How to tell if plants are "working"
I've just set up a new planted 55 aquarium. I planted it three nights ago,
with what I would call a moderate plant load. Certainly, it's not dutch. I do have DIY CO2 injection, and 160W of flourescent lighting (1 tube aqua-lux, 2 "daylight full spectrum" and one cool white). The inhabitants are 4 cories and a hitchhiker tetra fry that is doing suprisinly well. Anyways, yesterday night, just before the lights turned out at 11:30pm I took the following test results: o temp: 76 F o ammonia/ammonium: 0.5ppm o nitrite: 5.0ppm o GH: 11 dGH o KH: 8 dKH o pH: 7.0 o CO2 (calculated): 24ppm (is this right?) This stays hooked up 24h a day. Now, this morning just before the lights turned on I took the tests again. There was no visible O2 production from plants, and all the readings were the same across the board. If the plants were living as they are supposed to, shouldn't the pH have gone down due to the plants not using O2, and producing CO2 at night? Is it normal for the plants to have to establish themselves first? Sorry if these are newbie questions, I'm just trying to get off on the right foot. Also, just in the last couple days, ammonia/ammonium has gone from 1.0 to 0.5 ppm and nitrite up from 0 to 5.0 ppm. This is good right? I know that they should both eventually be zero but this is the right trend isn't it? Thanks in advance! __ "Insert witty comment here." -John |
How to tell if plants are "working"
I planted it three nights ago,
with what I would call a moderate plant load. If you only planted it three nights ago, the plants may not be established and growing well yet. o ammonia/ammonium: 0.5ppm o nitrite: 5.0ppm Wow. I wouldn't expect four corys in a 55 gallon tank to produce that kind of nitrite spike. That is a dangerously high level. Is it normal for the plants to have to establish themselves first? Yes. Especially if they are rooted plants, like swords and crypts. Also, just in the last couple days, ammonia/ammonium has gone from 1.0 to 0.5 ppm and nitrite up from 0 to 5.0 ppm. This is good right? Well, it sounds like your tank is cycling. However, it sounds awfully rough on the fish. Especially corys and a tetra fry, which aren't known as the hardiest of fish, at least when it comes to water quality. Next time, I would consider either doing a "fishless cycle," or using Chuck's method for planted tanks: http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
How to tell if plants are "working"
Anyways, assuming my setup is good
enough for the plants to bubble at night, how long should it be until I observe this? The plants won't pearl at night. They will pearl during the day. Often in the afternoon or evening, after a long day of photosynthesizing. (Though in some tanks, the plants will pearl an hour or two after the lights go on.) As for when you might see this happen...I'm afraid it's impossible to predict. There are all kinds of variables: temperature, what kind of plants you have, how many plants you have, light, CO2, surface turbulence, etc. Some plants produce more oxygen than others. And some take longer to establish themselves after planting. Stem plants will adjust a lot faster than rooted plants. Anyway, I wouldn't worry about pearling. A lot of healthy and vigorous planted tanks don't pearl. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
How to tell if plants are "working"
Thanks for the input, all. I'm really not worried anymore. I've been closely
watching the plants since I planted them (4 days ago) and most have grown 1-2" already. In article , "Steve Galupe" wrote: I thought they only bubble because the water has been saturated with oxygen. It kinda makes sense to me that it would only start bubbling in the afternoon after a whole days work of photosynthesizing. And again, plants in nature doesn't necessarily bubble to be healthy. "Velvet" wrote in message ... My plants bubbled, but anywhere between mid-day to lights-out. Once the lights are out, they won't bubble. However, I'd point out that whilst my plants are growing like mad (fert+co2+light) they bubble less than before. More heavily planted tank now (due to excessive growth leading to many cuttings) - so I suspect the co2 isn't keeping up with the plants. By the same token though, I don't want the growth to be quite so quick, so am not stepping up the co2/fert/light. I'm a newbie to plants (well, plants that actually SURVIVE), so experimentation is the order of the day for me at the moment. Back to the topic, my plants were bubbling the day after planting, when it was more lightly planted (I'd say medium density) with good light and good co2. Not much settling in required. Plants differ in the rates of bubble formation. Vallis is real easy, most of the others I don't see bubble. The somethingorotherthatIforgotthenameof Marble Queen forms bubbles on the underside of the flat leaves, but doesn't produce rising streams like the vallis. Bit loathe to step up the co2 and risk overdosing the fish ;-) Must get those other test kits so I know what the co2's doing to my water params, too, but the co2 method I'm using is a bit hit and miss anyway (floramat, not DIY, not constant bubble). Velvet "redled" wrote in message . ca... Thanks for the input. I ran through the tests again this morning, at about the same time (ie: 24 hours later) and most of the tests are the same, but ammonia/ammonium is at 0ppm and nitrites are at 1ppm. So, I'm not too worried about that now. I think maybe they weren't that high last time I tested, but with my kit once you get above 2ppm, it is quite a judgement call to match the color of solution with the provided chart. Anyways, assuming my setup is good enough for the plants to bubble at night, how long should it be until I observe this? In article , oSpam (LeighMo) wrote: I planted it three nights ago, with what I would call a moderate plant load. If you only planted it three nights ago, the plants may not be established and growing well yet. o ammonia/ammonium: 0.5ppm o nitrite: 5.0ppm Wow. I wouldn't expect four corys in a 55 gallon tank to produce that kind of nitrite spike. That is a dangerously high level. Is it normal for the plants to have to establish themselves first? Yes. Especially if they are rooted plants, like swords and crypts. Also, just in the last couple days, ammonia/ammonium has gone from 1.0 to 0.5 ppm and nitrite up from 0 to 5.0 ppm. This is good right? Well, it sounds like your tank is cycling. However, it sounds awfully rough on the fish. Especially corys and a tetra fry, which aren't known as the hardiest of fish, at least when it comes to water quality. Next time, I would consider either doing a "fishless cycle," or using Chuck's method for planted tanks: http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ __ "Insert witty comment here." -John __ "Insert witty comment here." -John |
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