Recent content by three-fingers

Just here to say "hello" too and also lament "the good ol' days".

Huh? I know you are probably just referring to the info in the link you provided, but diatoms are indeed a type of algae. I will provide references confirming this if you really want. So the answer was technically yes.   Note that the link you provide also says that "excess nitrates" cause...

Well, it kind of is, as the very top of the cycling section says  "Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!" and links directly to your method.    Does it matter? No.   I am genuinely very sorry to hear this, I hope you and your brother are OK. You will have to forgive me or others if...

Haha, yes, I often used to think this about most planted tanks I saw: "lovely tank, but why don't they want more fish, especially with all those plants that can take the bioload! ".  Used to think it was somewhat a waste of an an aquarium :lol:.   In fact, I'm guilty of it now! One of my tanks...

I will restate: "Tom is not suggesting the best place to put the ammonium source is the substrate".   Your correct in that he implies that specifically ADA AS give an improvement of plant growth compared to Flourite. Like I said, ADA AS is almost unique among aquatic plant substrates in that it...

  TwoTankAmin Yes, it is fine. The nitrifying bacteria need inorganic carbon to function.   The OP was very obviously cycling following your existing fishless cycling guide on this forum, in other words, adding 3ppm ammonia. So you did recommend the OP inject CO2 to their fishless cycling...

For clarity, does  "Completing a tank set up" mean cycling i.e. adding 3ppm ammonia and following your guide here, like the OP was with his high-tech (CO2 injection) tank?   Or are you now changing your recommendations?   Also, how would you determine if a tank needs bacteria on top of plants...

Hi Tom, many thanks for taking the time to make those informative posts!     Ah, silly me, the graph seems to suggest that they only uptake NH4 faster than NO3 when NH4 is above 0.5ppm.  NH4 uptake is still happening below 0.5ppm, just at the reduced rate I posted above.   Cheers for the...

Either or both, duckweed is better for this purpose though IME. Just remember, duckweed is a real pain to get rid of if you change your mind about liking it, and it coats your arms whenever you put your hand in the water. Gets everywhere!   Since you are in NZ, you also have the option of the...

  I would prefer to just post a pic of the graph for clarity, but I'm afraid that would be abusing copyright a little haha.   The graph is on page 107,  and it is used in the section titled "Aquatic Plants Prefer Ammonium over Nitrates" to demonstrate this preference.   Its uptake rate is...

Personally, unless I was already experienced with growing plants with CO2 first, I would not try the yeast-based method to fix a CO2 deficiency. Many have good results with it (I currently use it on one of my tanks), and they were far more popular a few years ago, but unless you have a DIY...

There you go - "established media" - that explains your results :). You have added an already established bacteria colony, able to adapt faster to unstable conditions, and better able to compete with the plants.  So you haven't performed a full fishless cycle - which I have been careful in this...

I am not pick-and-choosing. I have provided multiple definitions that all support my use of the word.  You have picked only one particular definition out of many from a page I linked to, and as I have pointed it, it is merely of ambiguous wording. I then provided support for my usage of the word...

Unfortunately for TTA, it isn't accurate. Regardless of concentration, ammonia still gets into the plants via osmosis, as I mentioned in this post.  The plants in the water column and bacteria on the filter are only cooperating from our point of view, the only important biological interaction...

Indeed, you have ignored the dictionary and Wiki definitions.   As for:   I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her here, but DaizeUK's points have still to be addressed:   And:   And please, everyone remember: