Maq's experiment 23b

[_Maq_]

you stopped dosing micros in the lean tank

Yes. I suppose I can afford a break given the low doses of phosphorus and other macros.
At the same time, I've doubled the dosing in tank C - moderate. The snails' feces seem to be accumulating there. I wonder - why?
I suppose snails' feces are very poor in nutrients; they contain mainly carbon. Why the microbes are not interested? Because microbes cannot escape Redfield ratio. If there's a lack of nitrogen, phosphorus and micros, tons of delicious carbon mean nothing to them. So I reasoned, what about increasing micros?
That's that.

 

[_Maq_]

Day 30 was also a day of photographing:

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Day 30 was also a day of photographing

Are the new leaves on the Bacopa etc looking greener in "insane"? Assuming that is "A"?

cheers Darrel

 

[_Maq_]

Are the new leaves on the Bacopa etc looking greener in "insane"? Assuming that is "A"?

Yes and yes. Yet before situation with iron improved, Bacopa made several side-shoots.

 

[_Maq_]

Day 32: Water change 50 %.

 

[erwin123]

These stems from C- moderate seem the most promising. According to the first post on page 1, C has 2.815ppm K?

I assume that all the stems in this photo are A.Pedicatella Golden and for some reason the one of the left has (1) grown a lot faster (2) looks greener rather than yellow compared to the others?

But looking at the new growth, is it also stunted?

 

[_Maq_]

These stems from C- moderate seem the most promising. According to the first post on page 1, C has 2.815ppm K?

No. K is 0.938 ppm. And there are only TWO stems of Ammannia pedicellata Gold(en) in each tank. The one in the rear left is Rotala rotundifolia Orange Juice.
Frankly, I keep A. pedicellata in about seven tanks, various conditions, no breakthrough. 🙁
THIS IS THE VALID MINERALIZATION so that you don't have to search for it on previous pages.

 

[_Maq_]

Day 36: measuring

 

[John q]

Day 36: measuring

Do you think the low ph in tanks A, B and C are having any impact on plant health?

 

[erwin123]

No. K is 0.938 ppm. And there are only TWO stems of Ammannia pedicellata Gold(en) in each tank. The one in the rear left is Rotala rotundifolia Orange Juice.
Frankly, I keep A. pedicellata in about seven tanks, various conditions, no breakthrough. 🙁

Wow, didn't realise that the stem on the left was orange juice. Either its giant sized or the A. Pedicatella are tiny! A Pedicatella is normally several times the size of Rotala Rotundfolia and its variants like Orange juice. Noted you are using tropica levels of K (less than 1ppm) so those should be ideal for the plant.

 

[_Maq_]

Either its giant sized or the A. Pedicatella are tiny!

Ammannias are tiny. I know they should be much larger, but I took some side shoots from plants in my other tanks; they are pretty devastated. I don't think low K is the clue, I regularly dose low potassium.

Do you think the low ph in tanks A, B and C are having any impact on plant health?

We shall see. So far, I can't tell anything for certain. I'll make next set of pics on Day 40. Anyway, I'm pretty curious. Normally, I prefer avoiding pH below 5.0.

 

[sparkyweasel]

Not even @dw1305 with his disgust for marketing dishonesty has as yet gone as far as to admit the redundancy of filters (in most cases);

When I started fishkeeping a 'normal' tank was planted and not (artificially) filtered. 'Planted tank' was not a separate category.
Filters were for cichlid tanks or others where plants would get destroyed.

 

[_Maq_]

Day 37: Dosing micros.

 

[_Maq_]

Day 41:
(a) measuring data
(b) water change 50 %

 

[John q]

Wow. 3.62 & 3.79 ph in tanks A-B. Eagerly awaiting next picture update 😀

 

[MichaelJ]

@_Maq_ I wonder why the pH is so low in A and B. Those are very low readings. Now, while it may or may not be a problem for the plants I can only think of blackwater habitats (Rio Negro comes to mind) - often devoid of vegetation (in part because of the lack of light and low nutrient levels but possibly also low pH?) - where you find such acidic levels in nature.

Cheers.
Michael

 

[John q]

I wonder why the pH is so low in A and B.

My guess would be the nitrification of all that NH4. You often see the ph drop when you add ammonia to cycle a tank.

while it may or may not be a problem for the plants

Yes, will certainly be educational to see if the plants are still able to uptake certain nutrients at these low levels.

Thought provoking stuff. @_Maq_ are you still taking nitrate readings? Would have been interesting to see if these had remained constant, increased or reduced when compared to the ph readings.

 

[_Maq_]

Egerias in A & B seem to be unhappy. Note Planorbella snails still alive.

 

[_Maq_]

@_Maq_ I wonder why the pH is so low in A and B.

Nitrification. I don't see any other answer. Though I must admit that I've never expected nitrification to continue below pH=4. In fact, it's not long ago that I "discovered" that it may push pH below 5.

will certainly be educational to see if the plants are still able to uptake certain nutrients at these low levels.

I'd rather expect toxic effects from micros. So far so good, at least it seems so.

 

[John q]

Egerias in A & B seem to be unhappy

I'd say there is a mixed bag of plant health in all 4 tanks. I'd have assumed the rotala would have thrived in tank D, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

I suspect this test is throwing up more questions to you maq, than answers.