Need Some FAST Growers

[aoessand]

ok so my tap water has high amounts of nitrates in it, anywhere from 10-40ish according to Api master kit. im doing 2 50% pwc a week in my 50 gallon and im trying to find a plant that will grow very FAST in my tank to help reduce nitrates.

Water parameters:

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

ph 8.2

Temp 76F

nitrate 10-40 varys greatly and i dont know what im going to get untill i start filling the tank i have noticed if i let the water run about 10-15 minutes im in the 10-20 range vs just temperature matching and refilling the tank after a pwc so thats what i have been doing, that said im still hitting the 40 marker in 2-4 days after a change.

Current fish stock:

15-20 Red Rams horn snails

9 neon tetras

9 balloon red eye tetras

1 long fin bristle nose pleco

3 blue mickey mouse platys < im pretty sure one of the females is prego not sure yet as they are my first time owning platys, if she is i will move the fry to a spare 10 gallon>

4 panda corys <i had 6 but poor LFS stock claimed 2 and im not sure if i will get those again as that was the only LFS that i could find pandas in>

I still want to add some more fish but i dont want to untill i can figure a reliable way to get these nitrates down to at most 1 pwc of 50% a week or 2 smaller 25% pwc a week to keep stress on the fish to a minimum as im sure all that fiddling around in there bugs them.

Current plants:

1 Wisteria <just added a week ago so im guessing its still acclimating?>

3 Anubias nana <not 100% sure they are nana i bought them at petsmart and as everyone knows they are not very good about labeling lol>

1 Ludwigia repens <its supposed to be red, however it looks the worst in my tank, im thinking i will move it to a beta tank with lower lighting im going to make in the future but for now it remains in the 50 gallon>

3-5 Corkscrew Valisineria <these are doing very well and ive even seen new off shoots, that said they arent the most pretty plant in the world lol>

3 Amazon Swords < i bought a plant that already had the babies growing so i got 3 for the price of 1 lol>

1 java fern < it was 3 plants when i got them however they got a bunch of algae on them during fishless cycle and they never recovered so i snipped all the bad leafs off and bunched them all together and they are starting to have new growth and looking great>

1 Red Flame or Cryptocoryne Wendtii Bronze? im not sure what exact plant this is, again i bought it at petsmart and it was in with the swords i will post i picture of it below from my cell phone. <whatever this plant is, it looks by far the best and actually has a good deal of growth, 3 new leafs lol, since i got it maybe once i know the name i will get more of them as it adds some much needed color vs the standard green>

1 Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red < i believe thats what it is, again it was bought from petsmart, i will post a picture of that as well>

Weekly/daily dosing:

Seachem Flourish Excel everyday, 1 cap full, has really gotten rid of all my algae probs except on the filter out flows im guessing cause they are next to the light but i just wipe those off every other day.

Seachem Flourish Tabs i have then near or under just about every plant i think, cant remember for sure, but i know they are under the swords/crypt/mystery plant for sure.

Seachem Flourish Comprehensive after every pwc, 1 cap full.

Seachem Prime after every pwc < i know not for plants but want to list everything>

Equipment:

1 Aqueon pro heater 150w going to add another for backup once i find another deal.

2 Marineland 350 penguins

1 Air pump <2 outlets, one on each side of tank>

1 48" 108W 2x54 Fluorescent T5 HO 6700K light < on for a total of 9 hours a day i have it broken into 2 sections>

Aprox 50 pounds of gravel as substrate < im going to be replacing this with either Black Diamond Blasting Grit, if i can find it locally, or PFS i have a Lessie pool supply store near me. I will probably do the change within the next month and will be sure to put root tabs back in.

Sorry the post was so long but i wanted to get all the information i could to you guys.

Thanks in advance on the suggestions.

 

[aoessand]

Plants in question the "big" green leaf is the same plant as the picture above.

 

[nycfatcow]

i used to have pennywort and frogbit in my tank, grew crazy to the point where i was throwing out net fulls to allow light for the other plants. They grow pretty quick IMO, and i think they look nice too

 

[Mudfrog]

I'm using a spare AC110 on the back of my tank and it's full of English Ivy and a few other plants. They are all growing very quickly and they have considerably reduced my nitrates.

 

[aoessand]

I'm using a spare AC110 on the back of my tank and it's full of English Ivy and a few other plants. They are all growing very quickly and they have considerably reduced my nitrates.

you just have them sitting in where the filter media would be? sorta like a submerged growth? and isnt english ivy poisonoushttp://landscaping.about.com/od/poisonouslandscapeplants/tp/poisonous-plants.htm?

