Plants Absorb Ammonia?

[unknowntbeast]

I don't exactly recall where I read it, it was in some guide I believe, but if I remember right it said that while cycling you shouldn't have plants in the tank because they will absorb the ammonia needed for the bacterial growth. Is this correct or was I just thinking something else? If so how much does it absorb (PPM's)? Don't decaying plants also produce ammonia?

 

[shane87]

if they did id suspect you'd need a jungle of an aquarium to at least make a slight difference

 

[unknowntbeast]

Well I have been reading up on it on the internetz and it says that it absorbs ammonium (NH4), but it really is unclear about ammonia (NH3). Then that brings to the point, which is produced from fish waste decay and plant decay?

 

[arobinson1984]

What sort of cycle you doing? fish-in or fishless?

Plants as far as I'm aware do absorb a little ammonia, but even with a heavily planted tank I dont think they would absorb enough to affect your cycle.

The cycle only needs trace amounts of ammonia to perform which is why when people are performing a fish-in cycle its advised to keep the ammonia levels below 0.25ppm or even 0 if possible because even if a test result shows zero ammonia it is always present, just in such small amounts that its not picked up by the test.

Andy

 

[unknowntbeast]

Right now I am doing a fishless on my 10 gallon. But where my concern is, is for my 20 gallon tank. Somehow I think I totally screwed up that tank. I did a fishless on it but somehow it got screwed up. It's like every other day I have to do a 90% water change to keep it under .50 ppm. I mean if I were to move all 7 fish to the smaller tank, it's not even close to being finished cycled and the NH3 levels would be over 1 ppm. So if I were to plant the tank after doing a major water change, do you think the plants would be able to control it?

 

[kelly528]

I believe it is the end-product of the cycle, nitrAtes that the plants absorb. Not straight ammonia.

 

[arobinson1984]

No plants DO use up ammonia just not that much of it.

Its certainly not recommended but you can actually run a tank without ever cycling it by keeping the tank understocked and planting the tank VERY heavily, the plants will use up the small amount of ammonia produced but as I said this isnt recommended and should only ever be attempted by very experienced keepers in both fish and plants.

Andy

 

[unknowntbeast]

Well trust me, it's quite planted now. And I am cycling two other filters now, so when I am done with them I can transfer the filters to the big tank.

 

[arobinson1984]

Everybodies interpretation of 'heavily planted' is different.

I've seen 30 gallon tanks with 300-400 plants in it, thats what I mean by very heavily planted.

Andy

 

[unknowntbeast]

Wow, did it have any water in the tank?!

20 Gallon --> About 50 pieces of tank grass and about 12 ribbon plants.

 

[OldMan47]

I have a tank that I consider heavily planted . It is a 40 gallon breeder that has well over 100 plants in it spaced less than 2 inches apart in any direction. That tank does indeed eat any ammonia that is released into it by a fairly heavy population of Xenotaenia resolanae that live in the tank. I never see any nitrates in the tank because there is nothing for the bacteria in the tank to process. The tank is run on the principles advocated by Diana Walstad in her book on the Ecology of a Planted Aquarium. I do have a sponge filter in the tank just in case my application of the NPT principles is somehow flawed but I really believe the filter is not needed. Plants that feed on the water column nutrients, which include many of the common aquarium plants, prefer to use ammonia to using nitrates as their food. By using ammonia, a NPT can be run with a so called silent cycle where plants take the place of beneficial bacteria and prevent any build at all of ammonia or nitrites in the tank, even with no filter in the tank. I have avoided going quite that far so far but it looks like my tank could easily be run on those principles without problems.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, what Andy has said and OM has verified is quite true. Plants can absorb ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It varies greatly by species but in general ammonia and nitrate(NO3) are absorbed the most and nitrite(NO2) is absorbed in tiny amounts and rarely.

As said, it takes quite large amounts of plants, and they have to be healthy and growing, to absorb ammonia on a par with a typical filter bacterial colony. And therein lies the tricky bit -- plants swing both ways -- when health and growth are good, they will absorb ammonia and nitrate but if they do poorly and begin to die, the situation quickly switches the other way and the decaying plant matter turns into ammonia which might overload the bacterial colony that might have stayed small because the plants were keeping the bacterial food availability low.

Unless you are an experienced planted tank hobbyist, plants are not usually a safe way to handle a cycle situation.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[unknowntbeast]

Well at the first sign of decay I will remove that plant. Any suggestions on how to keep them healthy? What about aquarium salt? Can I still add it?

 

[mwood2]

To keep them healthy you need to have proper lighting, Co2 and nutrients. at 2WPG (Watts per gallon) you have high enough lighting to the point you need to have Co2 and other nutrients. If the proper nutrients are not provided algae grows. The price of a well planted aquarium is not small, Co2 system in the US at least will set you back 150 at least. Yeast based Co2 is around 35 bucks if you buy a system, cheaper if you make your own. Issue is that the yeast Co2 isn't steady enough and you need to change the mixture at least once a week. Also depending on other things you may need to dose other liquid/powder ferts to give even more nutrients. A good Substrate is important too. Basic Gravel or Sand wont do much since they dont have iron and other nutrients inside but Clay based substrate is ideal. Issue is these substrate tend to be very rough and there is a large debate if this harms bottom feeders over time (Most will say it does).

These are just basics and it it goes even farther then what I have said. Take a look into the planted section for more info and please correct me if what I said was wrong.

 

[Mikaila31]

Here is a article made my Diana Walstad, the creator of the El Natural method. It's a interesting read. Plants do indeed absorb ammonia, though I don't run El Natural this still holds true in my high-tech planted tanks.

I think mg/L is equal to ppm. The article gives measurements in mg/L. I would google that conversion to be sure though....