Is there a rule of thumb for stocking levels to help create a balanced aquatic ecosystem (flora vs. fauna vs. microorganisms)?
I've got a planted 55 that I would like to turn into a fairly self sustaining ecosystem. Obviously, I would feed the fish, provide heat and light, and run mechanical filtration (and keep the water topped off). Beyond that, I would like the nitrogen, CO2, and vitamin/mineral cycles to reach an equilibrium. Is this a nirvana that I will never reach?
Currently, the tank is about 1.5 wpg and has a quartz substrate with a Fluval 304. It's a very mature tank and hasn't been torn down in at least five years. Water parameters are stable, fish are healthy, but plants are sluggish and fish waste builds on the gravel. I vacuum and top off about once a month, so that works out to about a 10 or 20% pwc per month.
See my gallery for some pictures...
Current fish stocking is three 1 1/2" peppered corys, eight 5" Giant Danios, and a single 13" common Pleco. No snails or scavengers. That works out to about 1" per gallon.
Current water parameters...never used to test until I started getting frustrated with the plants. I now know my Nitrates are sky high. WAY over 160, which is where the test tops out. Doesn't seem to bother the fish (who spawn several times a year). Regardless, I've got a sachet of Nitra-zorb in the filter to help mitigate that. Need to recharge it, I think. After a week in the filter, the level is still over 160. pH is stable at 6.6. Nitrites are zero. Ammonia is zero. Still waiting to test Iron, Phosphates, gH and kH. Any other tests I should perform?
I'm pretty new to planting...
Current planting consists mostly of Aponogeton, grown from "wal-mart" bulbs. They started out going gangbusters, with floating leaves and flowering, but have since shriveled down. They now seem stable with little/no new growth and algae on most of the older leaves, which I prune off. All the stems are about 2", so the mass of the growth is in the lower 1/3 of the tank. NO CO2. I'm just tipping into fertilizers. Tried Marc Weiss "natural aquarium vital" with good results at first, but it doesn't seems to do anything now. Also tried some Seachem "Enhancer: NPK" liquid ferts, dosed according to the directions. Didn't do anything. I'm now getting together a set of test kits to get a handle on what my water looks like. I'm not looking for wild growth out of this low-light tank. I just want healthy, stable plants.
I've got one sword that seems stable with little new growth.
I've got two vals that are struggling. Again, they also have algae growing on them. I prune off the ugly bits, but I'm not seeing any new growth.
I tried floating water lettuce, and it yellowed badly and died after about a week.
I tried Banana plants and they slowly withered and died, too.
After those failures, I decided to get serious. I went out and bought a few books on planted aquaria and now I know that I don't have enough light for many of the plants that my lfs carries. Since I've got so many Apons, I'm trying to keep them going. I'd hate to pull them out and replace with java fern or crypts...but I may have to.
Just to reiterate, the fish are great. Pleco has been in this tank for about ten years and most of the Danios are seniors at 5+ years old. They have excellent color, shape, and activity.
How do I get a handle on the plants, algae, and (what I consider to be) excessive mulm (is that the right word?) on the gravel?
Am I over or under stocked with fish? I know it used to be about 1" per gallon, so by that rule I'm right on. Does that change with planting? I assume it must. My gut tells me I need more fish to balance the plants, but my solid waste already seems too high and adding fish will just make it worse, right?
Does that mean I need some scavengers to further refine the solid wastes? Or do I simply need better gravel-level circulation? Or do I need to stir it into the gravel?
When trying to reach a balance, I assume I determine fish stocking based around planting...correct? Once I determine how heavily planted I want the tank, then I need to add fish and scavengers until it's balanced? How do I know when I've reached that point?
Sorry for the long, detailed post. Feel free to suggest any reading I should do or other places I should look. I've looked through the commonly available titles and don't really see anything as in-depth as I need...
I've got a planted 55 that I would like to turn into a fairly self sustaining ecosystem. Obviously, I would feed the fish, provide heat and light, and run mechanical filtration (and keep the water topped off). Beyond that, I would like the nitrogen, CO2, and vitamin/mineral cycles to reach an equilibrium. Is this a nirvana that I will never reach?
Currently, the tank is about 1.5 wpg and has a quartz substrate with a Fluval 304. It's a very mature tank and hasn't been torn down in at least five years. Water parameters are stable, fish are healthy, but plants are sluggish and fish waste builds on the gravel. I vacuum and top off about once a month, so that works out to about a 10 or 20% pwc per month.
See my gallery for some pictures...
Current fish stocking is three 1 1/2" peppered corys, eight 5" Giant Danios, and a single 13" common Pleco. No snails or scavengers. That works out to about 1" per gallon.
Current water parameters...never used to test until I started getting frustrated with the plants. I now know my Nitrates are sky high. WAY over 160, which is where the test tops out. Doesn't seem to bother the fish (who spawn several times a year). Regardless, I've got a sachet of Nitra-zorb in the filter to help mitigate that. Need to recharge it, I think. After a week in the filter, the level is still over 160. pH is stable at 6.6. Nitrites are zero. Ammonia is zero. Still waiting to test Iron, Phosphates, gH and kH. Any other tests I should perform?
I'm pretty new to planting...
Current planting consists mostly of Aponogeton, grown from "wal-mart" bulbs. They started out going gangbusters, with floating leaves and flowering, but have since shriveled down. They now seem stable with little/no new growth and algae on most of the older leaves, which I prune off. All the stems are about 2", so the mass of the growth is in the lower 1/3 of the tank. NO CO2. I'm just tipping into fertilizers. Tried Marc Weiss "natural aquarium vital" with good results at first, but it doesn't seems to do anything now. Also tried some Seachem "Enhancer: NPK" liquid ferts, dosed according to the directions. Didn't do anything. I'm now getting together a set of test kits to get a handle on what my water looks like. I'm not looking for wild growth out of this low-light tank. I just want healthy, stable plants.
I've got one sword that seems stable with little new growth.
I've got two vals that are struggling. Again, they also have algae growing on them. I prune off the ugly bits, but I'm not seeing any new growth.
I tried floating water lettuce, and it yellowed badly and died after about a week.
I tried Banana plants and they slowly withered and died, too.
After those failures, I decided to get serious. I went out and bought a few books on planted aquaria and now I know that I don't have enough light for many of the plants that my lfs carries. Since I've got so many Apons, I'm trying to keep them going. I'd hate to pull them out and replace with java fern or crypts...but I may have to.
Just to reiterate, the fish are great. Pleco has been in this tank for about ten years and most of the Danios are seniors at 5+ years old. They have excellent color, shape, and activity.
How do I get a handle on the plants, algae, and (what I consider to be) excessive mulm (is that the right word?) on the gravel?
Am I over or under stocked with fish? I know it used to be about 1" per gallon, so by that rule I'm right on. Does that change with planting? I assume it must. My gut tells me I need more fish to balance the plants, but my solid waste already seems too high and adding fish will just make it worse, right?
Does that mean I need some scavengers to further refine the solid wastes? Or do I simply need better gravel-level circulation? Or do I need to stir it into the gravel?
When trying to reach a balance, I assume I determine fish stocking based around planting...correct? Once I determine how heavily planted I want the tank, then I need to add fish and scavengers until it's balanced? How do I know when I've reached that point?
Sorry for the long, detailed post. Feel free to suggest any reading I should do or other places I should look. I've looked through the commonly available titles and don't really see anything as in-depth as I need...