Recent content by aqua_chem

I don't know if it's been explicitly said, but when we're talking about fertilizers in the context of a high light tank, were talking about dry ferts. I think that would also be a good thing for you to start taking a real serious look at. Estimative Index | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf...

Two things here. One, many of the infographics available are derived from aquatic plants specifically, and there are a lot of examples of specific deficiencies available out there. But more importantly, isolated deficiencies are fairly rare. It's hard for someone to definitively say 'that's 100%...

The problem is that the amounts given are pretty arbitrary, and aimed at a much less nutrient demanding tank. High light tanks with Excel additions are going to need a lot more, and it's hard to titrate premixed fertilizers properly. Do you have any testing kits?

Mine either grew way too aggressively horizontally or way too aggressively vertically. It ended up being to weedy in both direction and I chucked it. Did you ditch the c. helferi because it was too tall for a 20L? Are you satisfied with that amount of light? It looks a bit dim from the picture...

Can you tell us a little more about the species you're using and the technology of the tank? Also, I see you're using (I think) glossostigma. I can't say I've had much positive experience with it. Are you planning on keeping it?

Is this for stem plants? I usually just shove them in the substrate individually and hope they stay.

That's an interesting thought. 'The wood is in an anoxic environment because there's not really any oxygen anywhere'. Heh. I think what Walstad walked back on specifically, if I remember, was the idea of not needing a filter or having minimal filtration. I think she now recommends adding some...

He really didn't say anything about his dosing. All he said was: That's not really much to go on. Followed by: It sounds like an inadequate dosing regimen. Liquid pre-made fertilizers are almost never enough past medium light, with or without CO2/Excel. Coupled with the fact that he's now...

Yea, but I wasn't following with what you were saying about tanins and bacterial activity. That would be easier, but the simple advantage is that if you were to type it out, it would be preserved online and searchable if anyone decided to look for it. I can see someone seeing something similar...

That's my thought at this point in the story I'm not understanding what you're doing here. Can you go into a bit more detail? I would love the nitty-gritty on this actually. I'm still not buying it, but I'm not going to dismiss your observations so easily. I would offer the following...

I'm not sure that I entirely agree with some of the advice above. While what Calibran mentioned regarding photosynthesis/photorespiration is true, I'm not sure that's what's going on here. If you take a look at last few pictures you posted, a lot of your older growth has holes or is discolored...

True facial recognition is a fairly complicated neurologic process. I doubt that most fish even have the space for it in their brainpan, much less the ability to apply it broadly to humans. Simply pattern recognition would be my guess as well, which fish have long been known to possess and apply.

Emersed to submerged growth is definitely a good thought. I would also heavy consider a nutrient issue. Plants have the ability to cannibalize old nutrients to make new growth, but only some nutrients, namely all your macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) plus some...

I believe it's a combination of both urea and ammonia, but fish are 80-90% ammonia excreters. Yes, fish do excrete ammonia from their gils, but I would need to brush up on my fish physiology to really peg specifics on this; I seem to remember their being a different in SW and FW fish physiology...

I'm not sure why wood chips would bring down nitrate. That's new to me. Other things are required than just low nitrogen, I'm sure. Low flow, high light, and high amounts of organics have been implemented in the past. BGA is quite ubiquitous in the world. It's probably already in all our tanks...