Plants vs Nitrite and Nitrate - odd reading.

[Poke]

I have a 20gal tank. Six Coreys, two dwarf frogs, two Apple snails, Oto and
Beta. pH=7.8, Nitrite=0 mg/L, Nitrate<10 mg/L - using Hagen test kits. The
tank is now, maybe, 18 months old.

Not successful with plants. As one solution, thought of planting Lucky
bamboo in the tank. Before planting I thought I would test it.

In a separate 3gal jug set up 6 stalks of Lucky and filled the jug with
water and vacuumings from the tank. What I hoped to see is how soon can the
bamboo _clear_ what little Nitrate there was in the water.

Instead the levels of both Nitrite and Nitrate shot _up_ so high I can no
longer measure them.

I've re-tested both tank water and water in the jug - same results as
before - good in the tank, rediculous in jug ?

What is happening ? Can a plant increase the amount or concentration of
nitrogenous waste in the water ?

I thought some of the solid waste vacuumed from the tank into the jug is
rotting, driving the readings up. However, I think that would increase
Ammonia levels in the jug but Ammonia reading is 0 (!).

Any thoughts on the subject appreciated.

TIA.
--
Poke

"Nitrate : cheaper than the Day Rate "
from Layman's Dictionary of Medical Terms

[RedForeman ©®]

Put the bamboo in regular tap water, in the same setup you have it in now,
and then test the water... my only thought would be the plant is releasing
something that is corrupting your test result... if it's not the plants
releasing, it had to be the water's concentration... just a thought...


"Poke" > wrote in message
...
> I have a 20gal tank. Six Coreys, two dwarf frogs, two Apple snails, Oto
and
> Beta. pH=7.8, Nitrite=0 mg/L, Nitrate<10 mg/L - using Hagen test kits. The
> tank is now, maybe, 18 months old.
>
> Not successful with plants. As one solution, thought of planting Lucky
> bamboo in the tank. Before planting I thought I would test it.
>
> In a separate 3gal jug set up 6 stalks of Lucky and filled the jug with
> water and vacuumings from the tank. What I hoped to see is how soon can
the
> bamboo _clear_ what little Nitrate there was in the water.
>
> Instead the levels of both Nitrite and Nitrate shot _up_ so high I can no
> longer measure them.
>
> I've re-tested both tank water and water in the jug - same results as
> before - good in the tank, rediculous in jug ?
>
> What is happening ? Can a plant increase the amount or concentration of
> nitrogenous waste in the water ?
>
> I thought some of the solid waste vacuumed from the tank into the jug is
> rotting, driving the readings up. However, I think that would increase
> Ammonia levels in the jug but Ammonia reading is 0 (!).
>
> Any thoughts on the subject appreciated.
>
> TIA.
> --
> Poke
>
> "Nitrate : cheaper than the Day Rate "
> from Layman's Dictionary of Medical Terms

[attwood@NOSPAMturbo.che.ncsu.edu]

Poke wrote:
<snip>
> What is happening ? Can a plant increase the amount or concentration of
> nitrogenous waste in the water ?
>
> I thought some of the solid waste vacuumed from the tank into the jug is
> rotting, driving the readings up. However, I think that would increase
> Ammonia levels in the jug but Ammonia reading is 0 (!).
>
> Any thoughts on the subject appreciated.
>
> TIA.

The lack of ammonia may be due to the presence of the plants, which I
think preferentially absorb ammonia over nitrite/nitrate and might be
removing it before it can reach detectable levels. There may also be
some cycling going on producing nitrite and nitrate, which is not
absorbed by the bamboo because its nned are being met by the ammonia.
This is just some brainstorming on my part. Also, could the bamboo have
brought any fertilizer with it from its previous home?

Brian