Where's the nitrate?

Karen Garza wrote in
link.net:

No plants in tank 3 because it is temporary for the eels, and eels
*dig* I tell you! I don't think plants would do well with the eels
always digging them up.

I have kept many peacocks in planted aquaria. Just be sure to use deep
rooted plants, like crypts, swords, etc.

~Empty

--
'You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it
kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other
till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains,
children, it's blood... blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may
be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.'
Spike

"Karen Garza" wrote in message
hlink.net...

Ah, this makes sense. I can see that it would definitely be stressfull
to the fish to do too many big water changes.

More frequent small water changes are less stressful to the fish than
infrequent big water changes.

The only neons that have died are the one that died before I even got it
in the tank,

Hmmm... We can hardly blame your tank for that then, can we? ;-)

and the one that the larger tetra (I still don't know what
kind of tetra) violently munched in tank 1. That tetra didn't simply
bite into the neon, he munched down about half of the neon in one big
bite then violently shook the neon side to side.

Somehow, I think it unlikely that your nitrate levels have anything to
do with that :-)

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

Are you using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals's nitrate test kit?

Squidvark wrote:
Are you using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals's nitrate test kit?

Yep, that's the one.

Karen

On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 04:36:45 GMT, Karen Garza
wrote:



Rick wrote:

it is likely that your weekly 30% water changes reduce your nitrate below
measurable levels. I do weekly 50% water changes in my heavily planted 77g
tank and dry dose ferts twice a week including a 1/2 tsp of KN03 (nitrate)
and I still don't measure much nitrate. Your plants will also be using up
nitrate. I wouldn't worry about it, seems everything is running o.k for you.
As far as daily 50% water changes are concerned you could do that if you had
the time but why bother.

Thanks for the info :-) I had read that there should be some nitrate in
the water, so I was a bit concerned that there isn't any nitrate in my
tanks. But if it doesn't matter then I won't worry about it.
I don't plan on doing daily 50% water changes. I was just wondering if
that was possible. I thought it was. I'll stick to my once or twice per
week water changes.
Thanks
Karen


I make weekly 20% water changes. I have 5 tanks: 75,29 and 3 10s.
Rather than rely on test kits, I keep watch on my fish. I can always
make extra water changes or run tests, but when the water quality is
getting iffy, my fish seem less active, tend to stay on the bottom or
top, color is off, plants wilt. I rarely have had a problem. Mostly
early on in setting up the tanks and then due to over feeding or too
much light.

Now I control my light with a timer and have become stingy with the
food. I only feed flake food to my fish. My tanks are heavilly
populated with a wide variety of fish.

I know there are a lot of folks that run a chemistry lab and more
power to you all. I don't enjoy nor trust the results and am a bit
lazy. I like to pop in to remind those less endowed that life can
continue without chemistry or excessive water changes.

"Dick" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 04:36:45 GMT, Karen Garza
wrote:


mid posted



I make weekly 20% water changes. I have 5 tanks: 75,29 and 3 10s.
Rather than rely on test kits, I keep watch on my fish. I can always
make extra water changes or run tests, but when the water quality is
getting iffy, my fish seem less active, tend to stay on the bottom or
top, color is off, plants wilt. I rarely have had a problem.

that sounds like a problem to me. Regular water changes although not
excessively so will prevent your water quality from getting "iffy", your
fish will remain active and not stay on the bottom, and plants will benefit.
However like everything else in this hobby, what ever works for you, may not
work for someone else. As long as your sucessful that is all that matter.
But 20% weekly water changes should be more than sufficient to prevent the
type of things you describe.




Mostly
early on in setting up the tanks and then due to over feeding or too
much light.

Now I control my light with a timer and have become stingy with the
food. I only feed flake food to my fish. My tanks are heavilly
populated with a wide variety of fish.

overfeeding kills more fish and contributes to poor water quality and it is
a common mistake many including me are making or have made.



I know there are a lot of folks that run a chemistry lab and more
power to you all. I don't enjoy nor trust the results and am a bit
lazy. I like to pop in to remind those less endowed that life can
continue without chemistry or excessive water changes.


no need to run a chemistry lab. Depends on what your trying to accomplish
with your tank. I have a variety of test kits for Ph, hardness, ammonia etc.
Can't remember when I last used my ammonia kit. I now own a digital PH meter
however I breed fish and without proper PH , gh and Kh levels I would not be
able to breed many fish, particularly those that require soft acidic low PH
values. If your not into that stuff than there really is no need for many of
the kits.

Rick

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 17:57:35 GMT, "Rick"
wrote:


"Dick" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 04:36:45 GMT, Karen Garza
wrote:


mid posted



I make weekly 20% water changes. I have 5 tanks: 75,29 and 3 10s.
Rather than rely on test kits, I keep watch on my fish. I can always
make extra water changes or run tests, but when the water quality is
getting iffy, my fish seem less active, tend to stay on the bottom or
top, color is off, plants wilt. I rarely have had a problem.

that sounds like a problem to me. Regular water changes although not
excessively so will prevent your water quality from getting "iffy", your
fish will remain active and not stay on the bottom, and plants will benefit.
However like everything else in this hobby, what ever works for you, may not
work for someone else. As long as your sucessful that is all that matter.
But 20% weekly water changes should be more than sufficient to prevent the
type of things you describe.


I know newbies read these newsgroups. I like to let them know one
does not have to have all the available gadgets or be a chemist. The
hobby can be fun. Plants will grow without CO2, the right plants, and
light does not have to be 2 or more watts per gallon. Ph is not an
exact dimension that must be so and so.

I have also noticed that people report various methods that work for
them. I think that is an important thing for newbies to know. Of
course, some newbies would prefer a formula for success. It would be
less stressful, that is for sure. I had to battle 5 tanks into their
comfort zone. I tried the chemical route, but then started looking at
plant characteristics, fish variety, water changes, light schedule,
etc. and was much happier with the results.


Mostly
early on in setting up the tanks and then due to over feeding or too
much light.

Now I control my light with a timer and have become stingy with the
food. I only feed flake food to my fish. My tanks are heavilly
populated with a wide variety of fish.

overfeeding kills more fish and contributes to poor water quality and it is
a common mistake many including me are making or have made.



I know there are a lot of folks that run a chemistry lab and more
power to you all. I don't enjoy nor trust the results and am a bit
lazy. I like to pop in to remind those less endowed that life can
continue without chemistry or excessive water changes.


no need to run a chemistry lab. Depends on what your trying to accomplish
with your tank. I have a variety of test kits for Ph, hardness, ammonia etc.
Can't remember when I last used my ammonia kit. I now own a digital PH meter
however I breed fish and without proper PH , gh and Kh levels I would not be
able to breed many fish, particularly those that require soft acidic low PH
values. If your not into that stuff than there really is no need for many of
the kits.

Rick

Karen Garza wrote:

Squidvark wrote:
Are you using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals's nitrate test kit?

Yep, that's the one.

That's what I thought. I started out with their nitrate test kits and
was wondering why I had to do so few water changes in all my tanks.
Then I started dosing my planted tank with nitrate and that was the
giveaway. I was adding nitrate and it wasn't being detected. I bought
some Hagen test kits and my nitrate was through the roof. It took a
reading of around 180 on the Hagen to even begin to register with the
AP kits.

Recently, even the Hagen has become suspect, or it could be that I'm
too lazy to feed my fish too frequently. I'll probably splurge on a
LaMotte kit one of these days. They're a lot easier to read and I'd
get them for that reason alone.