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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Increasing Nitrates

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27 Oct 2011 11:22 #1 by alan61979 (Alan)
My Nitrates are 0 and my plants are starting to go a little yellow. I've increased the amount of fertiliser (I was using the correct dosage but have increased it slightly). My lighting is on for about 8-9 hours (150w Metal Halides).

What I'm wondering is how high and how quickly should I go when increasing the Nitrate level?

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27 Oct 2011 14:00 #2 by ghart (Greg Hart)
I am interested to know how you are keeping your nitrate at zero. I continually struggle to keep mine below 25ppm even with regular water changes using a combination of RO and tap water.

Regards,
Greg

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27 Oct 2011 15:43 - 27 Oct 2011 15:56 #3 by alan61979 (Alan)
The tank is 500 litres and it's very lightly stocked at the moment, only about 40 Tetra's. I use filter wool and sponges in the first sump compartment, then about 200 large bio balls. Thats it, nothing fancy. I have an RO unit, but I've even stopped using that to try and increase the Nitrates. I only use the RO unit now to fill the automatic top up resivoir.

I'll test my tap water now and see what the Nitrate reading is........

Edit, tap water Nitrate reading is also 0.
Last edit: 27 Oct 2011 15:56 by alan61979 (Alan).

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27 Oct 2011 16:15 #4 by ghart (Greg Hart)
I see. The bigger volume of water is more stable. My tank is only 173 Litres.
I am looking to moving to a 500 Ltr tank soon to make more room for my Discus.
You say you are using a sump for the tank with tropical fish. I would be interested on seeing the tank setup. Can you post a photo. Include the sump setup if possible.

I was looking at going with a marine setup and sump but was working out too expensive.

I know I am not answering your query but your setup interests me.

Regards,
Greg

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27 Oct 2011 16:23 #5 by alan61979 (Alan)
When I say sump, it's not an undertank sump. It's at the rear of the tank. I think I have a few pictures of it when I had it set up as a Marine Tank. I'll have a look and see what I can find.

It's an Aquamedic Percula bow front.

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27 Oct 2011 16:59 #6 by ghart (Greg Hart)
That's ok I see what you mean now. My tank is an Aquaone bow front and I use an external canister filter.
On the Plant side I recently introduced a CO2 Diffuser and have been amazed at the increase in plant growth and rich green foliage.I would recommend using one if you have not already done so.

regards,
greg

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27 Oct 2011 18:46 #7 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Increasing Nitrates
Also, be aware that leaves don't last forever, classic signs of age are often evident on Amazons, these go yellow at the base of the Plant as the Plant ages, anubias, java fern and other plants do it slightly differently, make sure you aren't mistaking aged Leaves or die off because of the transfer of a plant from the Store to new conditions.

Just a thought, btw, CO2 is definitely the only way to go, Easy carbo and Flourish excel are great but CO2 are the Elixir of Life.

Kev.

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27 Oct 2011 19:24 #8 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
There's lots of reasons why leaves may go yellow...but rather than guess and have 20 page essays....I'd follow Stretniks recommendations and go for one of the proprietary plant foods.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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27 Oct 2011 22:40 #9 by manius112 (Mariusz Kaminski)
You have 500 liters tank and one 150W HQI??
If thats right you have only 0,3 W/L also if NO3 is O plants wouldn't grow. You can try K (potassium) but plants need much more than K to grow.
To increase NO3 in ya tank you can use KNO3 or Ca(NO3)2.4(H2O) or you can add more fish or shrimps to tank and get natural NO3.
For plants you need NO3 - 10-20ppm but you cant forget about PO4, K, Ca, Mg, Fe and micro.
Visit this forum for more information and use Fertilator to see what you can use to increase NO3 etc and dry fertilizers you can use.
Read about Tom Barr Report. EI its great for plants.


If you can test other parameters of water.

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27 Oct 2011 23:08 #10 by alan61979 (Alan)
It's two metal halides.

Thanks for all the tips, here's a pic of the back of tank sump!

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The first compartment has the sponges, second has the bio balls under the while plastic grill. The third compartment has the auto top up system in it, it also doubles up as my nursery for my Endlers fry. I keep them there till there big enough for the main tank.

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31 Oct 2011 23:49 #11 by omen (Conor)
Best to add KNO3 as stated. Just follow EI recommended dosing for a tank your size (maybe a bit less as EI is based on CO2 addition also)

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