Nitrates

[jonnyc88]

I wouldnt add any chemical product that claims to get rid of nitrates. You could always feed every other day rather than once a day.
Fish are opportunistic feeders and will eat when food is presented. Unless one is breeding or feeding fry fish can go days without eating.
Other than that one could mix RO water to decrease nitrate.

Yes, I've read that as well. As fairly new to fish keeping I suppose sometimes I worry that I starve them.

RO water is not really accessible for me here so I definitely need to control the Nitrate levels as much as possible.
I've read somewhere that some people even fast their fish once a week so I might consider that.
I suspect even though the fish always finishes what I give them, I'm still feeding too much.

 

[jonnyc88]

No feeding so far and just tested water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

Both ammonia and nitrites are zero.
Nitrates seems to be holding and to my eye even looked a bit lower, closer to 20ppm.

I plan to skip feeding today. Water is slightly cloudy past 3 days or so which I think is bacteria bloom. Not cause for concern as far as I’m aware.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I also agree that in terms of plant stocking I am probably there. I'd probably trim down the Heteranthera Zosterifolia a little. It's great growing plant and provides some anchorage for the floating Salvinias but seems to shed lots of dead leaves often, especially when they grow all the way to the surface. What are your thoughts on them? They are the long tall plants to the front left and middle rear of the tank.

I really like the heteranthera, personally I would let some of it grow tall at the back and one side, then keep some of the stuff in the mid and foreground trimmed shorter, replanting the cuttings to let it form some bushy areas, but play around with the scape and see what appeals to you!

Saw @mbsqw1d link this great page for aquascaping inspiration earlier and it made me so impatient to set up my new tanks, will be sharing this a lot I think

Inspiration for aquascapes and planted tanks - Tropica Aquarium Plants

inspirational layouts and aquascapes, ideas for planted tanks

tropica.com

 

[jonnyc88]

I really like the heteranthera, personally I would let some of it grow tall at the back and one side, then keep some of the stuff in the mid and foreground trimmed shorter, replanting the cuttings to let it form some bushy areas, but play around with the scape and see what appeals to you!

Saw @mbsqw1d link this great page for aquascaping inspiration earlier and it made me so impatient to set up my new tanks, will be sharing this a lot I think

Inspiration for aquascapes and planted tanks - Tropica Aquarium Plants

inspirational layouts and aquascapes, ideas for planted tanks

tropica.com

I’m also thinking of moving the heteranthera to the left and some on the right of the centrepiece to the middle back as they are obscuring some of the other plants. Perhaps even getting more Egeria Najas to replace the heteranthera on the front left.

The flow is really strong on the front/middle right part of the tank so that’s a no-no for most plants

 

[mbsqw1d]

Vallisneria is often used as a background plant that grows to forms some surface cover. It does fairly quickly, not as fast as anacharis, and is a little 'neater' as it just grows straight like grass with no offshoots that a stem plant has. It almost creates a curtain along the back of the tank.


Aquariums are often very sterile, with a clean and inert substrate, plastic ornaments and plants, some dentrifying bacteria helping to detoxify fish waste, and a human armed with a syphon, dutifully keeping the place spotless. Its miles away from the home the fish have spent millennia evolving in. But, its a relatively safe environment; regular water changes remove nitrate, and gravel vacuuming, filter cleaning, lowers the risk of harbouring any dangerous pathogens.

There's different schools of thought with regards to the decomposition of organics such as fish waste, driftwood, dried leaves - almond, oak.. (not uneaten food from overfeeding). Some see the development of mulm from detritus as a means of creating dissolved organic matter (DOM) that adds beneficial carbon and humic substances (what makes soil good) to the substrate. Together with the assistance of organisms like snails, the substrate becomes an enriched mixture allowing for healthy plant growth. The microorganisms responsible for decomposition also create a lower level food chain (infusoria) perfect for bottom feeders such as corydoras and also fry.
Furthermore, the tannic acids released by some decomposing organics have proven antifungal properties.

The other thought process, is that this layer of dirt in your tank, is the perfect breeding ground for parasites and pathogens. Which is true. However its not the fault of the decomposed organics, its us (and fish farms) for introducing these nasty creatures to the tank. Its a shame. Because much like how our lives have now become, facemasks and hand gel, its probably better to keep the tank as clean as possible, even if this is unnatural for plants and fish.

