What's Wrong With My Substrate (If Anything)?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I'm unlikely to have an anaerobic substrate. Therefore no need for MTS.

It is really just a matter of personal choice. I like snails and have them in all my tanks, other people (@Guest) have much better tanks than I will ever own and they don't have snails.

If I had to choose only one snail to keep it would be either Red Ramshorn or MTS. If I had harder water in the tanks I'd be very tempted by <"Theodoxus"> etc.

I should try a complete fertilizer. Any suggestions?

I'd try something like <"TNC Complete">.

I haven't got a personal recommendation, I tend to use <"whatever garden plant fertiliser"> I can find remaindered at the end of the season, topped up, when necessary by dry salts. The way I look at it is <"all ions are the same in solution">, and that is what really matters.

I don't encourage people to use mixes including urea, because of the risks involved with ammonia formation. From a personal point of view I think I understand the risks, and I also think they are probably one or two orders of magnitude lower than the risks of using CO2.

cheers Darrel

 

[jaypeecee]

Hi Darrel,

OK, here I go - another list:

(1) No immediate need for MTS but I do keep Zebra Nerites in all my tanks.

(2) Thanks for the suggestion of TNC Complete.

(3) I occasionally use Seachem Flourish Nitrogen but it does contain some urea. Seachem has this to say about it - "It provides nitrogen in both the nitrate form and the plant–preferred ammonium form. However, no free ammonia is released because the ammonium in Flourish Nitrogen™ is complexed and unavailable until utilized by the plants. Ammonium becomes available after conversion of urea (carbamide)".

(4) What do you consider to be the risks of using CO2 - apart from the need to limit dissolved CO2 to around the 30ppm mark? Did you once write an article for Pleco Planet about the effects of CO2 on Ancistrus?

JPC

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

No immediate need for MTS but I do keep Zebra Nerites in all my tanks.

I think Nerites are good algae eaters from a hard surface, but possibly less useful plants. I have soft water, and tend to like animals that will maintain a population in the tank, so I haven't tried them myself.

I occasionally use Seachem Flourish Nitrogen but it does contain some urea. Seachem has this to say about it - "It provides nitrogen in both the nitrate form and the plant–preferred ammonium form. However, no free ammonia is released because the ammonium in Flourish Nitrogen™ is complexed and unavailable until utilized by the plants. Ammonium becomes available after conversion of urea (carbamide)"

That is back to Seachem's <"advertising skill with wording">.

My guess would be that it is a <"Prime" like situation>. Seachem won't tell you how "Prime" works, but Amquel has a patent and I would be surprised, if in the case of both "Prime" and "Flourish Nitrogen", a compound similar to sodium hydroxymethanesulphonate wasn't involved.

What do you consider to be the risks of using CO2 - apart from the need to limit dissolved CO2 to around the 30ppm mark? Did you once write an article for Pleco Planet about the effects of CO2 on Ancistrus?

The risk for me is always asphyxiating the fish. If I was to add CO2 (which I'm never going to do) I would regard 15ppm as my upper limit.

I did write an article, it has had a few different homes, but it is presently at <"Plecoplanet">. It talks generally about the issues of <"keeping rheophilic fish in the aquarium">.Basically fish from cool fast, flowing water are particularly problematic to keep long term, because the oxygen supply must always exceed their oxygen demand. For most parameters you can get away with short periods when levels are sub-optimal.

cheers Darrel

.

 

[jaypeecee]

Hi Folks,

Firstly, Darrel, thanks for your latest reply.

Now, I am left with two questions. Obviously, I failed to see the mechanical damage to the E. bleheri that Edvet noted and Darrel expanded upon. What are the visible signs that I overlooked? Is it the collections of tiny patches on the leaves? I did see these but assumed it was a nutrient deficiency issue. I obviously did not know what I was looking for! The second part of my question is - has this damage (caused by the Clown Pleco) impeded the growth of other leaves?

JPC

 

[Zeus.]

Here

and

Its like the chlorophyll has been sucked out of the leaves leaving just the plants wall wall behind

 

[jaypeecee]

Hi Zeus,

Many thanks for your reply. Yes, I definitely have a case of mechanical damage! And I like your explanation - "Its like the chlorophyll has been sucked out of the leaves leaving just the plants wall wall behind". I'm now making progress.

JPC

 

[jaypeecee]

Hi Folks,

I transferred the Clown Pleco to another tank several weeks ago and the mechanical damage to the Amazon Sword has stopped. But, this plant refuses to grow in height. It has approximately eight healthy leaves all of which are roughly 15 cm in height. By now, I would have expected the tips of the leaves to be close to the water surface (35 cm water column height). CO2 concentration is around 30 ppm after stabilization. Elsewhere on UKAPS (but I can't remember where), someone was also having problems getting E. bleheri to grow in height. I seem to recall that too much light was suggested - is that a possibility?

JPC

 

[Edvet]

There are two amazon swords, bleheri and amazonica. One grows bigger then the other ( true bleheri is the bigger one as i remember, sadly most swords are hard to distinguish without the flower, sadly most sellers don't know which swords they sell.

 

[jaypeecee]

There are two amazon swords, bleheri and amazonica. One grows bigger then the other ( true bleheri is the bigger one as i remember, sadly most swords are hard to distinguish without the flower, sadly most sellers don't know which swords they sell.

Thanks for that, Edvet. The plant that I bought is from Tropica and it was individually packaged. Its label read Echinodorus bleherae.

JPC

 

[sparkyweasel]

Labels can get swapped around. I've got some nice Amazon Swords, but I don't know what species they are, as they were labelled Crytocoryne moehlmannii. The shop had a row of them, all labelled alike, so I think they arrived like that, especially as the shop guy was quite sure they were Echinodorus sp. 🙂

 

[alto]

Tropica’s E bleharae is decidedly the “big” one 😉

Your plant may take longer than a few weeks to recover - having its matured leafs constantly stripped over the last months (?), then putting out new leafs, only to have those damaged as well, means that plant is likely energy deficient (there should be stores of “energy” in the rosette, but sounds like this plant has been struggling to keep leaf production ahead of leaf destruction)
Emersed the plant can recover more quickly than submersed

 

[jaypeecee]

Tropica’s E bleharae is decidedly the “big” one 😉

Your plant may take longer than a few weeks to recover - having its matured leafs constantly stripped over the last months (?), then putting out new leafs, only to have those damaged as well, means that plant is likely energy deficient (there should be stores of “energy” in the rosette, but sounds like this plant has been struggling to keep leaf production ahead of leaf destruction)
Emersed the plant can recover more quickly than submersed

Hi alto,

Thanks for the feedback. There is definitely something amiss with the E. bleheri/bleherae but you may be right. The E.Chrileni 20cm away from it is now putting out a flower/runner - and new leaves.

JPC