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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Water analysis after 3 weeks on both Aquariums

After 3 weeks of setup and without any water's change during this period, I did all the tests to both aquariums to know how the water is. I did also the same tests to my TAP water to get a better comparison between both tanks and see if there is any oscillation on water's parameters.

Usually I do an water change per week of 20~40% depending of the stage of each aquarium, but this time I decided to do some tests because I setup the both tanks at same time but in different methods. I waited 3 weeks to see what have changed and if the fertilization's routine is right or need to be changed. Plants are growing very fast, invertebrates and fishes are healthy and till now, no signs of algae... At first appearance, everything seems to be ok!

The 60L Aquarium was setup with new products and with a different soil, the ELOS BlackMedium. I was expecting, even using ELOS AquaUno (provide bacteria and accelerate biological process reducing the nitrogen cycle) the normal water's cycle, high levels of Nitrates and some algae, but the values were optimistic; 10~25ppm of NO3 in this Aquarium.

On 350L, no nitrogen cycle, I didn't used recycled water from previous layout; I only used the recycled filters and AquaUno. I was a little bit concerned with the fact of mixed all the soil (it was reused from previous layout) that could release some ammonia due keeping it for more than 24 months on previous layout; but no signs of it; NO3 is on minimum 1ppm, NH3/4 (Ammonia) 0~0,1 (it is nothing) and Nitrites also Zero!!! WTH!!! For an aquarium with 3 weeks without any water's change and feeding the discus with frozen food, I was not expecting such good results!
Ammonia TestKit
Awesome news, both soils don't release Ammonia to water's column! I already knew that ELOS Terra Brown Soil didn't do it, but I would like to see with my own eyes and through tests that BlackMedium Soil from ELOS didn't do it also!!!! Both soils are Ammonia FREE!

Here they are the results of all tests that have done to both Aquariums and a comparison to my TAP water:
Water Test Aquariums @3rd week
During these 3 weeks I'm fertilising with ELOS Expert Line Fertilisers, FASE1, FASE2, K40 and also Extra1.

Dosing of Expertline fertiliser and schedule routine:
On my small aquarium (60L) twice a week with 0,5ml of FASE2 and Fase1 in separated days, exchanging Fase1 with Extra1 and K40 once a week diluted 1/3 of the bottle in 100ml of osmosis water.
On 350L Aquarium, almost the same routine but instead of 0,5ml of each, I'm using 2ml.

Conclusion:
Both Aquariums are healthy, the plants are growing very fast, and I need urgently to do an water's change, specially on 60L to reduce NO3 levels and keep the parameters similar to 350L.
Maybe I need to increase a little bit more the dose of FASE2 on my small aquarium to balance PO4 near of 1ppm... my comfort zone ;-) I guess that 1ml + 0,5ml of FASE 2 per week will be enough, just because all the plants have fast growing, otherwise, It was just fine like it is ;-)

Special note for BlackMedium soil, what a great soil! I never had the water so crystal on my aquarium since the beginning till now... AMAZING!

Ps. All the water's test were done with ELOS WaterTest Analysis.

3 comments:

wlade said...

Olá Filipe, excelente valor de nitratos no 350L, adorava saber o segredo :)
Tenho uma pergunta, a quanto tens o ph dos discos ? sei que fazes TPA com água da rede, o meu ph da rede sai a 7.5, tenho medo de fazer TPA com essa agua pois pode subir muito o meu ph, tenho injecção de CO2, achas que se fizer TPA de 20% de 2 em 2 dias com água da rede vou ter porblemas de ph alcalino ?

Um abraço

Filipe Oliveira said...

Não há segredos... Aliás como leste no post acima, não fiz qualquer muda de água desde a data da montagem. O importante é manter o equilibrio e analisar o estado das plantas.
O ph dos discos está na imagem dos parametros no post (7.2) que é igual ao que me sai da torneira.
Pelos vistos não é muito diferente da tua água... para os discos não há qualquer stress, podes fazê-lo sem qualquer problema.

Abraço,
FAAO

wlade said...

Obrigado pela resposta,
Continuas a ter ramirezis, nanas com esse ph e eles nao se dão mal ?
Não reparei mesmo que na tabela tinha o ph :X

cmps