Anubias Barteri with no roots

[MaloK]

Yes when you are done, you Do a 50% water change and introduce the full fish load at once. and monitor closely

You should wait until nitrogen levels are similar to: 0.0.40, This means cycle is done, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 40 Nitrate. And start immediately you water changes schedule.

We called it the nitrogen index in ppm... If you have fish in the tank, an index of 2.x.x means you are reaching deadly levels of ammonia: Water changes... x.75.x your nitrites are dangerously spiking: Water changes... x.x.40 Your nitrate level is pretty high: Water changes. Your goal is 0.0.<40 I used the maximum in each scale. Poison would be like 3.75.40 But keep in mind that even low level of exposure to nitrite for extended period are still toxic to fishes.

With fishless cyling you can reach all those deadly levels without hurting any fishes. And save a freaking lot of water changes.

 

[gilltyascharged]

Yes when you are done, you Do a 50% water change and introduce the full fish load at once. and monitor closely

You should wait until nitrogen levels are similar to: 0.0.40, This means cycle is done, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 40 Nitrate. And start immediately you water changes schedule.

We called it the nitrogen index in ppm... If you have fish in the tank, an index of 2.x.x means you are reaching deadly levels of ammonia: Water changes... x.75.x your nitrites are dangerously spiking: Water changes... x.x.40 Your nitrate level is pretty high: Water changes. Your goal is 0.0.<40 I used the maximum in each scale. Poison would be like 3.75.40 But keep in mind that even low level of exposure to nitrite for extended period are still toxic to fishes.

With fishless cyling you can reach all those deadly levels without hurting any fishes. And save a freaking lot of water changes.

Interesting! In the 9L I'm currently doing a planted cycle on, it has been set up for about two weeks with Taxiphyllum, Java Fern, Duckweed, and Anubias barteri 'nana'. Pre-soaked oak leaves were added to the water, which was RO treated with API's Quick Start for a head start of nitrifying bacteria. Four days in and biofilm began to grow (what I was hoping for, as this is to be a Neocaridina tank), and just the night before last I added a small ramshorn snail. The hope is that it will feast on the biofilm, producing waste, and then the plants in turn will be able to utilize the nutrients from such to grow and produce oxygen. From there (if my brain is going on the right track), the O2 will be able to combat the amount of CO2 being produced by the bacteria.

While completely up to the mods, it may be best to continue this conversation in a different thread. As much as I know I am learning from this, it is very off-topic from the original thread you created. Perhaps in a new planted cycling journal of sorts?

 

[MaloK]

I had to check back the title of the thread before replying

Im very far from an aquatic plant keeper. But with the answer you just gave, take a look a the Walstad method. Without going trough and removing filters ect... It's still a excellent lecture on how to attain "Natural Balance" in aquariums.

 

[MaloK]

It seems that lowering the Red is working, There is still no algae building back at the moment.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have been using Flourish Excel for about 20 years. At my peak I had 13 planted tanks (today it is 7(one 10l has all of 3 plants). The only planted tanks into which I did or do not add Excel was my high tech planted tank with pressurized CO2 added.

A number of the tanks hold or held both shrimp (amanos mostly but one had red cherry and the other blue dream). I have seen no evidence of any harm and have also added assassin snails to tanks and they too thrive. There are a few plants which do not do well with Excel.

The other thing is I do not overdose Excel and do not use it to treat algae etc. I add it to all planted tanks as I am refilling them after weekly maint. That is also when I add any water born fertilizes. I add substrate ferts about every 3 months.

Also, I take an anubias rhizome with no leaves and no roots but which I know is alive and toss it into a tank and some months down the road it has both leaves and roots. It is possible to ship a bare live rhizome across the globe and have it thrive after it arrives.

edited to add the last paragraph and fix typos

 

[MaloK]

Thanks for that, When I bought the bottle of Excel, I wonder why the manager asked me if I wanted to keep invertebrates before selling it to me...

Since the tank is super small, I only used 0.5ml / week, the plants seems to like it, but also my little red algae seem to love it too. I try to be always on the low side when dosing.

Today I'm going to add another dose and keep an eye on my algae progress. For the moment there is no evolution, I skipped last week dose.

But it works for real, You can see the plants shifting gears the days following dosage.

Now the Red light is at 10%, do you think I could slowly raise it, lets say 5% per week and roll back as soon as algae returns. To try to raise a little the temperature of the light. At the moment it looks cold like a lab refrigerator. Not really found of that.