New member. Joined after hearing rumors.

[boylesdowntothis]

Hello y'all, I'm new to this forum. I've been hearing rumors that this is a place where people are constructive and nice to each other.

I've been searching for such a group. I've witnessed many a forum with 'attack dogs' waiting to pounce. From what I'm told, this place will be a welcome relief from that nonsense. 

I am a quantum chemist for JPL in beautiful Pasadena CA. I specialize in nuclear chemistry, and I've had freshwater aquariums of various sizes and numbers for 40 years. 

I follow aquarium coop and others with YouTube channels regularly. What brought my attention to Aquarium CO-OP was actually another rumor.

A salesman at Petsmart showed me that they now add Lucky Bamboo to every hang on back filter because of an article the company saw somewhere in this forum. 

Would anyone be able to direct me to that article and/or if it's still posted here?

Thank you and I'm really looking forward to learning from y'all.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hi, and welcome!  It's true!  Everyone's nice and actually constructive, sharing knowledge and helping each other out.  This video features Irene who works at Aquarium Co Op. She talks about optimizing the filter, and in hers she puts pothos, but bamboo has the same effect.  I will try to find the article specific to bamboo, but this video should get you going in the meantime!

 

[Patrick_G]

Welcome! It is indeed a friendly place. 
 

The study on nitrate reduction using bamboo and other emergents
https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/17638-alternative-nitrate-reduction-via-emergents/

Edited August 25, 2022 by Patrick_G

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Let me introduce you to @Guppysnail. She's the QUEEN of bamboo!  These are her tanks!

 

 

 

 

 

OK here we go. Scroll down to "Emergent Plants"

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/plants-for-african-cichlids?_pos=5&_sid=29b1dc1f1&_ss=r

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

Hi and welcome. Heavily moderated forum by fantastic moderators. No attack dogs allowed 😁

Here is the article and @dasaltemelosguy article you are speaking of. He has done several incredibly informative articles for us. The second thread is his “Cove” video of the 7 FOOT tall bamboo from his experiment with nitrate reduction. 

 

[drewzero1]

Welcome! I've been on the forum for just over a year, and found the interactions to be overwhelmingly positive.

I keep pothos in a HOB flow-through breeder box, mostly because I was already trying to root some cuttings in jars and kept forgetting to change/fill the water. Now they're growing great and taking up excess nutrients from my tank... win-win!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Do you guys  put a light over top of the bamboo?

[Guppysnail]

On 8/25/2022 at 12:53 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Do you guys  put a light over top of the bamboo?

Yes. I started with one as it grew I needed brighter because nitrate reduction and growth slowed. Then it happened again so I installed a brighter one hanging higher. He has a sky light (I think)and lights. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Guppysnail

[boylesdowntothis]

On 8/25/2022 at 9:37 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Hi, and welcome!  It's true!  Everyone's nice and actually constructive, sharing knowledge and helping each other out.  This video features Irene who works at Aquarium Co Op. She talks about optimizing the filter, and in hers she puts pothos, but bamboo has the same effect.  I will try to find the article specific to bamboo, but this video should get you going in the meantime!

 

Thank you. I already feel welcome here. This response is so nice. Also thank you for this video link. The article I'm searching for is supposed to be a long, scientific article on how specific plants use nitrates and how light color affects nitrate use? The article I'm looking for I do not believe is a video as I'm told it's a long, detailed research project. I'm sorry if I'm wasting everyone's time as I thought it was posted at aquarium coop but I may be mistaken. Still very happy to be here. Thank's y'all!

[Guppysnail]

On 8/25/2022 at 1:08 PM, boylesdowntothis said:

Thank you. I already feel welcome here. This response is so nice. Also thank you for this video link. The article I'm searching for is supposed to be a long, scientific article on how specific plants use nitrates and how light color affects nitrate use? The article I'm looking for I do not believe is a video as I'm told it's a long, detailed research project. I'm sorry if I'm wasting everyone's time as I thought it was posted at aquarium coop but I may be mistaken. Still very happy to be here. Thank's y'all!

Yes the first nitrate reduction thread is the long scientific article the light colors were mentioned throughout the thread and their affects on nutrient uptake. The second is his personal journal just showing his huge bamboo.  He is a scientist as well as a great guy and friend. 

[boylesdowntothis]

On 8/25/2022 at 9:50 AM, Guppysnail said:

Hi and welcome. Heavily moderated forum by fantastic moderators. No attack dogs allowed 😁

Here is the article and @dasaltemelosguy article you are speaking of. He has done several incredibly informative articles for us. The second thread is his “Cove” video of the 7 FOOT tall bamboo from his experiment with nitrate reduction. 

 

@Guppysnail that's it! Thank you. I didn't know it had a video too. It's quite well known around here as it's difficult to find a tank in a store without lucky bamboo growing out of it. I was told by a manager at Petco they adopted bamboo as their nitrate reducer, also from your article. Thanks a million!

[redfish]

Welcome aboard.  There are a lot of helpful folks around here.  I've started experimenting with pothos after reading about it here.

