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Anonymous
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bellis":38tvmw6a said:
to paraphrase an 'old' adage...
never argue w/beaslebob, he'll just drag you down to his level and beat you w/his experience :wink:
Ok OK just Want sum help i am a newbie
- Thread starter ozboy22
- Start date
to paraphrase an 'old' adage...
never argue w/beaslebob, he'll just drag you down to his level and beat you w/his experience :wink:
Hi
Just thought i'll give an update its been a while but i still here and the tank
as i recall last update was aug 31 with test.
well since have had not much time to do anything but work non stop so the fish have only been fed by the wife
Well the water looks a bit dirty looking not to bad and a slight bight green alge on glass and budda.
Test
Ph=7.0
Ammonia=0.23ppm
Nitrite=0ppm
Nitrate=40-80ppm
and a couple of fish has left the tank
well here's a pic to date
post again soon
Just thought i'll give an update its been a while but i still here and the tank
as i recall last update was aug 31 with test.
well since have had not much time to do anything but work non stop so the fish have only been fed by the wife
Well the water looks a bit dirty looking not to bad and a slight bight green alge on glass and budda.
Test
Ph=7.0
Ammonia=0.23ppm
Nitrite=0ppm
Nitrate=40-80ppm
and a couple of fish has left the tank
well here's a pic to date
post again soon
Attachments
ozboy22":2ihsg57b said:
Ozboy, those numbers look a little odd for a matured tank. Looks like you are loosing the balance... ammonia levels should be 0 (check state or improve biological filtration) and nitrates should be a little lower (do more regular water changes).
If you're jumping on this "no water changes" idea, be very careful, it is hardly a good solution for anyone but the more experienced plant keepers (and even they will tell you to do water changes for reasons other than nitrate levels...)
Giancarlo
www.gpodio.com
bellis":1xspqsfz said:
Yep I have several tanks that receive a water change every 6-8 months, but only because I've reached a certain balance and stability with these tanks. It's acchieving that "balance" that allows you to do this. It's not the absence of water changes that creates such balance though, I think that is important to keep in mind.
It is difficult to generalize between different tanks and in Ozboy22's case, with measurable ammonia and high nitrates, I would say the tank is not balanced to the point where one can consider not doing any water changes.
I don't think it's a matter of right or wrong, one can take the ultra fast growing methods such as EI (Estimative Index) which call for frequent large water changes or the more laid back approach such as "El Natural" (I don't know if that is an official term yet) that Diana Walstad advocates or the PPS (perpetual preservation system) which aims more towards a balanced lower maintenance environment. Of course these are pretty much extremes at either end of the spectrum, one can settle for any position in between them and acchieve great results either way. Each comes with their own methods, fertilization, lighting levels and such... there's more to it than just doing water changes or not doing them, just like there is more behind the purpose of water changes than nitrate levels alone.
Hope that helps
Giancarlo
www.gpodio.com
been a long time but just thought i would give a update as two nights ago had to cut down a few plants as they where going a bit over board in there, so i had remove about 40% of the plants,and lost all but one testra
ph = 7.00
ammonia = 0ppm
nitrite = 0ppm
nitrate = 20ppm
one main reson for doing the cut down was the fact of some form of agle in ther long green hair like type if some one whats to help me there?
Anyway just thought i would update on this i have not touch the tank in anyway since the last time i posted , ihave only filled up the tank maybe every 3 months or so with water ,
how should have i cut down the plants??????????????????
ph = 7.00
ammonia = 0ppm
nitrite = 0ppm
nitrate = 20ppm
one main reson for doing the cut down was the fact of some form of agle in ther long green hair like type if some one whats to help me there?
Anyway just thought i would update on this i have not touch the tank in anyway since the last time i posted , ihave only filled up the tank maybe every 3 months or so with water ,
how should have i cut down the plants??????????????????
When you say you've been filling up the tank every 3 months, are you referring to performing a water change or simply topping off evaporated water?
Reasons for the tetras dying may be difficult to isolate with the info we have so far, there are a couple of different possibilities. First off, a drastic reduction in plant mass never goes down well as plants play a large role in the chemical balance of a tank. Also tetras can be sensitive to chemical variations and stress so those alone could be to blame.
The first thing that comes to mind is the obvious decrease in plant mass which has a direct effect on oxygen levels and ammonia uptake. While an ammonia test may show 0 after the fact there was likely a very short cycling process that had to take place as the bacteria colonies have more ammonia to deal with now. If plants were uprooted there may have been some release from the substrate, either as simple as eccess mulm and waste which would add to the ammonia levels temporarily or as serious as nitrogen gas due to denitrification in the deeper levels of the substrate. Heavy metals could also be released into the water from disturbing the substrate and tetras are particularly sensitive to metals.
