Fishless cycling- plants dying! HELP!

[CRPhoenix]

I'm new to aquariums. I have a 29 gallon tank, which I am keeping at 68-70 degrees because I plan to get goldfish when cycling is done. I have a full spectrum 27 watt fluorescent bulb for lighting. After some internet searching, decided to try fishless cycling with pure ammonia. After 2 weeks of no nitrites and more internet research, I decided to add plants. Bought a sword plant, anubis, and a bunch each of anacharis, hornwort, wisteria, and myrio. A few days later, nitrites started to appear, and a few days after that nitrates were detectable. By a week after adding the plants, the nitrites measured at the highest level detected by the test kit 5.0 (could be higher, no way to tell), and the nitrites at 5.0. The ammonia level has been going down to 0, so I keep adding small amounts of liquid ammonia each day. The nitrites and nitrates have been testing at the same level for the last 10 days (5.0), with the ammonia varying between 0 and 1.0 depending on how recently I added the liquid ammonia.

Now the plant problem. After about 2 weeks in the tank, the anacharis leaves are going transparent and limp, except for some newer growth at the tips. The needle-like leaves of the hornwort have mostly dropped off of the lower 2/3 of the plant stems. The wisteria has also lost some leaves, but looks better than the hornwort and anacharis. I think the anubis is getting some brown spots on the leaves, but maybe I just wasn't observant enough when I put it in the tank.

My questions:
1) Have I done something to stall the cycling, or am I just impatient?
2) What could be causing the problem with the plants? I thought plants would help with the cycling. Could the (unknown) nitrite level be too high? Is the light level wrong? I thought the hornwort and anacharis were tough plants. We have hard water in our area. PH in the tank was 7.6 when I tested it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[daileene]

Hi. Welcome to AA.

How much kelvin do you have in your bulb? If you want the plants to flourish, they greatly will benefit from a "daylight" CFL bulb that has at least 6500-10000K. The kelvin is the color temperature and plants need it to thrive. As I can see, you mostly have a low-medium light kind of plants, but I think your wattage is too low. There is a rule when it comes to planted tanks...wattage per gallon. Since you have a 29G and got some low-medium light plants, you should have at least 2-3 watts per gallon. If you really have only one 27 watt FL bulb for lighting, you have at least less than 1Watt per gallon. Not good for plants. I think that is why your plants are dying...I hope it is not too late yet...

 

[daileene]

And you have not done anything to stall the cycle. Nitrites normally spikes then will start decreasing and the ammonia will start going to 0. When both of them will finally will be 0, then nitrates will start rising up. Normally it takes 5-6 weeks to cycle even fishless. Just wait more longer..it will get there.

And yes, plants helps in cycling greatly....if you do have the proper lighting requirements for them to thrive, they are. If they are dying, then the rotten plants will contribute to ammonia level rising....

 

[CRPhoenix]

bulb is 6500 K.

 

[daileene]

then i would say maybe change the wattage of your bulb...someone else here might be able to see other problem in your setup, but I can only think of the lighting...

 

[fort384]

I think a 6500K 27W tube would be sufficient for low light plants.

It sounds to me like a PWC might help. Your nitrite is too high... that could be bad for your plants.

Pics of the plants might help id the problem more accurately.

 

[CRPhoenix]

plant photos

I will attempt to upload photos of the plants showing the dropped and "wilted" leaves.

 

[fort384]

I would consider nitrite poisoning, and do a PWC to get your nitrite down to 2ppm or less. That could be the reason your cycle has stalled as well...

 

[tyspot1000]

+1

Like said, nitrite is not good for your plants, it kill the roots. I would also recommend doing a partial water change.

 

[alexnw]

I had this problem recently during fishless cycling. Do a 50% water change each day until your nitrites test under the maximum your test kit can show. You may find that you are already cycled, but the nitrite is so high that you can't yet measure the drop each day. Either way, the water change will not effect your cycling, but should solve the plant problem. You'll also be able to see the nitrites dropping which will let you know that you're close to cycled if not already there.

 

[CRPhoenix]

Re: advice

Thank you for everyone's replies. I have done a 30 % water change on Sat and a 60% on Sun. Not sure if the nitrite went down or not, I have trouble distinguishing the purple colors of the high nitrite readings. But the nitrate reading seemed to go up. Maybe this is a good sign that the cycling is happening better? I plan to do another big water a change later today.