# No detectable nitrate



## Jarrod987 (Aug 18, 2015)

In my test Walstad tank I have no detectable nitrate. I do have Miracle Grow Organic Choice soil. 

Correct me if I am wrong but I do believe D. W. says in her book her tanks test 0 for Nitrate and that it binds to the soil. A certain other famous planted tank figure told me recently that nitrate does not bind to the soil. I'm not sure who is right 

I am concerned my plants are not getting enough N and perhaps that is why my Ludwigia (I think) bit the dust recently. Leaves got large holes and fell off. Happened within a week. I also have low CO2. pH of 7.95 and KH of 8 calculates a co2 of about 2.5 ppm. Other plants seem mostly fine.

Should I add some KNO3 or is it not proper with this kind of tank? I have about 18 plants in 15 gal of actual water. I feed tetra flakes 2x a day and I dose potassium because I was getting the typical yellow edges around leaves and then pinholes with yellow around them. That seems to have stopped now.


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

If N is very low you can dose KNO3 or seachem N like 1 or 2x a week. Or add some fish.

The Ludwigia could have died through lack of light/co2/nutrients. Tough to know exactly without more details.

How much light do you have?


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

If you originally had a problem with potassium (holes in leaves is typical, and dosing K and that fixed it is just the thing to do). 

Now the next lowest nutrient is going to become the deficient one. Since the test is showing 0 NO3, then it is a good bet that nitrogen is lacking. Dose KNO3, or try a small bottle of Seachem Flourish Nitrogen. 
If these symptoms go away, then that was indeed the problem. 

Next, some other nutrient will become the deficient one. 
This is a slippery slope that leads to full EI dosing!

Skip a lot of that and simply put some tablets in the substrate.


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## Jarrod987 (Aug 18, 2015)

f1ea said:


> If N is very low you can dose KNO3 or seachem N like 1 or 2x a week. Or add some fish.
> 
> The Ludwigia could have died through lack of light/co2/nutrients. Tough to know exactly without more details.
> 
> How much light do you have?


I have a Current USA Satellite Plus. I'm told is it classified as low to medium PAR. I read Ludwigia is a high light plant. Is that true?


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## Jarrod987 (Aug 18, 2015)

Diana K said:


> If you originally had a problem with potassium (holes in leaves is typical, and dosing K and that fixed it is just the thing to do).
> 
> Now the next lowest nutrient is going to become the deficient one. Since the test is showing 0 NO3, then it is a good bet that nitrogen is lacking. Dose KNO3, or try a small bottle of Seachem Flourish Nitrogen.
> If these symptoms go away, then that was indeed the problem.
> ...


Sounds like a plant. Are those "Root Tabs?" are the DIY ones any good or go with Seachem ones?
I never read up on them. Videos seemed like they were mostly a Fe source for Amazon Swords. Guess not


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

Jarrod987 said:


> I have a Current USA Satellite Plus. I'm told is it classified as low to medium PAR. I read Ludwigia is a high light plant. Is that true?


# of bulbs, type of bulbs (T5, T8, PC, MH, etc), how many watts.

Ludwigia is a species.

I've kept Ludwigia Repens in lowish light in a soil tank. But thriving in at least medium light. L. Arcuata needs more light... L. Palustris not as much, etc.

Post a photo of the tank, people would know what seems to be the problem and can help you better.


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## Jarrod987 (Aug 18, 2015)

f1ea said:


> # of bulbs, type of bulbs (T5, T8, PC, MH, etc), how many watts.
> 
> Ludwigia is a species.
> 
> ...


Sorry It's LED light. Supposedly made for plant aquariums.
I know Ludwigia is a species 



















Pics are slightly dated. I trimmed all the dying leaves a few days back.

Edit: Sigh.....another website that doesn't want to let me post my pic links. I don't know why not. The other forums do. Don't care anymore. No pics, sorry.


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

I have no idea where my N levels are. My nitrates used to always be very low and probably are very low now as well, as I only dose a little bit of seachem N 3x and Comprehensive 2x per week. So probably not enough to accumulate much NO3.

I have no test kits. I used to have some before... But now i don't even know where my hardness or ph are... My water is probably soft. Ph who knows. Probably less than 7 because of pressurized CO2. 

None of those numbers matter. Except the light. 

Your posts have a lot of numbers, but no idea how much light you have. I say ditch all your tests and numbers and sort out your light.


