What are the best plants for non CO2 systems?

[sly2kusa]

Hi -

Have a 90g tank with 4 Tiger Muskies in there right now (each about 5" and growing). They put out quite a bioload.

My parameters are good (Ammonia = 0 and Nitrites = 0), but my Nitrates are in the range of about 40-80ppm.

What would be a good plant to put in there that is a low maintenance, low light (talking maybe .5wpg), non CO2 needed, and only 4 month old gravel as a substrate?

I eventualy am going to go with a full blown CO2 system and good substrate, but to get these Nitrates under control - what would you recommend.

Yes - water changes every Sunday after 12pm (15g's each change).

 

[gagaliya]

0.5 wpg and good nitrate absorber? forget it not going to happen.

edit: can try float some hornwort if the tank is in a sunny location and see what happens. just monitor it carefully and remove as soon as it looks dead otherwise you will create more ammonia/nitrate from the plant decay.

 

[sly2kusa]

That's about what I thought. I put my ultimate lazyman wish list together for this one, but I knew it wasn't gonna work.

Time to buy the JBJ combo and get rid of the Emperor's for an FX5.

Thanks!

 

[Lorazoo]

start doing water changes to get the nitrates down. I would do a 30-50% water change every day until you get them down below 15 and then keep up with water changes (at least once a week). The only way the plants would affect the nitrate level is to have lots of plants at medium to high light and CO2.

 

[sly2kusa]

start doing water changes to get the nitrates down. I would do a 30-50% water change every day until you get them down below 15 and then keep up with water changes (at least once a week). The only way the plants would affect the nitrate level is to have lots of plants at medium to high light and CO2.

I'm going to eventually have a total of 160 watts of lighting in the tank (tank is 90g so that puts me near the 2WPG mark).

The CO2 system I am looking at is by JPJ and is awesome! 10g tank along with everything else included, and the proper difusser/regulator.

I do water changes weekly at this point (15g every Sunday). Is that still not enough at this point?

Also - I only check Nitrates like once a month. Should I be checking them more frequently?

 

[gatotsu77]

With fish producing a high bio-load, and only doing 15-20% of the water on a weekly basis, you may want to consider either doing a larger volume of water each weekend, perhaps in the 40% range, or performing your water changes more frequently, like twice a week or so. I personally change 30% 2-3 times a week on my 55g tank, and its worked very well for me. (I know its a lot of work, believe me.. I was doing it with buckets for a long time... now that I've got a python gravel vac kit it has become much easier) Your fish will be healthier, and dare I say, happier in the long run.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

i would test your water every water change. i would be doing more like 50% until your nitrate goes down. most people say to stay under 20ppm. i would do 50% water change ever other day until the nitrates go down. try a python it makes the water changes easy.

 

[sly2kusa]

Yes I have a Python already, but thought that 15g was enough to do each Sunday.

I will start doing 30g every Sunday, and do the recommended changes daily until I get Nitrates in the 20ppm range.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Mgamer20o0]

i would be doing 25%-50% also each week once they get down. the more you change the better it will be.

 

[sly2kusa]

i would be doing 25%-50% also each week once they get down. the more you change the better it will be.

Well - it seems like my calculations were off. I was giving you my Nitrate readings from back in July (right after the tank had finished it's cycle).

I check parameters earlier today, and my Nitrates were only at 10ppm. Also - Nitrites = 0 and Ammonia = 0.

Are Nitrates damaging to fish like Nitrites? Are they too low now? The other thing that is weird (and perhaps not really since I have a water purifier on my sink), but the pH coming from the sink is off the hook at about a 8.6, but in the tank it's only 7.4 (which could be from some Crayfish I had that died, but I don't really know).