# nitrate busters



## Scouter (Mar 3, 2008)

What in your opinion is the most attractive nitrate buster? What's the best in terms of bustin nitrates? Whats the easiest to keep? 

Just a few questions.

Scouter


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

All plants will reduce nitrate levels to varying degrees, the question is how quickly. The faster the plants growth rate, the faster it will consume nitrogen. Generally speaking stem plants are the fastest growing aquarium plants if you have bright enough light. And some species are particularly fast growers. Hygrophila species in general, Myriophyllum species, Egeria najas, Mexican Oak Leaf (Shinnersia rivularis), Bacopa, are a few examples. You gotta have the light though.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

My favorite fast growers are:
Ludwigia repens (for color and growth form)
Hygro. corymbosa 'angustifolia' (fast and VERY nice looking....and EASY)
Hygro. 'sunset' , 'bold', and Hygro. difformis (for it's unique foliage)

And last, but not least, the 'Ozelot' sword. Although it's not really fast, and not a stem plant, it is a heavy feeder and is just a magnificant looking plant.

-Dave


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I agree with David!  The Ozelot is magnificant.


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

nitrate busters = fast growers, i'm assuming. Most attractive in my opinion is Hygrophila sp. 'Tiger'. The mottled appearance of the leaves is appealing to me....any 'fast growers' means you'll be doing lots of trimming sooner rather than later. Some of the larger floaters (Phylianthus fluitans, Frogbit, etc) can be easier to deal with - just scoop and pitch/give away. The smaller floaters can be a nightmare - duckweed or *shudder* Wolffia.


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## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

Can I say, Hornwort.


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## wet (Nov 24, 2008)

R. rotundifolia.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

The old man said:


> Can I say, Hornwort.


No you can't!  LOL

I know tons of people love this plant for this reason but there are so many more attractive ones - like hygro sunset, wisteria, ludwigia repens, Myrio mattagrosense. etc.

... sorry Glen!


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

Hornwort is a great plant. We (my friends as well) put it in Goldfish tanks as a floater and the Goldfish either did not like it or it grew faster than the fish would eat it. The only problem was how to get rid of it. One small chunk would blossom, seemingly, overnight into a new large plant. Someone here, last year, said that Hornwort could be erradicated with a UV unit and I have yet to try this.

It is also superb cover for fry.

So yeah it grows fast and would fit the need but you are so right Tex Gal.


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## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

I wish I knew what got rid of Duckweed. Ughhh


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

Ludwigia inclinata verticulata sp. "Cuba". It's among my favorite plants and chugs nitrate like crazy, especially when you have a bunch of them.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Scouter,
Hornwort, Water Sprite, and Hygro all do great for me!


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## Scouter (Mar 3, 2008)

Hey thanks guys! Ok, so my stems that I have are rotala something(it was a volunteer) rotala colorata, HM, and Didiplis diandra. Rotala was mentioned, so will the others work fine? I don't have experience with the colorata, HM or didiplis, but I'm getting some portions and want to know how well they might be at keeping my nitrates low. 

Just an FYI, the main reason I ask is that I want to get some german rams and the breeder said that they're sensitive only to nitrates, so anything that helps me control that is great!

Thanks again,
Scouter


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

supersmirky said:


> I wish I knew what got rid of Duckweed. Ughhh


Rainbowfish and black mollies (and probably any fish related? ) . I had both fish and everytime I got duckweed from someone (and red-root as well) they ate it up immediately.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Scouter said:


> Hey thanks guys! Ok, so my stems that I have are rotala something(it was a volunteer) rotala colorata, HM, and Didiplis diandra. Rotala was mentioned, so will the others work fine? I don't have experience with the colorata, HM or didiplis, but I'm getting some portions and want to know how well they might be at keeping my nitrates low.
> 
> Just an FYI, the main reason I ask is that I want to get some german rams and the breeder said that they're sensitive only to nitrates, so anything that helps me control that is great!
> 
> ...


If you'd like to try out some Hygro. corymbosa 'angustifolia' just shoot me a PM. It's a very fast grower and looks really nice (fine-textured long leaves). Of coarse, if you live up north, now may not be the best time to be shooting plants through the postal service.


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## Scouter (Mar 3, 2008)

davemonkey said:


> If you'd like to try out some Hygro. corymbosa 'angustifolia' just shoot me a PM. It's a very fast grower and looks really nice (fine-textured long leaves). Of coarse, if you live up north, now may not be the best time to be shooting plants through the postal service.


 If I had a larger tank then the answer would most definitely be yes. Unfortunately I only have a 20 gal high and it doesn't look like I'll be expanding that any time soon.  It looks like that plant gets huge! 6-10 in stem widths! Oh well, thanks though.
Scouter


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

The plants you have will do well. They are fast growers and will eat up all those nitrates.


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## ch3fb0yrdee (Jul 26, 2008)

The old man said:


> Can I say, Hornwort.


I will second that. I have hornwort inside my tanks. I had a small 7" stem given to me by a friend, and within a couple weeks, it grew into a 5 foot long stem with tons of branching stems. Its an awesome plant. Its a heck of a nitrate buster.

I would not PLANT hornwort, because they will rot where the stem is planted down. you can always glow it, and when you want to take pictures, take it out


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

The fastest grower I have seen so far is _Shinnersia rivularis_, Mexican water oak.


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