# I have an El Naturel - What do I do now?!



## Norstar (Apr 27, 2006)

Hi

I've set up my tank as close as possible to Diana's recommendations. I used Cactus soil, and the plants really took off. Everything looked great and seemed ok. Water parameters were good. Vancouver, BC has soft water, 7.0 PH

The only thing I don't have is sunlight. The tank is in my garage, and I have the lights on approx. 12 hours / day. Will this be a draw back?

The PH has also crept up to 7.6 and BBA algae is rearing it ugly head. Any suggestions? Amm, N & N are all 0


----------



## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

Norstar said:


> Hi
> 
> I've set up my tank as close as possible to Diana's recommendations. I used Cactus soil, and the plants really took off. Everything looked great and seemed ok. Water parameters were good. Vancouver, BC has soft water, 7.0 PH
> 
> ...


Sure, we'd need to know more though. How much light does the tank get? How big is it? What plants and fish do you have? Can't answer your question w/out more info.

-ricardo


----------



## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

I'd vacuum as much out as you can and add some nitrAte. BGA flourish when phosphate is higher than nitrAte.

How many watts of light do you have over it?


----------



## Norstar (Apr 27, 2006)

It's a 50 gal tank, with 160 watts of lighting. The lights are on 12 hrs a day. 

I would sure like to know how to add more nitrate. GH is 5 and KH is 5. I have been adding "PH Stable" and Seachem "Equilibrium" to raise GH & KH levels. 

I have a variety of plants - Water Sprite, Anubius var. nana, Amazon sword plants, vals, and a few more who's names I don't know.

I have 3 small corys, 6 swordtail mollies, 2 rosy barbs, and lots of small shrimp (which i never see, but i know are there - lol)

Thanks in advance!


----------



## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

If you feed your fish a bit more that may help raise the nitrogen levels.


----------



## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

That'd work. Adding more fish. I think the Rosy barbs would like some company. Do you have any other regular tanks that have nitrAte above zero? You could add some of that water.


----------



## Norstar (Apr 27, 2006)

I have one other tank, and it also has a 0 Nitirite reading. The rosy barbs are a male and female. I read that they might eat some types of algae, so I threw them in for fun. Not much luck however.

By the way Chris, what part of Canada is the bottom????? lol Is it Windsor, ON?


----------



## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi,

You can't grow aquatic plants with a 0 nitrate level. You should aim for about 10 ppm of nitrate and about 1 ppm of phosphate - they go together.

Seachem has a line of products that add nitrates and phosphates. Less convenient but cheaper, you can use KNO3 for the nitrates and Fleet Enema for the phosphates.

Well stocked natural aquariums usually create enough nitrates and phosphates so that additional dosing is not necessary.Two of mine are like that. But a third one, set up for almost 2 years, has always required something extra, every 3 months or so. That 20 gallon tank usually has about 100 guppies in it.

Good luck!

Bill


----------



## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

Norstar said:


> I have one other tank, and it also has a 0 Nitirite reading. The rosy barbs are a male and female. I read that they might eat some types of algae, so I threw them in for fun. Not much luck however.
> 
> By the way Chris, what part of Canada is the bottom????? lol Is it Windsor, ON?


 Man, you could not have guessed it better! =D>


----------



## Norstar (Apr 27, 2006)

I almost said Pelee Island (Canada's most southern point) or Leamington! lol


----------



## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Norstar, 160 watts of lighting over a 50 gallon tank is 3.2 watts per gallon, which seems like quite a lot of light to me, considering you do not have any emergent plants in the tank (unless your Water Sprite has grown some leaves above water). How about adding some floating plants to the tank, and some fast growing stem plants (preferabely with some emergent growth on them), in addition to feeding your fish and shrimp more.



aquabillpers said:


> You can't grow aquatic plants with a 0 nitrate level.
> 
> Well stocked natural aquariums usually create enough nitrates and phosphates so that additional dosing is not necessary.


aquabillpers, I have seven tanks set up at the moment and many ponds, and only one tank has measurable nitrate. Ironically, the tank with the measurable nitrate has the poorest plant growth, due to lack of light I think.

All my tanks are also heavily stocked with animals (mainly small invertebrates), and I feed each tank heavily. Still, my nitrate test kit reads zero consistently (I'm pretty sure the test kit works because I have tested the water in a container of blackworms and soil and found it had high nitrate levels).

So, I'm guessing that either my plants are slurping up any available nitrogen, or the nitrate is being reduced by denitrification in the soil, or some other chemical reaction that I don't understand is occuring. Either way, my plants are thriving in tanks with a 0 nitrate level.

From Alex.


----------

