Plant help questions

seangee said:

Ah - didn't realise you were still doing daily changes.

1. What (if any) ferts are you using? (may affect the readings, may also apply if you are using some sort of specialist plant substrate)
2. How much water are you changing daily?
3. What are your readings immediately before and immediately after the water change?
4. What time of day do you change the water?

No science behind #4 . Would suggest extending the period between changes and observing what happens. Assuming you are stuck at home like the rest of us this would work best if you change first thing in the morning as you can "skip" the change and check in on your fish every hour. Obviously this is more risky if you change it just before going to bed as you can't observe the fish while you're asleep.

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1. What (if any) ferts are you using? (may affect the readings, may also apply if you are using some sort of specialist plant substrate)
   No fertiliser now the plants are growing
2. How much water are you changing daily?
3. Been doing 30-50% daily for the last 4 days
4. What are your readings immediately before and immediately after the water change?
5. Readings for nitrite are around 2-3ppm more like 3-4 today. 50 nitrate today after a 50% water change yesterday. The water change dilutes the readings by about half, then back up after 24 hours.
6. What time of day do you change the water?
7. Morning time
   
   Todays reading: Ammoinia has been at 0 for 2 days.
8. 

seangee said:

Sorry if you have posted already and I missed it - could you post a pic of your strip when you test the tap water?
I do use that brand of strip and have always found them to be reliable (although I don't trust that nitrite is really 2ppm - mine always stays white).

Hint: If you cut the strips in half lengthwise you will have twice as many strips . Make sure the scissors are clean and dry and you don't touch any of the test pads.

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seangee said:

The test results certainly look like a cycle is still in progress. This is supported by the fact that you previously had an ammonia reading and now don't. Ignore the numbers (which are obviously wrong) and assume pink means nitrite present and white means no nitrite. When it gets to white you are safe. You can ignore the nitrate readings because the nitrate test includes nitrite so you are double counting until the nitrite has gone.

The plant matter is not causing the problem. Remove any decaying bits when you see them but at the level of your pics the plants are doing a lot more good than harm. Most aquatic plants grow by division so any green leaves that break off are still photosynthesizing.

Just FWIW I would change 75% of the water. Even if it is not at dangerous levels removing 75% is better than removing 50%.

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PheonixKingZ said:

Definitely remove any dead or decayed plant matter.

The plants in the large cup look very light green. What plant is that?

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Ben2522 said:

Hi its all mainly coming off the wysteria.

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PheonixKingZ said:

Is it easily falling off? Or did you pick all of those off?

If they easily fell off, the plant isn’t very healthy. It should be hard to pick them.

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Ben2522 said:

Hi. I just shook the plants and it came off. Probably been there a while. First time I have shook them since adding. the plants look pretty healthy, green and stuff. The majority of each plant seems strong

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Byron said:

You should be adding a comprehensive plant fertilizer. The plants are taking up ammonia, but there is little else in the way of nutrients in a new tank, and six small fish in a 55g will not produce sufficient for the Wisteria to thrive.

If you have it, or if you can get to a store, a small bottle of either Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium or Brightwell Aquatics FlorinMulti will work. As you are presumably in the UK, there is a plant fertilizer that came up in two or three threads this week and it looks OK to me. It is TNC Lite, here's the link:

TNC Lite | The Nutrient Company

thenutrientcompany.com

The TNC Complete I do not recommend because it has nitrate and phosphorus, neither or which should be added as they will be sufficient naturally. The TNC Lite looks good. Whichever of the three I've mentioned, a small bottle should do you.

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Byron said:

You should be adding a comprehensive plant fertilizer. The plants are taking up ammonia, but there is little else in the way of nutrients in a new tank, and six small fish in a 55g will not produce sufficient for the Wisteria to thrive.

If you have it, or if you can get to a store, a small bottle of either Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium or Brightwell Aquatics FlorinMulti will work. As you are presumably in the UK, there is a plant fertilizer that came up in two or three threads this week and it looks OK to me. It is TNC Lite, here's the link:

TNC Lite | The Nutrient Company

thenutrientcompany.com

The TNC Complete I do not recommend because it has nitrate and phosphorus, neither or which should be added as they will be sufficient naturally. The TNC Lite looks good. Whichever of the three I've mentioned, a small bottle should do you.

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Byron said:

This is even more puzzling. I can assure you that no fish would be alive in water with a nitrite level of 5 ppm. It is simply impossible. So there muyst be something causing a false reading (not meaning the test kit, something chemistry-related).

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