nitrate levels
- Thread starter wickerman
- Start date
nitrate levels for plants
I've been keeping live plants for 15 odd years now (wow, it doesn't seem that long ago...). Over the years I've read and discovered a few things that help to keep plants alive.
Nitrate gives your plants nitrogen. But if there isn't enough other macronutrients (potassium, calcium, carbon from CO2), your plants won't grow. And you'll need enough light for the particular plants you want to grow.
Adding more of one thing won't compensate for deficiencies elsewhere. The important factor for successfully growing plants is to have correct, balanced levels for all the critical factors. These factors include all the players: light, CO2, potassium, nitrate, trace elements, calcium, magnesium, iron, etc.
I've found that a good nitrate level is between 5-10ppm. Some plant keepers like it lower (2-3 ppm), but a reasonable upper bound is no more than 20 ppm, and that's only if you have robust fish that don't mind that much nitrate. Personally I dose KNO3 (potassium nitrate) to achieve 5 ppm.
Since my substrate is TE rich, I only have to dose KNO3, but I also have to add baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). I keep my levels at around 3 dH. I have to add baking soda every 3 to 4 days to keep that level up. If I don', the plants consume it. When it gets too low, the pH drops (if you don't have a pH controller) and the CO2 level drops too. Thats when your plants stop pearling (giving off O2). Then they stop growing.
Checking KH is just as important as checking NO3. Plants don't need that much iron (a target water level is 0.1 ppm). Personally my water level always reads 0, because the plants scavange all they can. The substrate pore water reads 0.6 ppm, indicating plenty of iron for the plants via roots. As long as my nitrate and carbonate levels are on target, my plants pearl like crazy. In the evening, everything in the tank is covered with bubbles.
Hope this helps. Check out The Krib for more in depth info on plants. I believe they have an archive that goes back 10-12 years or so (back in the good old pre www. days :^) .
Jeff
I've been keeping live plants for 15 odd years now (wow, it doesn't seem that long ago...). Over the years I've read and discovered a few things that help to keep plants alive.
Nitrate gives your plants nitrogen. But if there isn't enough other macronutrients (potassium, calcium, carbon from CO2), your plants won't grow. And you'll need enough light for the particular plants you want to grow.
Adding more of one thing won't compensate for deficiencies elsewhere. The important factor for successfully growing plants is to have correct, balanced levels for all the critical factors. These factors include all the players: light, CO2, potassium, nitrate, trace elements, calcium, magnesium, iron, etc.
I've found that a good nitrate level is between 5-10ppm. Some plant keepers like it lower (2-3 ppm), but a reasonable upper bound is no more than 20 ppm, and that's only if you have robust fish that don't mind that much nitrate. Personally I dose KNO3 (potassium nitrate) to achieve 5 ppm.
Since my substrate is TE rich, I only have to dose KNO3, but I also have to add baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). I keep my levels at around 3 dH. I have to add baking soda every 3 to 4 days to keep that level up. If I don', the plants consume it. When it gets too low, the pH drops (if you don't have a pH controller) and the CO2 level drops too. Thats when your plants stop pearling (giving off O2). Then they stop growing.
Checking KH is just as important as checking NO3. Plants don't need that much iron (a target water level is 0.1 ppm). Personally my water level always reads 0, because the plants scavange all they can. The substrate pore water reads 0.6 ppm, indicating plenty of iron for the plants via roots. As long as my nitrate and carbonate levels are on target, my plants pearl like crazy. In the evening, everything in the tank is covered with bubbles.
Hope this helps. Check out The Krib for more in depth info on plants. I believe they have an archive that goes back 10-12 years or so (back in the good old pre www. days :^) .
Jeff