Plant cycling a tank... or pond.
Aquarium Chemistry
I remember some time ago about plant cycling a tank, I assume one would plant a tank heavily and as some pieces die and decompose a cycle can be started? Thus when a fish is added the cycle picks up speed quickly to compensate? Any comments or recollections on that? ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
Plant cycling a tank... or pond.
~ jan wrote:
Aquarium Chemistry I remember some time ago about plant cycling a tank, I assume one would plant a tank heavily and as some pieces die and decompose a cycle can be started? Thus when a fish is added the cycle picks up speed quickly to compensate? Any comments or recollections on that? ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us The usual theory with adding plants to a cycling tank is that they will help out - IIRC plants will take ammonia in first, then nitrites and finally nitrates - something to do with it being more easily broken down in its simpler forms. I would guess that rotting plant matter would work in the same way as any other organic waste whether from fish or food etc but very much doubt that anyone setting up an aquarium would have the patience to cycle with dying plants......adding the fish adds to the waste and so therefore the dinitrifying bacteria increases to cope with it......too much waste, too quickly is what generally causes problems in new aquaria...... Now, here is an interesting one. As some on this group know, I only completed the pond in September and decided that it was way too late in the season to add the fish. But I did add plants and started running the filter, which is still running. I've allowed plant matter to die off in the pond (although I'm now getting annoyed with the brown, rotting Water Hyancinth). My thinking on this was that I had a good 8-9 months for the dead plant matter to start the denitrifaction process.....and because I had to wait that long anyway to get fish in there so any toxic ammonia and nitrites from the rotting organic matter wouldn't be an issue. There are certainly nutrients in the water as I have quite a steady growth of green hair algae (which I am going to remove once it stops raining long enough for me to do so). Come April/May before adding some fish I'll do some tests on the water and then again after. My guess is that by allowing some rotting plant matter to remain in the pond over winter it should have started the cycle. If I remember, I'll report back on the results Gill |
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