Special Substrates And Cycling

[Truck]

im starting my first planted tank in the new year, is it safe to cycle with ammonia with a substrate such as tropica plant substrate?

i dont want it messing up my cycle.

 

[jonnyf84]

yeh it will be fine, many nutrient rich substrates help with the cycling process, i use eco complete and it deffinately speeds up the cycling.

 

[Truck]

im planning on using tetra plant complete substrate.

 

[Syphoniera]

Hi, Truckasaurus123,
don't know if you're interested, but thought I'd stick my 2 cents in just in case.

One of the many nice things about the Walstad method is that it relies on plants, with whole-tank nitrification a secondary factor.
Filter bacteria dependency is actively discouraged with frequent media cleaning/changing so as not to have this competing with the plants.
No cycling is required: so as long as you have plenty of healthy, fast-growing plants and use soil unlikely to exude ammonia or chemicals, in many cases fish can be immediately added, albeit with caution.
(Of course, you do have to monitor and quite likely do frequent/regular water changes for the first weeks or months, and running charcoal for the first month or so is a really good idea, but you do feel you're trying for a more natural balance, and the soft water planted tank environment is ideal for the sort of fish I have and hope to get, so I love it, even though I'm still addicted to the weekly water change rotation, partly because of problems such as fish which brought in disease in some tanks, partly through paranoia and partly through ingrained habit, even though it's messing up the tank function.)
But it's not intended to support heavy stocking of the sort some people like, so it is unsuitable for some.
Although I've seen what appears to me to be VERY heavy stocking in a number of successful tanks.
And uprooting plants from a soil undersurface is predictably messy and can practically ruin a nicely balanced tank, (stem plants can be pinched off and replanted, of course,) which makes frequent redecorating a bad idea - or the keeping of plant-eating/digging/burrowing fish.
So a lot depends on what your plans are.

http/thegab.org/Articles/WalstadTank.html

... In her book, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium: A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquarist, Diana Walstad says the goal is to set up an ecosystem where "plants and fish balance each other's needs". In this type of tank, the plants are the water purifiers rather than the usual filters. Rather than converting ammonia to nitrAte, plants convert ammonia to plant mass, so there's no buildup of nitrate and pH doesn't drop over time. Plants also remove heavy metals from the water. Fish food, mulm and micronutrients from the soil feed the plants. Fish and bacteria produce carbon dioxide for the plants and the plants help produce oxygen for the fish. Only moderate lighting combined with sunlight is needed. A Walstad-type natural planted tank is low maintenance requiring only pruning of plants and infrequent partial water changes. ...



http/www.aquabotanic.com/plants_and_biol..._filtration.htm

PLANTS and BIOLOGICAL FILTRATION

by Diana Walstad


http/www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=A...9037fe2c1a76d0b

Abstract
Aquatic plants are quite effective in separating metals from polluted waters. A promising method using aquatic plants to sorb metals from secondary treated municipal wastewater is examined in the study. Traditional sewage treatment plants with secondary treatment facilities are not able to remove heavy metals efficiently from the wastewater. In Varanasi, the sewage is mixed with industrial effluents containing high concentrations of heavy metals such as Cr (1.2), Cd (0.09), Cu (0.11), Zn (0.92), Fe (1.8) and Ni (0.07) mg L−1. Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes, Lemna minor, Azolla pinnata, and Spirodela polyrhiza were tested for their heavy metal removal capacity from the secondary treated municipal wastewater. Accumulation of heavy metal was higher in roots as compared to leaves. The preferential sequence of percent removal by the selected aquatic macrophytes was Fe > Cr > Cu > Cd > Zn > Ni. Statistical analysis revealed a positive and significant correlation between percent removal of heavy metals from the wastewater and increase in the plant tissues.

Healthy plants and healthy fish in a healthy tank - naturally.

 

[Truck]

i shall have a read, and thanks