Trials and tribulations

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I don't know how to handle this news. Is the tank doomed or is it just a case of waiting for it to start working?
@dw1305 do you agree with @_Maq_ that nitrification is still not working as it should in my tank?

I'd guess it will be fine now you are adding less ammonia (NH3), although it might take a while for the <"microbial assemblage to re-stabilise">.

I don't tend to worry too much about anything else as long as I have <"plenty of oxygen"> and <"plants">, ideally including some with the <"aerial advantage">.

I would be wary of adding a fertiliser <"containing ammonia"> to the tanks with fish in them, but I'm using a fertiliser <"which contains urea"> (CO(NH2)2).

I'm a "lean doser" but I <"don't dose a set amount">, or aim <"for a target value">, I just use the <"health and leaf colour of a floating plant"> as a guide to <"adding nutrients">.

cheers Darrel

 

[LadyDay]

Hi all,

I'd guess it will be fine now you are adding less ammonia (NH3), although it might take a while for the <"microbial assemblage to re-stabilise">.

I don't tend to worry too much about anything else as long as I have <"plenty of oxygen"> and <"plants">, ideally including some with the <"aerial advantage">.

I would be wary of adding a fertiliser <"containing ammonia"> to the tanks with fish in them, but I'm using a fertiliser <"which contains urea"> (CO(NH2)2).

I'm a "lean doser" but I <"don't dose a set amount">, or aim <"for a target value">, I just use the <"health and leaf colour of a floating plant"> as a guide to <"adding nutrients">.

cheers Darrel

I try to judge the health of my floaty plants, I think it's a clever way of gauging the nutritional needs and comprehensive for those of us who are a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of fertilisation. I've looked into a fertiliser which contains KNO3 instead of Ammonia, which feels safer.

 

[Hufsa]

And it's not because I was pouring in too much for it to keep up, but it otherwise working fine (just new still)?

My opinion is that its just like that. The microbial assembly just wasn't ready for quite such a heavy load yet. But it will mature with time and now the water is alright I'd breathe a sigh of relief and carry on forwards 😊
If you add more fish later on, try to do it in as small groups as practical, to ease the microbes into their increased workload.
By the way, kubotais are said to be quite fragile fish.

 

[LadyDay]

My opinion is that its just like that. The microbial assembly just wasn't ready for quite such a heavy load yet. But it will mature with time and now the water is alright I'd breathe a sigh of relief and carry on forwards 😊
If you add more fish later on, try to do it in as small groups as practical, to ease the microbes into their increased workload.
By the way, kubotais are said to be quite fragile fish.

I still have Nitrite free water this morning and am very relieved! Now the tank can gradually mature and the fish thrive.
Yes, Kubotais are supposed to be sensitive, so no wonder they struggled with going directly into water with CO2, then being exposed to Nitrite. It's been a bad case of learning the hard way!

 

[LMuhlen]

I think I've definitely made a mistake. I was told to use enough untill Nitrate hit 25 ppm, I haven't made it near that much Nitrate, and they said that Tropica wildly understates how much is needed for a tank with any significant amount of plants. And with the EI it's-never-too-much confusion. All in all, I got it wrong.

Regardless of the validity of this suggestion which you were given, since your fertilizer is part ammonium and only part nitrate, you won’t be able to measure all the nitrogen as nitrates until the ammonium gets processed by the tank’s biology. And by the time that happens, probably some part of the nitrogen will have been consumed.

You would have to calculate the proportion of nitrogen that is nitrates in your fertilizer and reduce your 25 ppm goal accordingly. If it’s half and half, your aim would be 12.5 ppm nitrates.

That being said, I don’t really like the suggestion. It is allegedly hard and imprecise to measure nitrates. Most people calculate how much they add to the tank instead of measuring the water.

 

[LadyDay]

That being said, I don’t really like the suggestion. It is allegedly hard and imprecise to measure nitrates. Most people calculate how much they add to the tank instead of measuring the water.

I'm sorry I haven't replied until now. I guess one of the calculators on this site can help me figure out how much fertiliser to add.

 

[LadyDay]

So, things are going well and today I felt confident adding 12 teeny tiny Boraras naevus. Wow are they small when they go into an 80 liter tank! They've promptly disappeared in all the vegetation (the amount of algae covering the glass isn't exactly making it easier to see them, but I'm hesitant to scrape it off, worried it might just spread it). My curious Killi couldn't figure out if the new tiny recidents were interesting toys or some kind of new food (they've left them alone now). I hope I get to see and enjoy them once they've settled in. I originally wanted Norman's Lampeye and can't decide if I made the right call to go with the Boraras instead, a deciding factor was that the Lampeyes grow that that bit larger and the tank is still small after all.