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Chemistry Chemistry
Ammonium (NH4+) in Planted Tanks
The plant-preferred nitrogen form - many aquatic plants absorb ammonium faster than nitrate, and some planted-tank techniques exploit this.
Unit: ppm Code: NH4_PLANT
📖 Overview
Aquatic plants prefer ammonium over nitrate. In actively-growing planted tanks with plants healthier than the bacterial cycle, plants can strip small ammonium spikes before nitrification even begins. This underlies the "silent cycle" method for heavily planted tanks that reject standard cycling protocols.