Take that Nitrate ;-) (6 week test)

[nfored]

Still at 40, but the slight color change noticed on Sunday is more noticeable today. Maybe can get to 30's by the end of week 3? as a side note this unlikely a result of the water change, as I was pretty sure I saw a color shift before teh change and now I am even more sure. Before I was having a hard time saying if it was 40 or 80 no no problem saying 40.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

Here's a link to a plant only filter
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153346

I don't know about the plants taking up all the minerals the fish would need for skeletal sturcture and all, I'd imagine they are using different minerials for that; and water changes will help replenish, but that's just my opinion and I may be wrong. I know some poeple that use pothos and swera by them, I'm thinkning of adding some to one of my tanks to see how it does.

 

[BODYDUB]

Unless you overload your tank with plants, then nitrates will always be there in high levels over time without w/c's. But it's worth a shot............

 

[nfored]

Unless you overload your tank with plants, then nitrates will always be there in high levels over time without w/c's. But it's worth a shot............

I plan to always do my weekly 50%, even if nitrates where at 0, the overall goal is to provide the best water I can with in reason. Meaning as long as its not putting a burden on me then I am willing to do it for the fish. Example being 50% a day would keep nitrates at 20PPM, and the water crisp but would be to costly.

 

[nfored]

Here's a link to a plant only filter
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153346

I don't know about the plants taking up all the minerals the fish would need for skeletal sturcture and all, I'd imagine they are using different minerials for that; and water changes will help replenish, but that's just my opinion and I may be wrong. I know some poeple that use pothos and swera by them, I'm thinkning of adding some to one of my tanks to see how it does.

Thank you for that, I will read it tonight, I glanced through it and I am pretty sure I saw a bag of bio rings. However I read in a magazine about a commercial fish hatchery that uses only plants. It was an insane setup, that I forgot all about until you mentioned something.

 

[nfored]

Nitrate is being redueced however its till 30 - 40, I can see a sure difference in color from when I started.

I moved the plants so they will get better lighting, and did major pruning of any dead or dying leafs. Only 2 of the 3 Yuka plants have roos and only one of the 2 HAve the new water roots. Two of the 5 Pothas clippings have new water ready roots.

I expect to see more reduction by the time the rest of the roots develop the 3 new pothas are only 1 week old today so I would guess I should see roots in the next 2 weeks. Not sure if the third yuka plant will root or not the first to had root sprouts on them when I pulled them from the ground.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

A girl I work with gave me a pothos last week. It leaks! Anyone see these before? each leaf seeps water throughout the day.

I have the API nitrate test, the can never tell the difference between 40-80 and sometime 20-40. The colors are just too close for my eyes.

 

[nfored]

Yes that is normal for Pothas. Yes I have trouble telling the 40 and and 80, but thats how I know the color is different this time; as I can say its barely 40. I plan to keep the Pothas and add more, even after I switch the the drip system. I would like them to grow and make the basement a garden. A school I went to had some that where really old the where placed on the balcony of the second story, where they grow down to the first floor and made a carpet in the rock garden.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

Yes that is normal for Pothas.

wow all I read about them and that was never mentioned. I was planning on building an ac110 to house this sucker since she had it in water and it's got a great root system. But the amount of water leaking is an issue. they are suppose to be one of the best air purifying plants too. I was thinkning of having them grow around my basement too.

 

[the_deeb]

...The problem, as I understand it, is that one Oscar would need something like five pounds of active plant cells to keep his water clean. But those cells would also be depleting essential minerals that he needs in the water column to build tissues and maintain a healthy skeleton, buffer the water, etc

I'm curious to know how you determined your "1 oscar would need five pounds of plant matter" figure?

It's true that plants will take up macronutrients and micronutrients from the water column like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. But this will not deprive your fish since they primarily gain these compounds from food, not directly from the water column. Buffering should also not much of an issue. Carbonate is the primary buffer in most aquariums and plants use CO2 rather than carbonate as their main source of carbon. This is even less of an issue in this setup since the plants are emeresed and therefore are acquiring their CO2 from the air rather than the water column.