Can I Culture Algae?

[camcorder]

add an air pump

 

[dskidmore]

There's one in there. I wanted to keep it cycled, and those beneficial bacteria are aerobic.

 

[dskidmore]

Pure ammonia should be a great substitute...

Just a thought: Can plants metabolize "detoxified" ammonia? (Shuch as the stuff produced by putting prime in ammonia.) Is there any bulk source of that compound?

 

[greenmaji]

ace hardware.. same stuff used with fishless cycling.. and yes many plants will absorb ammonia before nitrate and all will absorb ammonia.. cycle isnt suppose to harm ammonia's normal properties, bacteria can still consume the ammonia so I would assume the plants wouldnt have any trouble with it.. HTH
btw.. you might try shutting down the air pump to see if that helps (less CO2 that way)

 

[dskidmore]

ace hardware.. same stuff used with fishless cycling..

I thought ammonia in a bottle at the hardware store was the toxic form.

 

[greenmaji]

if you use too much of it.. you want pure ammonia they sell it at the hardware store.. you can dose it up to 5ppm without fish in the tank.. and yes its toxic to fish.. uhhhhh how do I say this.. all forms of nitrogen are toxic including nitrate.. the ammonia is to kickstart the algae or arobic bacterial process without having fish present to create the ammonia waste through urination. does that clear it up or did I make it sound more confusing?

 

[dskidmore]

Yes, I understand fish-less cycling. An ammonia source starts the bacterial chain up. The further the compound is down the bacterial chain, the less toxic it is, but eventually you have to take it out through water changes, or plant trimmings.

Prime and other anti-ammonia additives claim to "detoxify" ammonia. What exactly does that mean? Supposedly the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite will live & grow off of "detoxified" ammonia, without it harming the fish. What is this magical compound chemically? Could it be used to fertilize a populated tank?

 

[czcz]

(I have much to learn about chemistry in the planted aquarium.)

As I understand copper based medications are considered archaic in a sense. For example those who keep shrimp are carefull about not dosing anything with copper. IME otos are less sensitive than shrimp, but their reputation, the tank as a QT, and Steve's caution of not using Miracle Grow or urea with fish in the tank would make me sterilize the tank. FWIW.

I would think detoxifiers convert ammonia to ammonium (NH4+) and bind it to something. If nitrifying bacteria can use it I would think plants could use it. Regardless, dosing pure ammonia in the tank would be taken up by algae and nitrifying bacteria, and as you know time would ensure the tank becomes safe for fish. Urea, a compound of nitrogen and other elements, is still considered toxic to fish, I believe, but *may* be safe to use well before their introduction.

If these are your first otos, their desired form of algae seems to be diatoms/soft brown algae btw, which seem to show up as part of new tank syndrome, not necessarily excess nutrients, and would presumably show up in your qt without human intervention.

HTH

 

[dskidmore]

It is showing up in small quantities.

Mostly I'm just curious, I have never fertilized my planted tanks, and an unoccupied tank seems the safest place to experiment. Of course, even if I am massively sucessful, the fetilizer that grows algae best may not be the one I want to use in my planted tank.

 

[czcz]

Just a thought: How about making the leap for your first GregWatson.com order? This way your out of pocket for this experiment lasts longer, and you can play to see if PO4, NO3, and/or Fe/high traces really bring algae.

Great posts in green water thread btw.

 

[dskidmore]

Just a thought: How about making the leap for your first GregWatson.com order? This way your out of pocket for this experiment lasts longer, and you can play to see if PO4, NO3, and/or Fe/high traces really bring algae.

Great posts in green water thread btw.

Hrm. To be really scientific about it, I would need to start with two clean 10 gallons, light them with either the same kind of light or one long shop light, and treat them with different fertilizers...

I think for now I'll just trust Sears, and Conlin to have done the base research. I'll stick to playing with things I have on hand.

I'm not sure my green water posts were all that useful. The fellow with the turtles had trouble understanding what I meant.