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Aquarium Plants - Day/Night Cycle - Nutrient Uptake

jaypeecee

jaypeecee

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21 Jan 2015
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Bracknell
Hi Folks,

Would I be correct in saying that aquarium plants absorb nutrients primarily (only?) during daylight hours, i.e. during photosynthesis? And does this apply be they rooted in the substrate, epiphytes or floating plants? And does it apply to all nutrients? From my dim-and-distant 'O' level biology days, it is my understanding that plants synthesize proteins, etc. during the day and then use them at night which, in turn, produces plant growth. I am asking this as someone recently mentioned that aquarium plants absorb ammonium during the day and at night.

All feedback welcome.

JPC
 
Hi Everyone,

I have just discovered a similar thread to the one that you're reading right now! Here is the similar, and related, thread:

Nutrients, nutrients, nutrients ... does the plant "choose when"?

Hi all, Had a thought: How does the plant determine "when" the plant takes up nutrients? Will it take up nitrogen in the light or the dark -- or does it need to be "while synthesis of whatever needs nitrogen" is happening? ... I guess this also applies to CO2 acquisition as well. An...
www.ukaps.org www.ukaps.org

What prompted me to start this new thread was the bit about ammonium being absorbed during the day and at night. I thought I'd read this somewhere but I can't seem to find it now. So, is it correct that aquarium plants can absorb ammonium throughout any 24 hour period? In most tanks, ammonium will be unmeasurable 24/7 as it will be continuously consumed by nitrifying bacteria/Archaea. But, what would happen if we were to hand over this task entirely to the plants? If we could do this, it would greatly reduce the rate at which nitrate builds up. As most plants prefer to take up ammonium over nitrite and/or nitrate, isn't this worth pursuing?

JPC
 
Last edited:
jaypeecee said:
it is my understanding that plants synthesize proteins, etc. during the day and then use them at night which, in turn, produces plant growth.
Click to expand...

Recently thought about this myself - 12 hours with high energy system.

I must say that if we fast enough growth we can observe growth in our plants from the start to the end of the photoperiod - aerial roots are somewhat easier to identify.

That said, I don't think it will be a night/day dichotomy. It must be simultaneous.

Cellular respiration occurs regardless of photosynthesis - it is always happening (and the reason that lakes after intense algae blooms kill fish - due to decreasing oxygen levels) - so there is a flow of ATP and it would not be smart (at least I don't think so) for the plant to "wait" until it is dark to produce new growth -- so it should grow all the time regardless.

And we hope that our photosynthetic rate (driven by lots of things including light, CO2, and every single other nutrient) produces enough sugar to keep us going. I suspect this is why HC carpets require so much CO2 ... probably because their metabolism uses more ATP than say Rotala Rotundifolia ... as a result, it needs more sugar to keep up.

Josh
 
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