# Ammonia and plants



## Tealight03 (Nov 15, 2014)

I addes live plants two months ago, including water sprite, anubias, java fern and hornwort I think. I have still done partial water changes and am adding API Leafzone as a fertilizet. Everything was going well until my ammonia levels spiked. Come to find out, it's coming from the tap water. I added an extra drop of Prime, but thought plants should be sucking the ammonia up. Is that correct?


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

Different species absorb ammonia and nitrate at different levels. A Marimo for example is practically useless. Not that I'm the most experienced person in the planted tank world but within the short time I spent with my planted tanks, I find that these guys are more effective in absorbing nitrate than ammo. My tank that is currently cycling still needs a while to process the ammo to nitrite, but nitrite-nitrate conversion time takes a snap. *And*, 10ppm nitrate goes down to 5 in 2-3 days! Yaay!

Just a thought O


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## Zhylis (Nov 4, 2014)

The anubias and java fern won't grow fast enough to do much, but the hornwort and especially the water sprite should be growing like weeds if there's ammonia and API Leaf Zone in the water. 

How much water sprite and hornwort is in the tank? There may not be enough plants to absorb all the ammonia if there was a large spike above your normal levels. If there's an ammonia spike, try floating some of the water sprite and hornwort. When they have access to the surface air, they can really ramp up the photosynthesis and take up even more ammonia. 

Has there been a lot of growth in the past two months? I use plant growth as a sign that they're doing their job and taking up ammonia (and other nutrients) from the water. Usually the fast growing stem plants will grow 1"3" per month under low light; 3"-5" per month under higher light.

What sort of light bulb is on the tank and how long is it on for? There's a balance between the amount of light and the amount of nutrients (including ammonia) that a plant needs. If there's an ammonia spike, it may help to leave the lights on an hour or so longer. Or add a temporary clamp or desk lamp to increase the brightness. (This only works up to a point before the plants are limited by the amount of CO2. The floating trick side steps that limitation.)

EDIT: Also, what is your pH normally? Aquatic plants take up NH4+. When the pH is high, NH4+ shifts to NH3 and it takes longer for a plant to reduce the ammonia in the water.


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## Tealight03 (Nov 15, 2014)

Thank you both for the replies. Very informative. 

The water sprite is looking very healthy. The hornwort isn't looking good at all and the anubias and java fern look ok to good. I was wondering if there aren't enough plants. There are 3-4 in each tank, but they are pretty small still. There is only one water sprite in each tank. They are both floating. 

My ph is 8. As far as lights, one tank has a blue plant bulb from Home Depot and the other currently has a 60 watt regular bulb because the plant bulb died and I haven't had a chance to get back to Home Depot yet.


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