[AaronT]

Originally Posted by ianjones

i hadnt thought of that, aaron. it was there within the first couple days of the tank being setup and all throughout the cycling process. these were the things i was thinking...the tank was almost done cycling (about 3 weeks in) and i added the soil. i read that most soils contain a lot of the bacteria that is needed to cycle the tank. some things ive read said that a brand new tank with a capped soil substrate instantly cycled. the soil also provided a better medium for plants to grow, and helped with their nutrient uptake, i suppose. also, when i was adding the soil, i floated the plants for a few days, which got all the cyano off of them, even though it was still carpeting the bottom of the tank, so when i put them back, their leaves were more exposed to the sunlight.

i think the nitrate theory falls right in there because, although the plants can uptake ammonia and nitrite, they have to break it down first, much like the bacteria, so the uptake is so much slower. is that what you were thinking?

Plants can take ammonia up as is as far as I know.

It's just an observation I've made. I'm not sure what the science is behind it.