Matti
Member
What you have been told is to get an expensive oversized filter, throw away the filter sponges and use Matrix with strong a flow. The filter is super effective in converting ammonium to nitrates which the plants will use. And this is good and the only right way to go.
But is this all wrong?
I read Wahlstad's "The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" and as every one who has read the book knows, one of the confusing parts is chapter 7 "Plant nutrition and ecology":
-"Aquatic plants can use ammonium (NH4+), nitrite (NO2-) or nitrate (NO3-) as their nitrogen source. Many aquatic plants have been found to prefer ammonium over nitrates, and this preference is substantial."
-"My point is that plants readily take up ammonium from aquarium water and probably grow better using ammonium. This means that biological filtration (nitrification) can be de-emphasized in aquariums that contain healthy aquatic plants."
-"Plants use the N of ammonium (not nitrate) to synthesize their proteins.5 So if nitrifying bacteria convert all ammonium to nitrates, plants are forced– at a great energy cost– to convert nitrates back to ammonium.
The energy loss can be detrimental to sensitive plants."
-"In my planted tanks I have been surprised at how little biological filtration is actually required. When I decreased biological filtration (by removing the filter media in the canister filters), I had fewer problems with nitrate accumulation and water acidification."
So too strong bio-filtration makes the plants suffer and cause algae?
Did I do it wrong by installing an Oase Biomaster 250 to my 55l planted tank? Instead of keeping the HBO and just replacing the bio media with a course sponge?
What makes Wahlstad's book interesting that it is the only book about aquariums where the author has real data to back her claims. For e.g the number of scientifical papers of only chapter seven is 88.
But is this all wrong?
I read Wahlstad's "The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" and as every one who has read the book knows, one of the confusing parts is chapter 7 "Plant nutrition and ecology":
-"Aquatic plants can use ammonium (NH4+), nitrite (NO2-) or nitrate (NO3-) as their nitrogen source. Many aquatic plants have been found to prefer ammonium over nitrates, and this preference is substantial."
-"My point is that plants readily take up ammonium from aquarium water and probably grow better using ammonium. This means that biological filtration (nitrification) can be de-emphasized in aquariums that contain healthy aquatic plants."
-"Plants use the N of ammonium (not nitrate) to synthesize their proteins.5 So if nitrifying bacteria convert all ammonium to nitrates, plants are forced– at a great energy cost– to convert nitrates back to ammonium.
The energy loss can be detrimental to sensitive plants."
-"In my planted tanks I have been surprised at how little biological filtration is actually required. When I decreased biological filtration (by removing the filter media in the canister filters), I had fewer problems with nitrate accumulation and water acidification."
So too strong bio-filtration makes the plants suffer and cause algae?
Did I do it wrong by installing an Oase Biomaster 250 to my 55l planted tank? Instead of keeping the HBO and just replacing the bio media with a course sponge?
What makes Wahlstad's book interesting that it is the only book about aquariums where the author has real data to back her claims. For e.g the number of scientifical papers of only chapter seven is 88.