aerobic bacteria in cycled tank will die without fish?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Hello; This statement is of interest to me. Others have posted similar comments along the line that live plants actually consume ammonia directly. My understanding has been that plants consume the results a bit further along in the process. That the plants take up the end product when the ammonia gets to the nitrate/nitrite product?
If plants were able to take up ammonia directly then it would seem that we would only need to have some live plants in a new setup to consume the ammonia that is so much of a concern while a tank in cycling?
My understanding is that plants do not take up ammonia directly. I am very interested in more input on this question.
Actually plants consume both ammonia and nitrates. some prefer one over the other, others dont care and take whatever is available. I find that plants prefer ammonium over ammonia which is a certain strain of ammonia. Something like heavy root feeders take in ammonia more than the others while stem plants prefer nitrates. Ammonia is like a solid substance i think so it sinks to the bottom where the roots absorb it. stem plants primarily feed through their leaves so the water with nitrates passes directly through the leaves and it absorbs it. I dont remember whether ferns are root or leaf feeders they might be a combination of both... Floating plants absorb co2 through the atmosphere thus elliminating any need to inject it or dose it. but floating plants still absorb nutrients through the water collumn. So dosing that is recommended. this is what i have been told through research if anything is incorrect let me know asap please. For example, flourish nitrogen which is a plant supplement has both ammonium and nitrates in the bottle. This is what lead me to believe that they consume both or some consume one or the other.
 
Hello; I just did a search and found several aquarium related sites where it was stated that plants do take up ammonia. Very intresting. I tend to use live plants so this fits in with my common practice.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com