Nitrate & Ammonia Reduction Project

[FishHobby99]

Do believe I‘ve gone as far as possible for now in the big cichlid/catfish tank on using plants to improve ammonia & nitrate levels. Never all that bad due to weekly 75% water changes. Roots from two pothos are submerged & 4 large Lucky Bamboo stalks. May replace the “bamboo” with something else. It’s doing ok in this tank, but had to be removed from the two cold water tanks. The large stalks were fading to white. Also removed the Monstera. Looking pekid, nothing like the online photo.

Added several large Java ferns inside, mounted on 2

flat acrylic poles. This will keep them safe from my little excavators. YourFishStuff has a wide selection of Java ferns that are promptly shipped from NJ in tiptop condition.

 

[Colin_T]

Put some duckweed in the tank. It will strip out ammonia and the fish will eat it. A lot of the cichlids you have need some plant matter in their diet so duckweed would do 2 things for the tank. You can also grow duckweed outdoors and bring it in if the fish eat it all.

 

[FishHobby99]

I may try that using the loop like Bruce made, idk. Love watching these guys come to up to feed & am hesitant to float duckweed up there & litter the surface.

is duckweed any better at removing ammonia that Java fern? What about frogbite? It’s prettier than duckweed IMO

 

[Colin_T]

Java Fern is rubbish at removing nutrients because it is a marsh plant and grows really slowly underwater. Whereas duckweed is a floating plant and they grow faster than most aquatic plants. Duckweed can strip nutrients out of water very quickly. If you get too much, chuck it on the garden as a mulch.

 

[FishHobby99]

Really? But my Java is ever so lovely and mounted on vertical acrylic poles. My cold water Java’s are sprouting off babies, so some growth going on.

 

[Colin_T]

Java Fern is fine to have in a tank, it's just a slow growing plant, and slow growing plants don't use many nutrients.

 

[FishHobby99]

Do you think frogbit is as effective as duckweed?

 

[Essjay]

Most floating plants are good at removing nitrate, even stem plants like anacharis and hornwort if left to float. One advantage of others over duckweed is they are bigger plants making it much easier to remove them if you change your mind.

 

[FishHobby99]

I do believe the duckweed which met the trash can clogged up one of the 3 filters in my goldfish tank.
And I never observed them nibbling at it.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Aquatic plants use ammonium NH4 while the bacteria want the NH3. However, the plants can consume the ammonium much faster that the bacteria can consume NH3. The big difference between the two taking up thier part of the Total Ammonia (NH3 + NH4) is that the bacteria make nirtie then nitrate, the plants do no create nitrate in the water. No matter how many plants one has in a tank, they will also still have some amount of bacteria.

You can prevent duck weed from getting into filters by using a oprefilter sponge on the intake. This doesn't help with overflows but you can sponge the inlet line inside an oveflow. And intake sponge makes it easier to trap duckweed before it gets into the filter and to clean.

By using plants to consume ammonia one minimizes the amount of nitrate the tank itself might create. But it cannot prevent nitrate that comes in with one's tap water.

Most plants prefer ammonium to nitrate and will always use the ammonium first if it is avalable. When they use nitrate they have to use energy to turn it back into ammonium. However, there are a few plants that like nitrate and will readily use it, uusally these are the plant which have access to the air above the water surface. Duck weed is one such plant. the problem is the stuff is invasive.

From the minimal research I have done into aquatic plants and nitrate it would appear that duckweed and hornwort are two of the better nitrate removing plants.

Finally, read here but do so with a bit of skepticism- scroll down for the in depth info for each plant.
https://www.itsafishthing.com/best-aquarium-plants-to-reduce-nitrates/

 

[FishHobby99]

Nice link. I’m using pothos to uptake nitrates in my big cichlid/catfish tank. Many Javas & a few anubias there. Getting good results after about a month due to abundance of submerged pothos roots. Had been doing big weekly water changes. None this weekend. Best params ever!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Just know that if you introduce duckweed, you'll most likely never be able to get rid of it...frogbit is the better option, or water lettuce

 

[FishHobby99]

Thanks! Much appreciate! Plus it’s prettier.

 

[StevenF]

To consum nitrate plants need a lot micro nutrients. If you don't have enough micro nutrients the plants cannot grow and cannot consume any more nitrates. if your trimming the plants frequently you probably have enough micronutrients. If you rarely trim the plants or they don't look well then you probably need more micro nutrients.

 

[itiwhetu]

You should look at getting rid of the sand and installing an under-gravel filter, which will turn your substrate into a bio filter that will handle the problems you are having. Also, not all plants are equal, and your plant selection is not correct for what you are trying to achieve