Pothos Plants vs bioballs
- Thread starter qguy
- Start date
Yeah ive never you have to remove the plants?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
I think what he is saying is the nitrate stays in the plant, like C02 of a tree, when you cut the tree down, it releases all of its stored c02. So if you killed ur plant and kept it in the water all the nitrates would return? I dunno my plants never returned anything except oxygen for me.
Bingo.
Carbon fixation is the process where plants / trees consume C02 (photosynthesis), and convert the carbon into part of the plant. (That's where oil, diamonds and coal come from...the carbon in plants is retained when plants are covered quickly and sufficiently and then subjected to pressure and a lot of time and viola, you have diamonds, oil and coal.) If you burn the trees or let them rot, the trees "release" the carbon back into the air which is why leaf, grass and log burning is frowned upon. It's also why planting forests is good for the environment.
Many but not all plants can "fix" nitrogen. (That's why we often fertilize with nitrogen---along with potash and phosphorous.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_fixation
It's also why some farmers used to plant certain crops and then plow them under the soil. Some crops fix nitrogen, and then when the plants are killed and decompose, they release nitrogen into the soil.
Plants in water can do similar biological activities. http://www.livingmachines.com/Servi...arch-Publications/Behrends_Plants-Denite.aspx However, if you leave the pothos in the tank long so that portions begin to decompose, then it can begin releasing the nitrogen back into the water. That means you need to manage it and trim it back and cut off any portions that are decaying. Of course if the plant dies, it means you have to remove it.
Nitrogen volitilization is something else. When plants absorb ammonia or nitrites they will sometimes release some of the nitrogen into the air. The depends on plant species, and perhaps other factors like temperature, amount of nitrogen already in the plant, etc. http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0352-4906/2004/0352-49060417111K.pdf
Okay, since the roots is the only part of the plants that is in touch with the water, I only need to worry about dead leaves and those should not be left to decay in the tank.
Yes. Nitrogen that was in the tank is now in the pothos (and some perhaps was released into the air.) As long as the plant isn't allowed to decompose inside the tank, you will be fine. But the nitrogen hasn't been permanently removed yet because the plant is still part of the tanks ecosystem. It can still pollute the tank if it's allowed to decompose.
The only permanent removal is to remove the plant from the tank or to trim the plant back and toss those leaves / roots away. In that case, total nitrogen available to the tank ecosystem has been permanently reduced rather than temporarily "fixed."
Plants on earth "fix" 258 billion tons of CO2 annually. But fires or large die offs in the ocean can release it. It's not gone, just temporarily under control.
