Floating plant recommendations

[Whitecloud09]

On 4/30/2024 at 9:10 PM, macdaddy36 said:

Still wondering how much food. Video of you feeding would be very helpful.

someone probably already asked these but:

what dechlorinator do you use?

what does ammonia read out of the tap?

 

 

Ohhhhhhhh……….ammonia out of tap…..yeah never thought about that, sorry for the late reply btw @macdaddy36. I use prime conditioner per change, I will video if I can tomorrow and post. As the light on the tank is off now. 
 

On 4/30/2024 at 11:51 PM, Tony s said:

@macdaddy36 This one here is what concerns me. The tank has been trying to be cycled since February at least, possibly earlier, and yet he keeps coming up with ammonia. Makes zero sense. Even over feeding would grow extra bacteria over time. Unless there’s something else going on 

Yeah. I thought I was cycled, I was patient on not adding fish to early and still now when the tank was going absolutely amazing, ammonia shows up and does not leave!!!! 😐

On 5/1/2024 at 2:59 AM, beastie said:

I think the ammonia is coming from elsewhere, like leaching from the rock decorations or substrate and is not related to the cycle perhaps. I have heard about wood leaching it or silicone from old tanks. Couldnt this be the case?

Very good thought @beastie…. I have no clue tho…… so weird.

[Whitecloud09]

Question that may not make sense and is a waist to post it….but could me adding the easy root tabs to the tank be causing it? Surely not right? But idk if this is just happening at the same time but every time I have added root tabs the  ammonia spikes. Tomorrow (as I am tired and about to go to bed tonight) will test tap on everything (ammonia nitrite nitrates and ph.) Thanks for the help so far @macdaddy36, @Tony s, @JettsPapa, @beastie.

[Whitecloud09]

I am still looking up all this, and came across this, 

Ammonia is rarely found in unpolluted surface water or well water, but water contaminated with sewage, animal wastes or fertilizer runoff may contain elevated levels. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has not established a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for ammonia in drinking water. I feel like there is a big possibility of ammonia in my tap, as I have tap water btw.

Keep making multiple posts, still trying to figure out WGY AND HOW this is even happening.

  @johnnyxxl, thanks for the recommendation as well, thinking of moving this ammonia thing to my journal or ammonia spike topic instead of talking about this in the plants forum.

Edited May 2 by Whitecloud09

[macdaddy36]

On 5/1/2024 at 8:55 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

I am still looking up all this, and came across this, 

Ammonia is rarely found in unpolluted surface water or well water, but water contaminated with sewage, animal wastes or fertilizer runoff may contain elevated levels. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has not established a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for ammonia in drinking water. I feel like there is a big possibility of ammonia in my tap, as I have tap water btw.

Keep making multiple posts, still trying to figure out WGY AND HOW this is even happening.

  @johnnyxxl, thanks for the recommendation as well, thinking of moving this ammonia thing to my journal or ammonia spike topic instead of talking about this in the plants forum.

If you think its in your tap you should test it

[Tony s]

On 5/1/2024 at 8:50 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

.but could me adding the easy root tabs to the tank be causing it

no, that adds nitrates for fertilizer

[johnnyxxl]

On 5/1/2024 at 8:55 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

I am still looking up all this, and came across this, 

Ammonia is rarely found in unpolluted surface water or well water, but water contaminated with sewage, animal wastes or fertilizer runoff may contain elevated levels. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has not established a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for ammonia in drinking water. I feel like there is a big possibility of ammonia in my tap, as I have tap water btw.

Keep making multiple posts, still trying to figure out WGY AND HOW this is even happening.

  @johnnyxxl, thanks for the recommendation as well, thinking of moving this ammonia thing to my journal or ammonia spike topic instead of talking about this in the plants forum.

Ammonia is in municipal water often as a part of chloramine (sp) I burned my plants and killed my fish back in the early 2000s after a hurricane when the boil warning was raised and I called the city about it.  Treated for chlorine and not the ammonia.  Huge water change because I was waiting for safe water.  Learned the hard way.

[Whitecloud09]

On 5/1/2024 at 9:02 PM, macdaddy36 said:

If you think its in your tap you should test it

So odd.. 0 ammonia @macdaddy36, @johnnyxxl, @Tony s. I am talking about the tap ammonia.

 

[Whitecloud09]

Could it be that I have plants (artificial for more hiding), causing this? Becaus they were in my 5g (  @Tony s you probably know of it with my betta that died) that had some ammonia right before he passed? Like it was .50 sometimes and so,e times 0. This most likely not the case, but I am trying to just figure this out somehow.

