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Curious case of no Nitrates? Expert opinion needed.

dw1305 said:
Hi all,

As <"times are tough">, purchase a Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and eat it once it has done it job? <"Inclusion of duckweed (Lemna minor) in the diet improves flesh omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid profiles but not the growth of farmed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)">

cheers Darrel
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Yep! Thats going to blend in nicely in my 150 L tanks! It's a herbivore so I bet it will leave my tetras and shrimps alone. ;)

1689698073813.png


It is a good eating fish btw. - very common here in the US.

Cheers,
Michael
 
Hi all,
dw1305 said:
purchase a Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and eat it once it has done it job?
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I apologise, eating your pets is probably a non-starter.
MichaelJ said:
Thats going to blend in nicely in my 150 L tanks! It's a herbivore so I bet it will leave my tetras and shrimps alone
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I have had a thought however, hire out baby Tilapia* (suitably renamed in the same manner <"as pumice to "Matrix">) and get them back once they are bigger.
MichaelJ said:
It is a good eating fish btw.
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That way you could eat them with a clear conscience and have a <"side-hustle that generates some cash">.

* Free starter culture of Lemna minuta to whoever comes up with the best name

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
* Free starter culture of Lemna minuta to whoever comes up with the best name
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You need a good Latin name first, how about Lemnoideae Comedentis and a good description, such as very peaceful and ideal for community aquariums and a completely arbitrary "ideal" temperature, pH and GH range that covers 99% of the market. :lol:

Cheers,
Michael
 
Same as op for me, i run a tank with a good amount of fish, I feed them really well. Heavily planted tank, I don't add macros at all, it's high tech tank, high light, co2, I just lean dosing micros. I can't detect NO3 with the JBL test kit. I don't spot any deficiency, plants are not the fastest, but they are healthy and i like them slow growing now, if i add nitrogen they stunt, dunno why though.

don't know where plants get the potassium, supposed to have a really low amount in fish food/waste ?
 
eminor said:
No potassium at all, perhaps i should
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Well, if you're happy with how your tank is evolving and you don't have any signs of potassium deficiency then there should be no reason to. Keep in mind that Potassium (K) is mobile within the plants and don't really need much K, so not is all lost if you start noticing deficiencies and the plants will respond and perk up pretty fast if you add a bit of Potassium.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Hi all,
_Maq_ said:
What would you suggest to be a reliable sign of potassium deficiency?
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I think it would look like any / all of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) or magnesium (Mg) deficiencies. <"Potassium Deficiency">.

This is one of the reasons I don't try and <"diagnose deficiencies of mobile nutrients">, a lot of them <"have similar symptoms">. Rather than trying to work out which one it is, just adding an <"all-in-one"> is going to get the job done with a lot less <"toing & froing">.

cheers Darrel
 
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_Maq_ said:
What would you suggest to be a reliable sign of potassium deficiency?
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I do not know if we have any super reliable way to tell what specific nutrient correlates with what deficiency signs exhibited by our plants. I agree with @dw1305 / Darrel above. The Macro deficiencies tends to overlap a lot. If we know what we are dosing we can probably draw a fairly logical conclusion about what might be in short supply when we see deficiencies so that would be a good starting point. Like in @eminor's case where he might not get more K than is provided by food and waste, which may or may not be enough.

Cheers,
Michael
 
MichaelJ said:
I do not know if we have any super reliable way to tell what specific nutrient correlates with what deficiency signs exhibited by our plants. I agree with @dw1305 / Darrel above. The Macro deficiencies tends to overlap a lot. If we know what we are dosing we can probably draw a fairly logical conclusion about what might be in short supply when we see deficiencies so that would be a good starting point. Like in @eminor's case where he might not get more K than is provided by food and waste, which may or may not be enough.

Cheers,
Michael
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There is some holes in the Staurogyne Repens, nothing in other plants, even fast-growing plant don't have it. I tested my NO3 today with JBL, still can't detect it. I feed my 20+ fish every 3 days, with such low amount of nitrates maybe i could feed them more often...

I'm afraid to add potassium because if I add much with low nitrates, the nitrates availability will decrease and could trigger cyanobacteria but maybe I'm wrong. I don't want to add nitrates either because every time i did, i got stunted growth on sensitive plants. They grow damn slowly but they are not stunted lol
 
eminor said:
There is some holes in the Staurogyne Repens, nothing in other plants, even fast-growing plant don't have it.
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I have holes in some of my leaves too... I had holes before I lowered my potassium dosing... I had holes back in the day when I was targeting an obscene amount of K (like 15 ppm). I don't think holes in leaves and potassium are as related as we've been told in the past. I don't know why some plant get holes while others don't. I have two Crpyt Wendtii sitting next to each other in one of my tanks - one with holes (not many though) and one without. Its too far below the radar for me to even bother about it.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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eminor said:
I feed my 20+ fish every 3 days, with such low amount of nitrates maybe i could feed them more often...
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I would say that's a fairly low on the scale of feeding routines. Most people feed once per day as a minimum and maybe skip one day a week. From your nitrate levels, the tank is able to cope easily with your current routine so increasing your feeding is perhaps a good way of naturally increasing the nitrate availability.
 
MichaelJ said:
I have holes in some of my leaves too... I had holes before I lowered my potassium dosing... I had holes back in the day when I was targeting an obscene amount of K (like 15 ppm). I don't think holes in leaves and potassium are as related as we've been told in the past. I don't know why some plant get holes while others don't. I have two Crpyt Wendtii sitting next to each other in one of my tanks - one with holes (not many though) and one without. Its too far below the radar for me to even bother about it.

Cheers,
Michael
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In the past i would've put ferts in it, but tank is a slow hobby, took time to understand it, iron deficiency is way easier to spot, especially with rotala in the tank
tam said:
I would say that's a fairly low on the scale of feeding routines. Most people feed once per day as a minimum and maybe skip one day a week. From your nitrate levels, the tank is able to cope easily with your current routine so increasing your feeding is perhaps a good way of naturally increasing the nitrate availability.
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Yes, i have fast growing plant in that tank, perhaps they take nitrogen fast, i use also a big filter, tetra ex 1200 plus for a 30 gallons tank, the flow is huge and never slow down, incredible. I'll try to feed everyday and monitor the nitrates
 
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