Stress is widely known as the leading cause of many illness in fish. When a fish doesn't feel safe, because it doesn't recognise it's surroundings as natural (neon glittery pink gravel or a mismatched stocking of community fish), it becomes stressed. This compromises their immune systems and makes them susceptible to the pathogens living in the water. Much like how we are constantly surrounded by viruses and bacteria, but our immune system is keeping them at bay.
A well planted tank provides them with a stress free environment. Some plants also release allelochemicals that work to inhibit growth of some algae such as cyanobacteria. (Cyanobacteria releases cyanotoxins which are dangerous to fish).

All in all I believe there's a strong relationship between fish and plants, and its a well known fact that plants love dirt.
Keeping everything pristine clean, buying filtration, water treatments, and stocking up on aquatic medicines should the fish succumb to an illness (because they're stressed...), certainly keeps the pockets of the fish keeping businesses topped up.


Anyway, sorry for the waffle!

If theres a chance of overfeeding, and in a bid to help keep those nitrates low, I'd recommend adding some type of snail if you haven't already. They're great at indicating whether you're overfeeding, as their population will explode from eating the excess food.

And yes Vallis, I recommend some Vallis!

 

[jonnyc88]

Vallisneria is often used as a background plant that grows to forms some surface cover. It does fairly quickly, not as fast as anacharis, and is a little 'neater' as it just grows straight like grass with no offshoots that a stem plant has. It almost creates a curtain along the back of the tank.


Aquariums are often very sterile, with a clean and inert substrate, plastic ornaments and plants, some dentrifying bacteria helping to detoxify fish waste, and a human armed with a syphon, dutifully keeping the place spotless. Its miles away from the home the fish have spent millennia evolving in. But, its a relatively safe environment; regular water changes remove nitrate, and gravel vacuuming, filter cleaning, lowers the risk of harbouring any dangerous pathogens.

There's different schools of thought with regards to the decomposition of organics such as fish waste, driftwood, dried leaves - almond, oak.. (not uneaten food from overfeeding). Some see the development of mulm from detritus as a means of creating dissolved organic matter (DOM) that adds beneficial carbon and humic substances (what makes soil good) to the substrate. Together with the assistance of organisms like snails, the substrate becomes an enriched mixture allowing for healthy plant growth. The microorganisms responsible for decomposition also create a lower level food chain (infusoria) perfect for bottom feeders such as corydoras and also fry.
Furthermore, the tannic acids released by some decomposing organics have proven antifungal properties.

The other thought process, is that this layer of dirt in your tank, is the perfect breeding ground for parasites and pathogens. Which is true. However its not the fault of the decomposed organics, its us (and fish farms) for introducing these nasty creatures to the tank. Its a shame. Because much like how our lives have now become, facemasks and hand gel, its probably better to keep the tank as clean as possible, even if this is unnatural for plants and fish.

Stress is widely known as the leading cause of many illness in fish. When a fish doesn't feel safe, because it doesn't recognise it's surroundings as natural (neon glittery pink gravel or a mismatched stocking of community fish), it becomes stressed. This compromises their immune systems and makes them susceptible to the pathogens living in the water. Much like how we are constantly surrounded by viruses and bacteria, but our immune system is keeping them at bay.
A well planted tank provides them with a stress free environment. Some plants also release allelochemicals that work to inhibit growth of some algae such as cyanobacteria. (Cyanobacteria releases cyanotoxins which are dangerous to fish).

All in all I believe there's a strong relationship between fish and plants, and its a well known fact that plants love dirt.
Keeping everything pristine clean, buying filtration, water treatments, and stocking up on aquatic medicines should the fish succumb to an illness (because they're stressed...), certainly keeps the pockets of the fish keeping businesses topped up.


Anyway, sorry for the waffle!

If theres a chance of overfeeding, and in a bid to help keep those nitrates low, I'd recommend adding some type of snail if you haven't already. They're great at indicating whether you're overfeeding, as their population will explode from eating the excess food.

And yes Vallis, I recommend some Vallis!

No need to apologise, I always enjoy feedback and advice from more experienced members to improve

I've actually spotted 2 baby Ramshorn snails that somehow made their way into the tank. Probably from either the marimos or egeria najas I've recently added. I'll keep an eye out for the population however for now I don't really mind them.

I need to try and "hoover" the subtrate more during water changes, it's a bit of a challenge with fine substrate and also the grass. To be fair I can hardly find any debris on the substrate these few days, maybe few tiny specs. I definitely need to control my feeding as with my stocking level it's easy to overdo it, even if there's no leftovers.

I will have a look at the few tall plants suggested - Anacharis and Vallisneria.