 

[Mudfrog]

you just have them sitting in where the filter media would be? sorta like a submerged growth? and isnt english ivy poisonous?

I cut slits in the sponge and put the roots in there. So the roots are submerged but the rest of the plants are above water and dangling over the lid. I have silver dollars in this tank and this was the only way I can use live plants without having a wet / dry filter.

 

[mohican]

For a background plant I have some stargrass that took off, I still have to trim it back every week. Rotala I believe grows fast too.

 

[Coursair]

Let your tap run a bit. Put some tap water in a container. Let it sit overnight, then test it.

I have older pipes, so I always let the water run a bit before I get some.

Another person had high Nitrates and high PH. I had her try part Tap/ part RO or Distilled for PWCs. Working well for her.

Duckweed is a PITA but it sucks up nutrients.
Amazon Frogbit is easier to control.

Here are other ideas http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...plants-discussions/57490-nitrate-busters.html

 

[aoessand]

thanks for the replies. does anyone know the names of my plants by chance?

today was pwc day roughly 75% i let the water run for a good 30-45 minutes i will test in a few hours. also i have had a glass of water out for last 10 hours when should i test it?

 

[Coursair]

thanks for the replies. does anyone know the names of my plants by chance?

today was pwc day roughly 75% i let the water run for a good 30-45 minutes i will test in a few hours. also i have had a glass of water out for last 10 hours when should i test it?

I think Melon or Red Rubin Sword ?
Crypt wendtii ?

 

[aqua_chem]

Nutrient uptake is driven by light, and limited by whatever else is in lowest supply. This is known as Liebig's Law. In order to encourage growth, you need supply everything else that a plant needs. For most of us, this is carbon. Excel is going to go a long way, but CO2 would be better.

With the exception of wisteria, none of your plants are particular fast growers. Floating plants are nice for this because they can get a lot of their CO2 from the atmosphere rather than dissolved in water. Duckweed, dwarf water lettuce, and frogbit are all good floaters. Water sprite, hornwort, and wisteria are my choices for underwater growers.

 

[aoessand]

thanks!

results of tank water after running tap for roughly 45 minutes ammonia 0 nitrites 0 ph 8.2 nitrates 5!!!!! this was after i let water settle in tank and filters running for about 2 hours.

plan tap water in glass for 12 hours results ammonia 0.25 nitrites 0 nitrates 20+ ph 8.2 i will run the test again in another 12 hours, i will also be sure to take a sample on Sunday of the tap after i have done pwc and test it at 12 and 24 hours.

 

[Austin.b]

Ive heard that hygrophilia's are pretty good nitrate mops.

 

[MrG]

Sounds like you are introducing your nitrates from your tap water. Do less weekly water changes, try daily or 2 or 3 times a week.

 

[Coursair]

I don't think you need to let your tap run that long

Interesting numbers.

You can do water changes with part Tap/part RO/DI. The ratio will need to be played with to get your target numbers. You want at least some Tap water as it has good things in it.

If there is another county with a different water source, you can test that water and perhaps use it instead.

You can do part Tap/part Distilled.

You can buy your own RO/DI unit if needed for the long run. I buy Distilled for now, small tanks and easier for me to get.

You can get Nitrate removing media for your filter, it won't do a lot, but may help.

More Plants

 

[aoessand]

ya im going the more plant route just trying to find fast growers lol. its a 50 gallon tank so i don't want to have to buy water every week lol. im thinking about trying a co2 setup but i can't afford that atm so the plants will have to do with just excel. i'm going plant hunting today so hopefully i can find some of the recommended plants.

 

[aoessand]

Sounds like you are introducing your nitrates from your tap water. Do less weekly water changes, try daily or 2 or 3 times a week.

i do pwc Sunday and Thursday nitrate level decides the amount lol. however lasts night was lowest I've ever got nitrates so I'm hopeing Sundays test will be 25-50%.

 

[aoessand]

picked up some

Ludwigia Peruensis my new favorite plant in the tank! wow what a beauty i think i might just go buy all the LFS had in stock rofl only like 3-6 left they look amazing

Anacharis 2 big pieces going to try some different LFS tomorrow

 

[aoessand]

camera doesn't do this plant justice

 

[aoessand]

got 2 big bushes of hornwort today and another mystery sword me + Petsmart = random plants coming home rofl i really need to find black diamond blasting grit soon cuz all the plants I've bought recently are just kind of thrown in lol