[New Order from the Co-op]

Very surprised, I placed an order Thursday afternoon the 2nd and this morning Saturday 4th it arrived by noon! That is fast!

It was suggested that Pennywort eat the nitrates, so that's one plant. Dwarf Hairgrass is another for a front clearing I want carpeted. Ammannia Gracilis looks similar to Scarlett Temple plant, but it's not offered at this time at the Co-op, so I'm hoping to get some red growth out of it.

Plus some new food, test strips, EasyGreen looking forward to some new growth and a healthy tank. 

[How to Use the Forum - Tutorials and Guides]

On 8/20/2020 at 4:32 PM, Lizzie Block said:

This is a post to highlight some of the key functions of the forum and how to use them. If you have any questions about anything, be sure to check here first before posting a topic about it as there will likely be an answer for you here.

Feel free to send me a message anytime (top right corner, mail icon) if you would like to ask a questions specifically. I am up to date with my inbox.

Otherwise, see below for some walk-throughs. You may ask questions on this post as well if it's something that will benefit the forum community. This will be updated, so please ask away if there is anything you are confused about - I'll get it posted here for everyone's reference!

Thanks Miss Lizzie, I have been tring to find the How to for this forum. It was shown when I first signed up but I haven't seen it since. This post of yours should be very helpful.

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/30/2023 at 8:49 PM, Cisco said:

In the past, I used de-chlorinated water to clean and then to refill the canister. The last 2 changes I rinsed out the canister trays with tank water and refilled the canister with tank water. Hoping to not disturb the bacteria too badly. Guess it didn't work to good this time. 

 

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/17/2023 at 9:38 AM, Galabar said:

Could you describe the procedure you used to clean your filter?

In the past, I used chlorinated water to clean and then to refill the canister. The last 2 changes I rinsed out the canister trays with tank water and refilled the canister with tank water. Hoping to not disturb the bacteria too badly. Guess it didn't work to good this time. 

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/26/2023 at 5:36 AM, JettsPapa said:

Changing six gallons in a 65 gallon tank won't have much effect.  If you want to get nitrates down I'd recommend considerably more.  The math is pretty easy.  If you want to reduce nitrates by half you need to change half of the water.  A 25% water change will reduce the nitrates by 25%.

Thats good to know. Isn't half the water too large of a change?

Currently nitrates are a little down between 80 and 165.

Nitrites was near zerro

Hardness 150

Ph was between 6.2 - 6.8

And my tap water was basically neutral water hardness was 75 on the soft side.

[Time Out to Enjoy My Aquarium]

The 2 bristle nose plecos are 2nd generation. 1 of 2 hillstream loaches is in a pic. 

Hoping my moss wall will fill out quicker once I get the Easy Green ordered.

[Time Out to Enjoy My Aquarium]

Took some time to enjoy the tank and post some pics.

My past 20g the plants grew great, I guessed it was because of the undergravel filter. So when I set up my 65g last January, I installed it back & center of the tank plus a 3 stage canister. In the back of the tank are the bubble tubes at the surface is the exit water jet running through the path of the bubbles...seamed like a good way to airate the tank.  

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/23/2023 at 6:09 AM, JettsPapa said:

160 ppm is pretty high, though I think that 20 ppm safe level is overly cautious.  You said you did two water changes.  How large were they, and how much did they reduce the nitrate levels?

My water changes were about 6 gallons each. I plan on getting the water tested tomorrow. Getting ready to place an order to the Co-op, will be getting Test Strips amoung other things.

On 10/23/2023 at 3:45 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Have you tried  bunch of water changes to reduce nitrates? Do you get any nitrate reading from your tap water?

Last time I tested the tap it didn't get much of a reading except the water was slightly on the hard side.

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/17/2023 at 5:40 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

NitraZorb works wonderfully but it will remove ALL nitrates, and your plants need nitrates.  I am with @JettsPapa and @Guppysnail that more plants are the answer, including emergent plants such as pothos, are the answer.  I only use NitraZorb if I have super high nitrates that I haven't been able to reduce with water changes.

Thanks, where do you get NitraZorb from? Haven't heard of it before. Can it be used in smaller doses to avoid harming plants?

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/17/2023 at 5:23 AM, Guppysnail said:

Have you considered emergent plants to help with nitrates?  My tap has high nitrate so it’s a constant struggle for me. I found growing lots of emergents very enjoyable. Here is a thread with great info.  
 

 

Hi Guppysnail, Your aquarium looks great! Currently, I have a small variety of Split Leaf philodendron with its roots in the water, though it has gotten new growth it's not that impressed with the aquarium arrangement probably would like more light, where as the phothos can deal with lower light better I think.