If I have to perform such a large cut back in plant mass I try to do it gradually. These are the dangers of keeping such "maintenance free" tanks as they become very dependent on their own chemical balance and don't take well to any large changes. Even a large water change can cause a disaster in some of my tanks that normally go 4-5 months between changes while the high-tech tanks that get 50% water changes weekly and over 50% plant mass reduction monthly can handle such drastic changes without a problem.
As for the algae, if you can find SAEs they will help out a lot (they do eat mosses however so kiss those goodbye if you add SAEs). I usually run into hair/thread algae after disturbing the substrate or during the first month of having setup a tank. You did the right thing however as pruning the effected plants is the best way to combat algae in combination with attempting to fix the cause.
Hope that helps
Reasons for the tetras dying may be difficult to isolate with the info we have so far, there are a couple of different possibilities. First off, a drastic reduction in plant mass never goes down well as plants play a large role in the chemical balance of a tank. Also tetras can be sensitive to chemical variations and stress so those alone could be to blame.
The first thing that comes to mind is the obvious decrease in plant mass which has a direct effect on oxygen levels and ammonia uptake. While an ammonia test may show 0 after the fact there was likely a very short cycling process that had to take place as the bacteria colonies have more ammonia to deal with now. If plants were uprooted there may have been some release from the substrate, either as simple as eccess mulm and waste which would add to the ammonia levels temporarily or as serious as nitrogen gas due to denitrification in the deeper levels of the substrate. Heavy metals could also be released into the water from disturbing the substrate and tetras are particularly sensitive to metals.
If I have to perform such a large cut back in plant mass I try to do it gradually. These are the dangers of keeping such "maintenance free" tanks as they become very dependent on their own chemical balance and don't take well to any large changes. Even a large water change can cause a disaster in some of my tanks that normally go 4-5 months between changes while the high-tech tanks that get 50% water changes weekly and over 50% plant mass reduction monthly can handle such drastic changes without a problem.
As for the algae, if you can find SAEs they will help out a lot (they do eat mosses however so kiss those goodbye if you add SAEs). I usually run into hair/thread algae after disturbing the substrate or during the first month of having setup a tank. You did the right thing however as pruning the effected plants is the best way to combat algae in combination with attempting to fix the cause.
Hope that helps
ozboy22":3uvmck2b said:
I agree this seems a little out of balance. unless you are dosing nitrates that is
I have a moss in my 10g also. I just harvest it each month or so.
I presume that is top off not a water change.
Neons are hard to keep. In a tank with peat moss in the sand, I bought them very small and they lasted 1.5-2 years.
To cut down plants I just use my fingers an pinch off the branch or leaves until the desired effect is reached. Others you can pull out the whole plant and give another hobbist. That does stir up the sand. So make small adjustments.
After 6 months of operation I do get a light hard algae on the glass as well.
How are things going otherwise?
Glad you posted.
hello all
I see it is all the same here.
Well thought i might guve an update since my last one (Apr 25th)
as friday (Oct13) i touch the tank.6 months later.****
anyway pic's and test are as below and a quick run down of what's been happen.
Ph = 6.4
Ammonia = o.25
Nitrite = 0.00
Nitrate = 80 all more below 160
I dont know if feeding the fish around 2 hours before will change the test result's,but thats what i done.
All i did was top up my water
Scrape of some green agle thats one the green (and whats look's in a few spots though out the tank eg plants,etc what look like to me some even on the platty?
Now in the last week i have notice to fish have, just up and left my tank
I can not see them anywhere.
any ideas about this.
Now i'm left with 6.
I glad the shark made it this far and he's getting big to.
what more can i say
I see it is all the same here.
Well thought i might guve an update since my last one (Apr 25th)
as friday (Oct13) i touch the tank.6 months later.****
anyway pic's and test are as below and a quick run down of what's been happen.
Ph = 6.4
Ammonia = o.25
Nitrite = 0.00
Nitrate = 80 all more below 160
I dont know if feeding the fish around 2 hours before will change the test result's,but thats what i done.
All i did was top up my water
Scrape of some green agle thats one the green (and whats look's in a few spots though out the tank eg plants,etc what look like to me some even on the platty?
Now in the last week i have notice to fish have, just up and left my tank
I can not see them anywhere.
any ideas about this.
Now i'm left with 6.
I glad the shark made it this far and he's getting big to.
what more can i say
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