New and Established Planted Tanks

[SteveKing88]

When reading about planted tanks, I hear the terms "New Tank" and "Established Tank" a lot. Or, sometimes, "new" and "established" referring to an individual plant. Are these term well defined at all?

I read or hear things like:

• "Algae growth is normal in a new tank but will subside when the plants are established."
• "Reduce the intensity of the lighting in when plants are new and increase it when they are established"

How can you tell if a tank or individual plant is established? And, are there more phases or stages to planted tank growth than these two?

[Bobbie]

As far as I know, an ‘established’ tank or plant is something that’s had loads of time for beneficial bacteria to grow on it and it can handle being changed or moved. Established plants have loads of healthy roots and are growing well. 
 

A ‘mature’ tank is a tank that hasn’t had any changes made to it for months - no new fish, plants, decor, equipment, substrate, etc. 
 

When you cycle a new tank you’re growing the beneficial bacteria because new tanks are unbalanced and need the bacteria to stop the chemicals (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) from changing suddenly - a cycled tank is an established one. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Bobbie

[SteveKing88]

So, it sounds like there's two separate things going on here: 1 - The nitrogen cycle, which I understand well enough. and 2 - plant maturity, which I understand less.

I can't see that the nitrogen cycle would dictate how much light you give your plants.

And, how can you tell if your plants are rooting well, aside from digging them up every week or so?

Sorry if I'm rambling.

[Bobbie]

I’m sure someone else will pitch in if I’ve got any of this wrong, but here are long & short explanations. This may have gotten a wee bit long, oops. 
 

When an aquarium is fully cycled it typically has a lot of algae growth, which is a sign that it can support life. The more light and nutrients are in the water, the more algae will grow - but some plants grow much slower than others (algae is a fast growing plant while anubias is slow growing) and how fast they grow will decide how quickly they use up the nutrients available (nitrates) so if there’s too much light the slow growing plant will be overwhelmed by the algae. 
 

Basically if the tank isn’t producing nitrates yet (which is the last step of the nitrogen cycle) then the plants can’t grow, and if there’s too much light the algae will grow faster than the plants can. Plants covered in algae can’t get any light and will slowly die off. 
 

 

A lot of aquarium plants are grown outside of the water, so when you first plant them in water they lose a lot of their leaves and kinda look like they’re dying for a few weeks - this is normal; the plant is simply adjusting to the new environment. Once the plant has settled into the aquarium, the root system will start growing and you’ll see loads of new leaves growing. Some plants, like anubias, will occasionally grow flowers. Cryptocorynes are notorious for seeming to completely die when they’re moved, but they always grow back so long as the root system is left untouched. 

Plants that have a growing root system will have new leaves and will be growing, it just takes a few weeks for it to start when they’re first added to the aquarium. 

[SteveKing88]

ok, this is making a little more sense now.

Thank you, Bobbie!

[Streetwise]

I think it especially important for shrimp tanks. You can have a cycled tank that is fish-safe, and chemically safe for shrimp, but they really want a persistent level of biofilm and algae, so that your feeding is almost supplemental, depending on the colony size.

On the forum, we often use the terms seasoned, and seasoned tank time (STT). They are not specific metrics, but after a few tanks, you recognize when your aquarium is an ecosystem.