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Watering the aquarium plants.
On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 13:41:35 GMT, "Michi Henning"
wrote: "Cardman" wrote in message .. . Like my former extremely hard water. Seems likely. I forgot to mention that the plant is also very light demanding, which may be part of the problem. Yes, which why it seems rather hopeless at providing for it's very high light requirements. Not good water and not good lighting would well explain why this plant died so quickly. And there they were doing so well in the pet shop with no real maintenance sources, like a light, either. I think we know why that is... Because they order a bunch of new ones every week to replace the ones that are dying? ;-) Seems like they do that for the fish as well. As I have been to more than a few fish stores in my time, where that one was quite bad with more than a few fish dying in their many aquariums. My fish can live in much higher levels perfectly fine, where they just become unhappy in a world where algae rules. So they are very happy with anything between 50 and 150 mg/l, when algae growth is very slow at this level. If your fish are happy, no prob. Some species apparently die above 50ppm. (No first-hand experience with this for me, I'm just repeating what I've read in various books.) But other species tolerate much higher levels, so I guess it depends on what fish you keep. I guess that any fish that does not like my water would soon exit it, which at least reminds me of one case where that has happened. An elephant-nosed something or other I recall, which had to navigate a very hard assault course to eventually die on the wrong side of my former condensation lid. That was many years ago, but I named that one James Bond for doing something that I considered near impossible. Up through a tiny gap, on to the backing shelf, through an inch wide hole, then to die on the condensation lid under the light. Most fish living in this region I guess would soon adjust to the local water supply, when I doubt that many people would spend hours processing their water first. Adding lots more plants will help in reducing nitrate levels. A nice idea, but what you do not mention is that plants in fact use up very little Nitrate, which is why I would have to bed plants very heavily for any beneficial effects. Not sure about that. I have a fairly heavily planted tank (admittedly with not all that large a fish load). Obviously we can now see why your Nitrate levels are so low, where equally removing my many fish from my tank would do the same. My increasing Nitrate problem I am sure is due to my White Mollies who like to both eat and poop a great deal. That is part of the reason why they would soon be in a larger 40 gallon aquarium, when these five young White Mollies are soon to become adults. I would say at a crude guess that my Nitrate levels increase by about 50ppm per week, which is why I cannot leave it for more than a couple of weeks without a good water change, when algae growth is explosive if I do not change the water in that time. I have to add nitrates twice weekly to keep the level at around 10ppm. Even if I dose the tank to 20ppm, three to four days later, it's back down to zero. The plants definitely have something to with this. I suspect (but don't know for sure) that there may also be some amount of anaerobic nitrate reduction happening in my canister filter and possible in parts of the substrate. Sounds like you need some more fish, where my White Mollies make for a good example of the type that would be good at Nitrate production. They don't much eat the plants either, when they seem to prefer algae, but maybe you prefer manually adding Nitrate. The only thing about Mollies is that the largest male can go about chasing both other males and females in their mating ritual. So it is not a good idea to keep Mollies with the likes of Swordtails, Platies and maybe even Guppies. And so there is nothing that I can really do when it comes out the tap at 50 mg/l +-20% to begin with, where the fish pooping will only cause it to go higher. That is unless you know of some way to turn Nitrate into something else that won't harm fish? Well, you could try lots of plants, I am giving that serious consideration, but then that enters a whole new area of caring for plants as well. As until now I just have a handful of plants and let them grow. and slow filter. What type? My aquarium has a two filter system that I find works very well, excluding the aspect of Nitrate control. First of all this aquarium has an under gravel filter, which is attached to a power head. This works very well in sucking waste material into the gravel, where the bacteria does a very efficient job with the NO2 to NO3 cycle. This power head also does a great job of providing vast volumes of oxygen (air) into the aquarium, which is why it is the main aspect for keeping my aquarium in working order. I have a second air system that I am soon to replace, when this weak pump is just no good at getting air into the water depths. My second filter is just one of those sponge types, which I let sit on the gravel to one side, where of course on the gravel is where the waste material is to be found. That will contribute toward reducing nitrates. You also add a denitrification filter. From what I hear, they are a bit finicky though -- the the flow rate too high and they do nothing, and get it too low, and they put hydrogen sulfate into the water. (H2S is toxic.) But such a filter may not be a bad choice given that you have high nitrate levels in your tap water. Yes, where I have already come to the conclusion that I will need to add one of these to my shopping list in the near future. When high Nitrate levels in the tap water is a new thing for me. I will certainly remember about the flow rate, but hopefully this is not the case of replacing one problem with a worse problem. Or you could use reverse osmosis water for all your water changes (adding the appropriate salts to bring hardness up to what you want, of course). But that's quite tedious process compared to just running the garden hose into the tank. My boiling method works great at softening my water and turning it into what aquarium water should be, where only the remaining 50ppm Nitrate levels is an issue. My shopping list is currently... 5 x Hygrophila Polysperma 1 x Anubias Nana 3 x Crinium Thainium 5 x Microsorium Pteropus 5 x (Assorted) Cryptocorynes The hygrophila would be your best bet as a nitrate remover. It's quick-growing and fixes nitrates well. The anubias, java fern, and the crypts will do their bit too, but not as effectively because they are fairly slow-growing plants. I will keep that I mind. I am soon to review my plant choice to make fully sure that they are suitable, where the Hygrophila ones certainly are after my quick check. (I don't have experience with the Crinium.) Well I just like the unusual nature of this plant, where it is a slow growing plant that needs lots of space. So this is my exception to the fast growing pack them together types that I would ideally need. Another one you might want to consider is Vallisneria. I already have one, when that was the one plant out of my random three plant choice that did do well. So well that it is trying to take over the surface of this small 20 gallon aquarium. As I mentioned before that is why I am soon to move it to the 40 gallon aquarium, even if I have a feeling that like adding 10 bunches of this plant for near out of control plant growth is the type of Nitrate handling system that I need. Still, I would desire to see my fish after this. Good at removing nitrates and not easily infected by algae. Very true, when it is my third plant that I cannot identify that is suffering some kind of black algae covering to it's leafs. I tried cleaning this off the other day, but it is suck on there very well. This plant I am sure will benefit from my soon to be improved lighting, when I would say that is what this plant is most lacking, when it is suck in the middle of plant growth and plant death. At any rate, lots of plants and few fish are likely to reduce nitrates by quite a bit. I would prefer more than a few fish and tackling Nitrate levels by all available methods. I just hope that my White Mollies slow down on the breeding, when two White Mollies to seven White Molllies over just a few months gives me visions of what a couple of years worth can produce. And the plants will be happy with the nitrates -- it's food :-) Keep the plants happy by adding traces (PMDD or some such and CO2) I had a feeling that you would mention CO2. :-/ At this time I am starting to use some Blue Trace plant supplement. and you may well find your nitrate levels dropping quite a bit. I have a feeling that removing Nitrate from my water supply is my current best method for keeping Nitrate levels under control. As I still doubt that these plants will be able to fully deal with the Nitrate production within this aquarium. So having both a Nitrate Filter and plants would keep Nitrate levels within acceptable values. Thanks for your advice. Cardman. http://www.cardman.com http://www.cardman.co.uk |
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