I wonder if a coil denitrator would work. Was reading a bit on them. Anyone have any experience with these?
Take THAT nitrates! Multifaceted attack proving successful.
- Thread starter knifegill
- Start date
I tried a coil denitrifier. Snails kept clogging the airline I used to control the drip rate and I gave up after a few weeks of headache and snail pieces.
I'm doing a DSB in my 5g with 2 dwarf puffers and, newly, a banjo cat and it's been over a month. I'm seeing some dark areas at the bottom of it. It's only 2" so it's going to be awhile before it packs down and gets enough mulm to become effective. I've got blackworm and add baby MTS every few days, but the puffers eat them pretty rapidly. So, yeah, I'm doing this. If it proves effective I'll move it into a sump as it and add more sand gradually to increase the effectiveness.
I'm doing a DSB in my 5g with 2 dwarf puffers and, newly, a banjo cat and it's been over a month. I'm seeing some dark areas at the bottom of it. It's only 2" so it's going to be awhile before it packs down and gets enough mulm to become effective. I've got blackworm and add baby MTS every few days, but the puffers eat them pretty rapidly. So, yeah, I'm doing this. If it proves effective I'll move it into a sump as it and add more sand gradually to increase the effectiveness.
Well, it's been five days and my nitrates are about half what they usually are by this time. I suspect that because all my algae died and it's been decomposing, that means I will have better readings next week when there will be little to no decomposing algae contributing to the total bioload.
I also scored a big nasty pothos from a closing office building and rinsed the roots off. They are now hanging out of my tank with roots intact but I don't know how long it will be before they will have adjusted to the new situation enough to do their job. They look happier already.
I also scored a big nasty pothos from a closing office building and rinsed the roots off. They are now hanging out of my tank with roots intact but I don't know how long it will be before they will have adjusted to the new situation enough to do their job. They look happier already.
but i also am used to weekly water changes.
Me, too. But for my adonis to grow well, nitrates need to stay below the typical range. My LFS had a couple a. adonis in with the female bettas and they couldn't figure out why they wouldn't grow until I asked who did the water changes on the tank. Nobody was, and none of the employees knew how to use the nitrate test kit correctly. Anyway, the point is that plenty of fish in that tank had grown in spite of the poor water condition, but the adonises had suffered greatly. That tells me that I cannot tolerate anything but close-to-perfect parameters. I may step up the water changes to twice a week very soon at the rate he is growing.
Really like the idea of using the Pothos plant. I have tons of room that I can dangle the roots in. Also have 2x Penguin 350's that I could place some in.
Question about the plant though. Say if I buy a potted pothos from Lowes/Home Depot, can I split it up easily?
Question about the plant though. Say if I buy a potted pothos from Lowes/Home Depot, can I split it up easily?
Well, each piece of stem that has a root bud will eventually sprout roots, but that seems to take a long time. I'd just take pieces that already have roots and split them up accordingly.
From my understanding of hydroponics, you will always have a die off when you take soil roots and place them in water. They are different types of roots, and water roots have to form.
It only takes my pothos plants less than a week to start sprouting new roots in the water, and I keep the plant potted, so I have an endless supply of the vines. Frequent pruning of the growth tip will promote more compact, bushy growth, as well as higher nitrAte absorbtion.
It only takes my pothos plants less than a week to start sprouting new roots in the water, and I keep the plant potted, so I have an endless supply of the vines. Frequent pruning of the growth tip will promote more compact, bushy growth, as well as higher nitrAte absorbtion.
Oh, so every now and then hack them back so they get more branches? That makes sense.
I didn't know there were different types of roots. Will the new roots grow out of the old roots or out of the plant? Should I even keep the old roots or will they just rot?
I confess I have a lot of questions about how to optimize the potential of my pothos for its purpose. Weak light? Strong light? Do the variegated ones do as good of a job as the solid green ones?
I didn't know there were different types of roots. Will the new roots grow out of the old roots or out of the plant? Should I even keep the old roots or will they just rot?
I confess I have a lot of questions about how to optimize the potential of my pothos for its purpose. Weak light? Strong light? Do the variegated ones do as good of a job as the solid green ones?
