[FishyFloorzack]

I have been cycling my 10 gallon tank. But i had live plants in there 2 anubis nana, and 3 java fern. As i was dosing at a high range of pure ammonia they started to die off and obviously give off ammonia. But as soon as my ammnoia went to 2 ppm after 2 weeks my nitrite went sky high off the charts then into nitrate. I kept dosing the ammonia as this transitioned through the cycle. But to know its truly cycled you have to wait till it gets to 0ppm but mine never has does that mean its not ready or because the constant ammonia coming from the dying plants? I dosed the ammonia when it was around 2 ppm and went to 4 ppm within 24 hours it went to 2 ppm but i think the plants are just messing everything up but i dont want to remove them if im going to use them later on.

 

[Hallyx]

Both Anubias and Java fern survive quite well floating without substrate. You can pull them out for a while and see if your cycle settles down, then put them back in.

I float my Anubias for shade, and my fish like to hide and sleep in it.

 

[FishyFloorzack]

Both Anubias and Java fern survive quite well floating without substrate. You can pull them out for a while and see if your cycle settles down, then put them back in.

I float my Anubias for shade, and my fish like to hide and sleep in it.

Thank you! And I'll go and try that!

 

[rpadgett37]

I understand your concern for your plants. It's tough watching them go from healthy to sick and not knowing why. I do not, though, believe your plants are impacting your cycle at all, not unless they are all mush.

What may be happening is they are melting due to high ammonia concentrations in the water (can be toxic to some plants). At this point in your cycle, you don't need to keep it so high. I would let it come down to 1 ppm or less (.5 - .7 would be better), then dose only enough ammonia to keep it at that level. High ammonia levels can also reduce the O2 supply to your BB, inhibiting their growth.

I would also do water changes to bring your nitrite and nitrate levels down (around .2ppm for nitrite, 10-15ppm nitrate).

As for the plants, do you have them tied off to something or are they planted in the substrate? And just to be sure, can you describe in a little more detail what the plants look like?

 

[FishyFloorzack]

I understand your concern for your plants. It's tough watching them go from healthy to sick and not knowing why. I do not, though, believe your plants are impacting your cycle at all, not unless they are all mush.

What may be happening is they are melting due to high ammonia concentrations in the water (can be toxic to some plants). At this point in your cycle, you don't need to keep it so high. I would let it come down to 1 ppm or less (.5 - .7 would be better), then dose only enough ammonia to keep it at that level. High ammonia levels can also reduce the O2 supply to your BB, inhibiting their growth.

I would also do water changes to bring your nitrite and nitrate levels down (around .2ppm for nitrite, 10-15ppm nitrate).

As for the plants, do you have them tied off to something or are they planted in the substrate? And just to be sure, can you describe in a little more detail what the plants look like?

I have my Anubis nana tied to a hide out rock and my java fern in sand, some of my Anubis nana is yellow and the ends are starting to die off and break off. My java fern is dead and if I touched it, it honestly would just turn to mush.

 

[rpadgett37]

By all means, take the java ferns out. Also, for future reference, Java Ferns do much better if tied off to something.

The Anubias may be experiencing an Iron deficiency. It's easy to fix. If you don't have an iron supplement, and your budget can support it, you can use either Seachem Iron or API Leaf Zone. That would be a good place to start.

 

[FishyFloorzack]

My plants were perfectly healthy but as soon as I started to cycle my tank all my plants just died off

 

[rpadgett37]

It can take time for a deficiency to show up. Once the deficiency gets to a point when there isn't enough of something they need, they will pull the nutrients from the old growth to the newer younger leaves, leaving them discolored or marked in some way.

I think the cycling and plant meltdown may be a coincidence. The Java Fern likely melted down from being planted in the substrate. What I believe is Iron deficiency is showing in the Anubias.

But, if you wish, it can't hurt to see what happens once you bring the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels down. If the discoloration persists or gets worse, try dosing Iron.

 

[rpadgett37]

FishyFloorzack, I think I gave you some bad advice. Been doing some research and found that most plants will begin to melt down when ammonia concentrations reach 2ppm or higher.

Reducing the ammonia concentration in the water may solve the issue with the plants altogether.

Sorry for any confusion.