Can I add plants to a cycling aquarium?

[sparklymoonshrimp]

I'm currently cycling an aquarium that I plan on making into a planted tank. I've been cycling this aquarium for a long time now (over 2 months, due to some issues on my part) and am finally starting to get nitrates, so I'm a little paranoid about adding plants to the mix if they will be consuming the ammonia in the tank that is needed to cycle it.

I might just be paranoid, but figured I'd ask. Is it okay to add plants in the aquarium even though it is still cycling? Would this mess with my parameter test results?

Thanks!

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi @sparklymoonshrimp, yes you can as long as the ammonia level in the tank is not too high.  High ammonia will 'burn' the cell tissue of the leaves and plants.  If your ammonia level is below 1.0 most plants will tolerate it.  As a side note, the plants will actually use the low levels of ammonia as fertilizer and lower the ammonia ppm.  -Roy

 

[sparklymoonshrimp]

On 7/28/2021 at 8:35 PM, Seattle_Aquarist said:

Hi @sparklymoonshrimp, yes you can as long as the ammonia level in the tank is not too high.  High ammonia will 'burn' the cell tissue of the leaves and plants.  If your ammonia level is below 1.0 most plants will tolerate it.  As a side note, the plants will actually use the low levels of ammonia as fertilizer and lower the ammonia ppm.  -Roy

 

Hi Roy, thanks for getting back to me.

So I think my ammonia is sitting around 3.0 - 4.0 ppm-- would this be too dangerous for plant tissue?

Also, I know that plants will lower ammonia levels, that's why I'm afraid it could disrupt the cycling process because the ammonia is needed to build nitrites/nitrates. Should this be a concern? That the plants could lower the ammonia to where there is not enough to continue feeding nitrites/nitrates? I'm not sure if it would matter too much, but am worried because I've spent a bit on aquatic plants in the past, only to have them fail ☹️ And I don't want to disrupt the cycle as it's already taken so long lol

[lefty o]

plants are generally a good thing for cycling, as unless a tissue culture, they come out of another tank wherever they came from, so they are loaded with good bacteria.

[sparklymoonshrimp]

On 7/28/2021 at 10:35 PM, lefty o said:

plants are generally a good thing for cycling, as unless a tissue culture, they come out of another tank wherever they came from, so they are loaded with good bacteria.

Cool, thanks! 🙂