the affect of ammonia on marine plants

[bboyin4lyf]

howdy,
i've just started cycling a 10g nano. its about a week and a half into it. i've just added some red marine plant life into the nano. im not sure what species it is and cannot find an appropriate link to identify it. i was curious as to the effect that the plant life would have. my thoughts were that the plant would up take the nitrates possibly speeding up- properbly screwing up- the cycle. but who cares its just an experiment. but im curious as to the effect any remaining ammonia or nitrites would have on the organism.

thanks

 

[bboyin4lyf]

it looks like this:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod ... pCatId=664
but its leafs "not sure of the terminology" are intact with ou any slits etc. same colouration

 

[Len]

Algae will consume nitrates as a nutrient source, and to a lesser degree, other nitrogenous compounds. It really won't make a big dent in NH4 or NO2 IME. Neither nitrogenous compounds is extremely toxic to algae either. You're unlikely to encounter any sigificant differences in cycling your tank with or without algae.

There's too many species of Rhodophyta (red algae)

 

[Mihai]

I thought that algae consume ammonia preferentially (and fall back to nitrates if ammonia is not present). I don't know where I read this (I hope not on PLB's posts!). Len, do you have a reference for your statement?

M.