No nitrates

Matt Nace

Matt Nace

Superstar Fish
#21
Oct 22, 2002
1,470
1
38
Pennsylvania
#21
Ron,  

I forgot to tell you to break pieces off or at least in half. Are the fern ones the same size?

You will have to wait a few days, and test for nitrAtes. Once a month is a good thing to go by...but that is only in plants with good roots like swords. I dont even waste my time on Bunch plants like ambulia or camboda, since I replace the bottoms with the tops anyway. I also use root tabs plus iron every 3 monthes, or every other  under my swords and bronze wendetii
 

Matt Nace

Matt Nace

Superstar Fish
#22
Oct 22, 2002
1,470
1
38
Pennsylvania
#22
Oh...I don't know how often you do water changes, but when I had 0 nitrates, i didn't do any that week...or the next..just pruned and topped off some water.

Don't over do the jobes..it could surge your nitrate up...they are slow release, so if you get 5ppms in a week, hopefully that is where you will be each week..if it climbs above 15 , do a water change.
 

Somonas

Somonas

Superstar Fish
#23
Oct 22, 2002
2,061
0
0
46
O-town
www.myfishtank.net
#23
Denitrator coils, and methods to remove nitrates from aquarium water

In the unplanted aquarium resins and pads can remove nitrate. It can also be removed by use of anaerobic media. A couple of the most common are

1.    Coil Denitrators. This in simple terms is a long length of tubing. Water is pumped through the tubing. As it enters it either contains ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. Sometimes all three. The water also has oxygen in it. As the water flows through the tubing, aerobic bacteria develop on the inner walls of the tubing and convert any ammonia or nitrite to nitrate. They also use up the available oxygen at that time. When sized correctly, by the time the water reaches the back part of the tubing, it is now oxygen less and contains nitrate. Anaerobic bacteria will then develop and remove the nitrate from the water. For practical applications the goal is for nitrate reduction. Total elimination can be dangerous. To control this water volume is controlled to slow or increase the speed at which the water flows through so that a small amount of nitrate is still detectible as the water exits. The length of tubing used can be lengthened or shortened some also to accomplish this goal. Full development can take six weeks or more and having the water exit into a bio media before returning to the tank is advisable since in the early stages you may have nitrite in the water prior to full development of the anaerobic bacteria. The size of the tubing can vary from common airline tubing to larger tubing for outdoor pond applications. They can be homemade from as little as 50 feet of airline tubing or acquired in nice prepackaged commercial units.

2.    Internal Macro Pore Media. Basically it is media with inner holes and surfaces that allow anaerobic bacteria to develop in the oxygen less environment. Water comes into contact with the outer edges and surfaces where normal aerobic bacteria develop. By the time water reaches the inner areas the water is oxygen less and contains nitrate. The anaerobic bacteria develop and remove the nitrate from the water. The advantages of this method are that the media can be used in normal filtration areas in place of other media types and easily increased or decreased to maintain the desired low nitrate levels by simply adding more or removing some of the media. A couple examples of this type of media are lava rocks commonly used in outdoor ponds and some of the new commercial medias like Seachem Labs Matrix.
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#24
#24

I do a water change once a week. If I dont, then my hardness goes up because of the evaporating. I'll be testing the water tonight to see what the nitrates are at. Thnx.
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#26
#26

I have put the Jobe sticks in (8 of them actually) and I have not noticed an increase in nitrates yet. I guess I should consider myself lucky. The plants are growing like crazy so that is another good sign that they seem it be getting the nutrients they need. Thanks for asking. I let you know if anything changes.
 

Matt Nace

Matt Nace

Superstar Fish
#28
Oct 22, 2002
1,470
1
38
Pennsylvania
#28
Tim  do you have a way I could fax some info to you?

- I was looking through some older magazines, and saw an article on cynobacteria..and it had a lot of info and  how to get rid of it.

- I also owe you the DIY nitrate reducer, which i could fax too.

I have been very busy :(
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#29
#29

I used EM tablets. They work very well with no effects on fish or plants. I buy them bulk from my lfs instead of in packages of 8. The instructions state 1 tablet/10Gallon but in my 90G, I threw in 12 the first day and 12 the third day. It was gone. Nothing left at all. I keep some EM tablets on hand. If I see even a hint of blue green, I throw in 12 tablets. I know there might be more ways of getting rid of cyano or even preventing it but this worked very well for me.
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#31
#31

Only by perscription? What kind of pet stores do you have? Well that really bites then! Maybe you can get some from a online store.
 

C

clothahump

Superstar Fish
#32
Oct 22, 2002
1,003
0
0
65
Deepest Darkest Dorset UK
www.corydorasworld.com
#32
Anti boitics are virtually unknown in shops in the UK.
We are still in the dark ages with some things.
When you talk about Maracyn etc it is quite confusing.
Stupid law: You can only buy 16 Paracetomol at one time without prescription, in case you try to commit suicide.LOL.
If you are going to top yourself you would not bother with Paracetomol.
Another one: You have to have the permission of the Pharmacist to buy certain cough medicines.
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#33
#33

Wow! Have to spoken with a pharmacist about getting em? Maybe if you explain the reason, he might sell some to you. I have the same situtation with potassium nitrate. I have to get it from the pharmacy. I just have to explain what it is being used for. Maybe give it a try.
 

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