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/17/2023 at 2:00 AM, Lennie said:

Hi Cisco

 

I would highly recommend fast growing plants that mainly feeds from water column. My tap reads 40 nitrate, and during my water changes with decently stocked tanks, I see these numbers drop to the levels of 10! 

 

My suggestion would be using plants like amazon frogbit, salvinia, water lettuce, elodea, hornwort and if that's your thingy plants like pothos where you keep only the roots inside the tank.

Galabar, thanks for your suggestions. I hope to add a pothos to the top of the tank. I have an open gravel area in the front middle of my tank that I want to have a  plant carpet area...do the dwarf grasses require a C02 drip?

I planning on trying Scarlet Temple Alternanthera Reineckii again, hopefully the Co-op has them in stock. 

[Nitrate Blues]

On 10/17/2023 at 5:36 AM, JettsPapa said:

I'm not aware of any products to reduce nitrates, other than live plants.  Water changes will help, of course, assuming your source water doesn't have high nitrates.

You said your nitrates are "out of whack," but didn't give a number.  What is the level?

Hi thanks for your reply. The water test chart I have from PetSmart reads 160 unsafe level as of a weekago. 0 - 20 is considered safe. I have done two water changes this week and have tried over dosing with SeaChem Prime.  Last Saturday I used a cap full to help detox the nitrates. The instructions suggessed a cap full for 150g tank I have 165 so that seemed a safe first step. After the 2 water changes I had the water tested again Wed, there was some improvement probably around 100 -120. My tank tend to average 60 for the nitrates.

Alkalinity is low near zero the store attendent said that should rise as I bring the Nitrates down. Also, ammonia and nitrite is zero or near there. PH is 6.8 or .9 in that area. 

[Nitrate Blues]

I have been out of the loop for awhile working 2 jobs my seasonal job at the Wa State Fair besides my regular job, but now I that my extra check has arived I have a little spending cussion.

Last weak, I cleaned out my cansiter filter for my 65g aquarium and my nitrate are out of wack again. what  Co-op products should I order to get things back in order again. I have a decent amount of plants, but I would like to get some that target nitrates more. Currently I have several anubias plants which are slow growing, about a month ago I added 2 African Sword plants and they are starting to get some nice new growth, and some Java ferns, Wisteria and I am developing a moss wall with Java moss and an other variety of moss.

I'm usually pretty good with plants, but I managed to kill my dwarf Chain sword and my Pearl Weed from the Co-op. In a video from the Co-op I saw you could leave the plants in their pots and they would spread from there, latter i saw they cut the bottom off the planter pots don't know if that would of helped. The sword didn't like being left in the pot at all and fadded away. The Pearl Weed was doing very well, but I tried getting it to  root in the substrate by putting some gavel over it...bad idea. I finally pulled that pot out and there were a cupple of tiny green leaves still there. I'm trying to revive it in a sperate container.

Does anyone have trouble with a few zebras, dandios and penguin tetras getting along with guppies? The guppies are gone now, but the other 3 are doing great together.

Well that is my aqua adventures for this post,

have a good week,

Cisco

 

C

[Aquarium Task Day]

Here my bristle nose pleco that I rounded up for their trp to the aquarium shop. The other pic didn't turn out with the albinos.

[Aquarium Task Day]

Thanks, you got it right side up. 

I found the resize button it seemed to reduce the amount of data the pic uses.

Thanks again, glad you liked the pics.

[Aquarium Task Day]

How do I turn the last pic? It is upright in my file.

In the upside down front is the Dwarf Sagitturia which I managed to kill some how? Usually I am pretty good with plants. The other plant I bought from the Co-op Pearl Weed is doing great. the red plant is Nymphaeu Stellate bulb. Currently it is in remission which is a normal cycle for the bulb. Also, my bristle noses seem to love eating the stems of the nymphaeu so the leaves end up floating around my tank. By the exhast tubes is Anubius Nana and slighlty seen is the Water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis).  

 

And you can see the pre-filter sponge on the canister intake tube. I hope the pic are not too big. Not sure yet how to shrink them down.

[Aquarium Task Day]

August 21st

Hi to who ever might be reading this. 

This is really new to me, not sure what I'm doing at this point.  I got a big task done today in my 65g comunity tank. I rounded up 15 Bristle nose plecos (5 albinos and 10 more standard color grey, brown and black mix). I tried bating my net with alge tabs and shrimp got three that way, but it was slow. so I decieded to hunt them down and bagged them about an hour and a half ordeal. I ended up taking a lot of decore out.

I took them to my local aquarium shop Aquariam Paridice in Lakewood, Wa between Tacoma and JBLM. They are a good store and nice people. I want to ask them about carring some of the products from the Co-op.

Lets see if I can attach a pic of my tank.