?

You are supposed to START a cycle with ammonia...

 

[Richmond J.]

How did you not get ammonia until after six weeks of cycling?

You are supposed to START a cycle with ammonia

How did you not get ammonia until after six weeks of cycling?

You are supposed to START a cycle with ammonia...

I didn,t say I wasn,t getting any ammonia readings until six weeks, I was getting a continuos reading of just 1 ppm, I decided to put plenty of plants when setting up the tank and see what the results would be, However I have now started adding ammonia to try and speed things up.

 

[Richmond J.]

I didn,t say I wasn,t getting any ammonia reading until six weeks, I was continually getting a reading of just 1 ppm,I decided to plant the tank heavily when setting up and see how the cycle progressed, However I,ve now added ammonia to try and speed things up.

 

[Colin_T]

You can get liquid filter bacteria supplements that can be used to help speed up the cycling process. I recommend using a double dose every day for a week, then pour the rest of the contents into the tank. Try to add the bacteria near the filter intake so it gets drawn into the filter where it belongs.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I didn,t say I wasn,t getting any ammonia reading until six weeks, I was continually getting a reading of just 1 ppm,I decided to plant the tank heavily when setting up and see how the cycle progressed, However I,ve now added ammonia to try and speed things up.

Be sure you are following the directions here, you shouldn't add ammonia until it drops to a low amount: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/