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## Jarrod987 (Aug 18, 2015)

f1ea said:


> I have no idea where my N levels are. My nitrates used to always be very low and probably are very low now as well, as I only dose a little bit of seachem N 3x and Comprehensive 2x per week. So probably not enough to accumulate much NO3.
> 
> I have no test kits. I used to have some before... But now i don't even know where my hardness or ph are... My water is probably soft. Ph who knows. Probably less than 7 because of pressurized CO2.
> 
> ...


It's already set to max brightness. It is what it is. The manufacturer of my Apogee PAR meter says it won't work on LED lights. All the plants are fine except the 2 from that species. I put them in the trash 2 days ago when the last leaves fell off. I did everything I could. Was just wondering if it was low N that was the likely culprit. I guess it could be low light. Tank seems well lit but that's not really accurate for PAR.

I will try to post the drop box link without the button and see what happens.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2z5018l8a7hjnyy/Planted Tank full view 1.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e6cym46j8orhd3n/Planted Tank close.jpg?dl=0

Yey, it seems to be working. I guess the URL button is not parsing right.


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

Ah there you go. From the photos:

1. Where's your fish??!! No woder you have no Nitrates. Walstad tanks rely on fish load. A lonesome neon tetra won't feed many plants. Add fish, and feed em. 

2. The plants you have dont need much light; so the Ludwigia could have died from either lack of light or nutrients. Figure out your lights to see if it's enough for that type of stem plants.

Some plants just dont work sometimes. The easiest plant for me on natural tanks was Hygro Polysperma; that thing grew no matter what... but i put it on my latest tank (after moving to a while different country) and it just stalled despite everything else growing well. Don't know why. Don't care why hehehe I just took it out and got another plant.

3. Is there a buried Microsorum? if so, take the roots out from the substrate. Wrap it around a rock or driftwood.

4. Where's your "easy" stem plants? Walstad recommends some (lots of) fast/easy growers... get a couple easy stem plants to see how they behave. L arcuata and Inclinata are a bit more demanding, so try other Ludwigias and see how they do. Or just try other stem plants which are not too demanding.


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

Ooops. Double posted.


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## Jarrod987 (Aug 18, 2015)

1. Where's your fish??!! No woder you have no Nitrates. Walstad tanks rely on fish load. A lonesome neon tetra won't feed many plants. Add fish, and feed em.

_I have 11 Neons, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 2 Sunrise Guppies, And 2 -3 Bristle nose. Did not show up in pic.
_

2. The plants you have dont need much light; so the Ludwigia could have died from either lack of light or nutrients. Figure out your lights to see if it's enough for that type of stem plants.

_You state the plants I have don't need much light then you say it could have been lack of light. Tank is pretty bright. Confused._

Some plants just dont work sometimes. The easiest plant for me on natural tanks was Hygro Polysperma; that thing grew no matter what... but i put it on my latest tank (after moving to a while different country) and it just stalled despite everything else growing well. Don't know why. Don't care why hehehe I just took it out and got another plant.

_I'm going for this approach too. D.W. said in her book just add all different ones and keep what does good._

3. Is there a buried Microsorum? if so, take the roots out from the substrate. Wrap it around a rock or driftwood.

_Is that what that thing is? I was very confused about why it seemed to have roots coming out all over it's body LOL. I'll try to find a suitable rock to wrap it around._

4. Where's your "easy" stem plants? Walstad recommends some (lots of) fast/easy growers... get a couple easy stem plants to see how they behave. L arcuata and Inclinata are a bit more demanding, so try other Ludwigias and see how they do. Or just try other stem plants which are not too demanding.

_I just had to get what I could acquire. She recommend get a bunch of different species and see what works too  I went with that method. Only lost 1 species _

Thanks for all the input.


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## f1ea (Jul 7, 2009)

Ah so you have some more fish. Ok. Still, you could have plenty more. 

Your Ludwigia may have died from lack of light since your other plants that are doing ok do not need much light. So even with very low light, those would survive.

A pretty bright tank means nothing. If you were in a dark room the light from my cel phone screen could be pretty bright........ so yeah, it's relative. Unless you know how much light you actually have. Do a search for other people with similar lamp and what plants they can grow.

I got married to double T5HO. I've had Metal Halide, T8 and PC but go back to T5 because i have a pretty good idea what i can get away with using those. May go to LED at some point......

When you go buy plants you could ask for a single stem of a plant you're interested in for free, and see if it grows on your tank. That makes the trial and error a bit cheaper.

Good luck


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## Jarrod987 (Aug 18, 2015)

f1ea said:


> Ah so you have some more fish. Ok. Still, you could have plenty more.
> 
> Your Ludwigia may have died from lack of light since your other plants that are doing ok do not need much light. So even with very low light, those would survive.
> 
> ...


I really like T5's too


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