Edited August 25, 2022 by redfish

[Odd Duck]

@dasaltemelosguy’s tanks and the nitrate reduction thread inspired me to figure out a way to get live plants into my 75 G Jack Dempsey tank.  My thread is linked below.  My tank is in front of a west facing window in Texas.  It is partially shaded by outside trees, the pothos I have growing down the back of the tank from the HOB’s and directly in the tank, but does get direct sun for a fair amount of the afternoon and early evening.  Pic from today, bamboo is about 5.5” tall from the bottom of the pot to the tallest leaf.  This tank is definitely not spotless since my water changes aren’t done as often as they should be, but for a very lazy fishkeeper they look pretty decent all things considered.  I’ve got some swords floating and growing in there that I really need to move.

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Odd Duck

[dasaltemelosguy]

Wow! They're huge. It is so lush and beautiful too. Your nitrates must be a negative number 😆!

Your bamboo is 5.5'???

You're going to need a skylight soon! 

[Jawjagrrl]

On 8/25/2022 at 12:31 PM, boylesdowntothis said:

Hello y'all, I'm new to this forum. I've been hearing rumors that this is a place where people are constructive and nice to each other.

You heard right...and welcome! Fair warning - this group fully enables MTS (multiple tank syndrome). I had one nano tank when I joined this forum. I now have (2) 75gal, (2) 55gal, (3) 5gal, (1) 2.5gal, (1) 3gal and a 1.75gal no-tech beverage dispenser with a growing shrimp colony 🙂

I have a spider plant growing from the shrimp jar and pothos in my 75s. I found a really cool little hanger on etsy (called poth-o-carry) for the pothos that works well for mangrove cuttings (like Cory has in his fishroom) that would probably do fine with bamboo  if it is small enough. I'm a big fan of plants for nitrate control whether they are emersed or full aquatic. I started with african cichlids in the 90s and would have a hard time going back now, really loving the plants.

[PerceptivePesce]

@boylesdowntothiswhoah, a quantum chemist that works with jet propulsion.  That's so cool!  Have you seen the Strange Angel series?  It was based on Jack Parsons life, a rocket surgeon.  I'm new, too.  Will you teach me chemistry so I can dial in my aquarium? :D

[boylesdowntothis]

Thank y’all for the warm welcome. I already see a vibe here that is totally different from most forums.

@Jawjagrrl, l I hope I don’t catch mts but it looks very contagious around here!

@PerceptivePesce, in all honestly, you probably know more about aquarium chemistry than I do. I've only restarted the hobby months ago and for now, have one tank. I see a steep learning curve in my future here.

I coordinate and facilitate scientific teams at JPL.  When I was younger I was more active in the sciences than the operations. Now I direct and correlate other scientists works more than actual analysis.

Thank y’all for the warm welcome and the link @Guppysnail. That nitrate article you sent me to is amazing! To find something of that depth in a forum is very unexpected. If I saw this in a scientific publication yes, but it’s quite unusual for a forum. May I ask, is this sort of thing typical here? If it is, I’m in heaven!

But I’m very happy to be here and really appreciate the warm welcome.

[Guppysnail]

If you look below @dasaltemelosguy post in his signature (I am including a picture of where to find the links) those are links to other fantastic scientific articles he has written for us. I was privileged to most recently work on Reverse Respiration with him. I’ll link the thread for that. it’s lengthy but informative including our microscope shots and links. 
There are other non scientific learning threads on here that are amazingly full of real and useful info and not just parroted internet stuff. 

 

[Ken Burke]

On 8/25/2022 at 11:31 AM, boylesdowntothis said:

Hello y'all, I'm new to this forum. I've been hearing rumors that this is a place where people are constructive and nice to each other.

I've been searching for such a group. I've witnessed many a forum with 'attack dogs' waiting to pounce. From what I'm told, this place will be a welcome relief from that nonsense. 

I am a quantum chemist for JPL in beautiful Pasadena CA. I specialize in nuclear chemistry, and I've had freshwater aquariums of various sizes and numbers for 40 years. 

I follow aquarium coop and others with YouTube channels regularly. What brought my attention to Aquarium CO-OP was actually another rumor.

A salesman at Petsmart showed me that they now add Lucky Bamboo to every hang on back filter because of an article the company saw somewhere in this forum. 

Would anyone be able to direct me to that article and/or if it's still posted here?

Thank you and I'm really looking forward to learning from y'all.

WELCOME!  We love you “sciencey “ types.  If you’ve been doing this for 40 years, I’m sure you have a lot to contribute. 

[Anjum]

Welcome @boylesdowntothis ! You're going to love it here. The breadth & depth of knowledge & experience here has been an unexpected surprise. And the civility, refreshing. 

[Odd Duck]

I have been here a bit over a year and am still surprised by the level of expertise and knowledge that I find. This forum most certainly is a very nice change from typical forums with how polite, helpful, and outright kind the members are to each other.

I like your name, BTW, PV=k (had to look up the formula).

Edited August 30, 2022 by Odd Duck

[boylesdowntothis]

My goodness. I must have my notifications set wrongly as I missed all of these new lovely responses. I apologize to all of you. I’m new and still trying to get an understanding of all of the features and nuances of this forum.

@Guppysnail, thank you for the link to the article on nitrates I was searching for. It’s an amazing work, not something you expect to see on a forum. Kudos to the authors and this forum for hosting work of that quality.

@Odd Duck, thank you for noticing my username. I guess a chemist just can’t help himself sometimes. I even have Boyles Law printed on tea-shirts!

I’ll definitely check out the article you recommended as well on ‘respiration’. I’m still in the perusal stage but I’m seeing some amazing posts here.  Thank y’all again for the warm welcome!