Do New Plant Only Tanks Also Need Cycling?

[Nells250]

I have read that a new plant-only tank needs to be cycled like any other. Is the process just as important to plants as fish/shrimp?

Due to space and electrical outlet restraints, I can't just plug in a new tank somewhere and wait like "normal people" can. BUT I also don't want to loose the plants that I eventually want to move into it.

What if I simply add some water from my other tanks to a new one?

Curious...

 

[jaylach]

If the tank is strictly plants with zero fish I really see no need for cycling as the plants will absorb ammonia anyway.

 

[GaryE]

Plants don;t need cycling. But if they did water from tanks is just dirty water.

 

[jaylach]

Plants don;t need cycling. But if they did water from tanks is just dirty water.

Agreed as water from established tanks do basically nothing as it doesn't contain much as to good bacteria. The good stuff adheres to surfaces such as filter media, decor and substrate.

 

[Colin_T]

You need beneficial filter bacteria for aquariums containing shrimp, snails, fish and other organisms that need oxygen and clean water (no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate). Plants use ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and do not need the beneficial filter bacteria to keep the water clean, they will clean it as they use the nutrients. So as others have mentioned, if it's only a plant tank with no fish, you do not need to cycle the filter.

If you have a tank full of plants and only a few small fish or shrimp, you don't need to cycle the filter either because there will be enough plants to use any ammonia produced by the fish. In this situation the plants will keep the water clean and limit or prevent the beneficial filter bacteria from growing by using the ammonia.

 

[Nells250]

So far, it seems the winner is NO, a plant-only tank doesn't need to cycle.

BUT, won't my plants melt being in different water? I figured using some water from the tanks they are in now would cut down on stress. I have some nice ones that I really can't afford to replace right now.

 

[jaylach]

Yes, some plants can 'melt' when transplanted but most usually come back after. Whether a tank is cycled or not has no bearing on a plant melting.

 

[Essjay]

Tanks don't need to be cycled for plants - they don't make ammonia so there's no need to grow bacteria which 'eat' ammonia which is what cycling is about.

But plants do have water requirements like fish do - some plants do well in soft water, others do well in hard water, so like with fish we should choose plants which have the same hardness requirements as our tap water. And temperature requirements - like fish, some plants prefer cooler water than others.

Many, if not most, of the plants we use in aquariums are grown out of water. They have different leaves when grown out of water so when we put them in a fish tank they have to grow their under water leaves and the terrestrial leaves die off. Some plants, such as cryptocorynes, do not like having their roots disturbed and they frequently melt when newly planted in a tank.

 

[Nells250]

My plan is/was to move some of my favorite plants into a plant only tank of some kind so that they don't get nibbled or uprooted, and I can add whatever I need to the water without worrying about fish or shrimp. But the more I think about it and look into tanks and required equipment, I am starting to think it won't happen. If I make a decision on the spur of the moment, I want to know about the cycling issue.

 

[jaylach]

My plan is/was to move some of my favorite plants into a plant only tank of some kind so that they don't get nibbled or uprooted, and I can add whatever I need to the water without worrying about fish or shrimp. But the more I think about it and look into tanks and required equipment, I am starting to think it won't happen. If I make a decision on the spur of the moment, I want to know about the cycling issue.

I don't understand...

What cycling issue are you talking about? You have already been assured that cycling has nothing to do with plants. It just seems like you are 'fishing' for someone to say that a cycle is a factor, even though it is not, just to backup what it seems that you have already decided.

Since all questions as to doing a cycle for a plant only tank have already been answered what, exactly, is the cycle issue you want to know about?

I mean no offense but this is more and more seeming like you want to see an answer that you want to see that has nothing to do with the topic as there is absolutely no cycle issue but you just seem to not want to read that...