Here you go, the cartridge has been in there for 2 months and it says here 

The loss of a portion of a system's biofiltration capacity is a very common cause of ammonia spikes. This can happen, for example, when mechanical-filtration media (socks, sponges, etc.) are left in place long enough to become colonized with nitrifying bacteria and are then removed and replaced or aggressively rinsed.

Edited May 2 by Whitecloud09

[Whitecloud09]

Another thing that I will throw out there, could it be my Java fern? I think is rotting and look what I found here on the internet, and it says this ⬇️

This is where the cycle comes full circle. Plants (rotting vegetation) can be the cause of the ammonia spike, but they can also be the solution.
 Maybe it is the issue? 

Will plants cause an ammonia spike? That’s what the Q was too.

Here is some pictures & my Java fern

[Whitecloud09]

Real quick I apologize for maybe blowing up peoples phones if your followers of this topic, but here is a picture of my cartridge, it’s gotta be this or the rotting plants correct? 

[JettsPapa]

On 4/30/2024 at 4:56 PM, Whitecloud09 said:

. . . My ammonia read .25 this morning and i said "here we go again" (as for those who dont know i am currently in a ammonia spike).

Is this the ammonia spike you're concerned with, or did I miss a post with a higher value?  If this is it, I wouldn't worry about it.  It's such a small amount that it's not likely to cause any problems, and in any case, is within the margin of error of the test.

[Tony s]

On 5/2/2024 at 7:35 AM, Whitecloud09 said:

but here is a picture of my cartridge

No. Cartridge looks fine. I have several even more crusty. I just rinse and put back until they start to break down. 
 

possibly the fake plants. If they’re starting to break down. I wouldn’t think so though. They are made for aquariums. But they will break down. Dead rotting plants. Maybe. 
 

but if you’re not going over 0.25. You’re still okay 

[johnnyxxl]

On 5/2/2024 at 7:24 AM, Whitecloud09 said:

Another thing that I will throw out there, could it be my Java fern? I think is rotting and look what I found here on the internet, and it says this ⬇️

This is where the cycle comes full circle. Plants (rotting vegetation) can be the cause of the ammonia spike, but they can also be the solution.
 Maybe it is the issue? 

Will plants cause an ammonia spike? That’s what the Q was too.

Here is some pictures & my Java fern

Fern looks alive not perfect but ok, I doubt unless the artificial plants are the cause unless they came from like temu or some not so trustworthy source.  Let's retest your tap after letting it sit for the night. 

Your filter media I never replaced mine and only squeezed it out in my dirty water after learning about how the biological filtering works.  That will help you get stable.  Then after we get you there then you can replace the cartridges when they look totally worn out.  Because your tank will be able to deal with the biological load

[Whitecloud09]

On 5/2/2024 at 10:25 AM, johnnyxxl said:

Fern looks alive not perfect but ok, I doubt unless the artificial plants are the cause unless they came from like temu or some not so trustworthy source.  Let's retest your tap after letting it sit for the night. 

Your filter media I never replaced mine and only squeezed it out in my dirty water after learning about how the biological filtering works.  That will help you get stable.  Then after we get you there then you can replace the cartridges when they look totally worn out.  Because your tank will be able to deal with the biological load

Whoops, i already got rid of it. But i had the other one in there with it for a week then took out the old one @johnnyxxl

Also it is still sitting on top of my empty 5g. Does it matter if i put it back in the new one is in there and i added some bottled bacteria in there. The old one is dryed out too @johnnyxxl, @Tony s, @macdaddy36.

Nope. Did not come from Temu and yes i know they are not trustworthy as i have seen how cheap and fake everything is

[Whitecloud09]

Ok, gonna do a big huge change. A 50% to be exact. Might not be big but yeah i will let the tap sit tonight and recheck tommorow.

[Whitecloud09]

Back to the theme of the topic, I see hornwort can be a good floater, but will it steal nutrients from my root plants @beastie? As you mentioned something of that sort.

Just was seeing this, reading an article on ACs website about hornwort, down below. 
 

Does hornwort clean water? Fast-growing plants like hornwort are good at “cleaning” aquarium water because they consume waste compounds from the water (e.g., ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates produced by fish waste and excess fish food) and use it to grow more leaves. With enough light and nutrients, hornwort can easily grow 1-4 inches (3-10 cm) per week.

 

[Whitecloud09]

But it might steal the nutrients because of how fast it grows. But I might get ACs light and a new glass lid (maybe)