I decided to tidy up the plants in my tank to look less cluttered. Removed some of the heteranthera down as well as I think there are too many of them. Whilst the heteranthera grows quick and tall they can get a bit messy with lots of dead leaves.
As you can see the slight cloudiness is still there but parameters is ok.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Tiny baby panda cory sighting!
Love those little guys so much. My water isn't soft enough for them sadly, but there are some other lovely cories I should be able to have. But something about pandas is special, they're absolutely adorable, especially as tiny babies

 

[seangee]

I will have a look at the few tall plants suggested - Anacharis and Vallisneria.

For my money vallisneria is the obvious choice out of those 2. Anacharis can look quite messy and is a bit hit and miss. If anything along the back left corner and halfway across the same side to cover the heater and pipework. TBH I'm not sure you need any more plants as what you have will grow in nicely. Love the look of the stargrass - in fact I may try to find some for one of my tanks .
If you are concerned about nitrates its best to be under filtered rather than over. You want the plants to deal with the ammonia before the filter has a chance. That way you should be able to stop your nitrates from increasing.

 

[jonnyc88]

Tiny baby panda cory sighting!
Love those little guys so much. My water isn't soft enough for them sadly, but there are some other lovely cories I should be able to have. But something about pandas is special, they're absolutely adorable, especially as tiny babies

My tank isn’t large enough for pleco so corydoras are the next best choice for bottom dwellers.

And yes, they are absolutely adorable. I have both peppered and panda corydoras and love them to bits

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

For my money vallisneria is the obvious choice out of those 2. Anacharis can look quite messy and is a bit hit and miss. If anything along the back left corner and halfway across the same side to cover the heater and pipework. TBH I'm not sure you need any more plants as what you have will grow in nicely. Love the look of the stargrass - in fact I may try to find some for one of my tanks .
If you are concerned about nitrates its best to be under filtered rather than over. You want the plants to deal with the ammonia before the filter has a chance. That way you should be able to stop your nitrates from increasing.

Which one is the stargrass? Is it the obviously grassy looking one that's dotted around like the beginnings of a carpet? Feels like an obvious answer, but sometimes plant names are deceptive! And I struggle to tell the difference between hair grass, dwarf sag, and this

 

[jonnyc88]

For my money vallisneria is the obvious choice out of those 2. Anacharis can look quite messy and is a bit hit and miss. If anything along the back left corner and halfway across the same side to cover the heater and pipework. TBH I'm not sure you need any more plants as what you have will grow in nicely. Love the look of the stargrass - in fact I may try to find some for one of my tanks .
If you are concerned about nitrates its best to be under filtered rather than over. You want the plants to deal with the ammonia before the filter has a chance. That way you should be able to stop your nitrates from increasing.

I had quick google and don’t the Anacharis would suit my tank. Vallis could work but as many have advised I’ll probably leave the plant stocking alone for now and deal with water issues first

I am bit wary planting to close to intake as the flow is pretty strong but might consider doing something to the back near the heater.

 

[jonnyc88]

Just tested water and got some strange readings.
I haven’t fed for 24 hours and have tidied plants since.

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: Just above 0 but lower than 0.25ppm. Perhaps 0.15ppm?
Nitrate: Definitely much lower. Close to 10ppm

Not too sure why Nitrite increased a little but I will do a water change tonight or tomorrow.

Will give very small feed in the evening.

 

[seangee]

Which one is the stargrass? Is it the obviously grassy looking one that's dotted around like the beginnings of a carpet? Feels like an obvious answer, but sometimes plant names are deceptive! And I struggle to tell the difference between hair grass, dwarf sag, and this

Heteranthera zosterifolia - the long one at the back

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Heteranthera zosterifolia - the long one at the back

Ah, see? This is why I'm glad I asked! Thank you

Do you think if trimmed shorter, say, cut it half, then the top half replanted among the others, it would look less straggly and more like a shrubbery type thing, since the other stems would fill in the gaps where the first ones don't have leaves?
More like this?

 

[FishGuest5123]

Tiny baby panda cory sighting!
Love those little guys so much. My water isn't soft enough for them sadly, but there are some other lovely cories I should be able to have. But something about pandas is special, they're absolutely adorable, especially as tiny babies

Pandas aren’t very hardy. I would steer clear of them. Your tank is overstocked and will continue having nitrate problems until it really gets established. Mine took about 9 months because of the large size of my fish. Keep up the large water changes. I even had to do a mid-week one for a couple of months.