Weird Results

[fish nutter]

Ok... There is an outside bath sunken in to the ground in my back yard and the water hasn't been changed in about a year... there are 2 goldfish in there and many things rotting away (figs from the fig tree, leaves and god knows what ), there is a Lilly and some oxygen weed... the Lilly is doing great leaves everywhere looking happy . the two gold fish seem to be breathing reasonably fast (constant movement of it's mouth) not shure if this in normal. the water is a dark green colour with about 3-4 cm of gunk at the bottom.

Now here comes the interesting part... I tested the water and strangely the AMMONIA is at 0 ppm, NITRITES at 0 ppm, PH at 7.0 - 7.2, NITRATES at 0 ppm. :saddam:

What the **** is going on?

The reason why the poor fish haven't been looked after is that it is my parent's responsibility and i thought they were testing and doing water changes etc...

Can anyone explain this phenomenon

 

[kribensis12]

There are plants in there. That's why. Plants absorb the nitrates from the fish. The water is dark green because there is an algae bloom (sucking up nitrates). The goldfish have been in there long enough to cycle it. I am unsure of how exactly the nitrates are at 0, I would imagine like 10-20, but the ammonia and nitrite don't surprise me.

 

[K-Holed]

Nature has taken its course. Nature has it's own way of filtering water. It's just that as aquarists, we try and make this as efficient and aethetically pleasing as possible.

[Edit] Is the 'pond' water moving by the way, or is it literally just a bathtub full of water?

 

[helterskelter]

Yep it the plants and algae using the nitrite up just as quick as their produced.

 

[OldMan47]

With floating plants, you have the right combination for plants to soak up the nitrogen. By floating and receiving sunlight, the plants can grow like crazy and suck the water dry of all nitrogen. There is no lack of CO2 like we sometimes see in normal planted tanks because the plant leaves can pull CO2 right out of the air. The whole thing is working much differently than a typical planted tank. The better you understand the principles behind plant's interactions with fish and the water, the easier something like this becomes to understand. The filtration method here is the same one that Diana Walstad advocates in her book where she says that you only need water circulation and good bright light for a healthy tank, you don't really need a filter. I have done some work with that kind of approach and am coming to the conclusion thnat my planted tanks are more than welcome to run using her principles.

 

[fish nutter]

Nature has taken its course. Nature has it's own way of filtering water. It's just that as aquarists, we try and make this as efficient and aethetically pleasing as possible.

[Edit] Is the 'pond' water moving by the way, or is it literally just a bathtub full of water?

yup that is all it is not a movement, the drain pipe is long un-blockable

With floating plants, you have the right combination for plants to soak up the nitrogen. By floating and receiving sunlight, the plants can grow like crazy and suck the water dry of all nitrogen. There is no lack of CO2 like we sometimes see in normal planted tanks because the plant leaves can pull CO2 right out of the air. The whole thing is working much differently than a typical planted tank. The better you understand the principles behind plant's interactions with fish and the water, the easier something like this becomes to understand. The filtration method here is the same one that Diana Walstad advocates in her book where she says that you only need water circulation and good bright light for a healthy tank, you don't really need a filter. I have done some work with that kind of approach and am coming to the conclusion thnat my planted tanks are more than welcome to run using her principles.

The problem is that tere is no water circulation, and can i use some of this water to cycle my new tank, refer to my posts in the beginner section to get the rundown of what is happening

Thanks

 

[kribensis12]

The water won't do you any good. It's the bacteria you need. They colonize on gravel, sponges ect. So, if you were to say, put a sponge in there, it may become cycled (leave it for a week).

 

[fish nutter]

The water won't do you any good. It's the bacteria you need. They colonize on gravel, sponges ect. So, if you were to say, put a sponge in there, it may become cycled (leave it for a week).

ok will do

 

[fish nutter]

A few wood shavings / lead paint (when i was painting the house) might have blowen into the bath, is this still ok? (i doubt it)

 

[kribensis12]

It might be. I wouldn't know for sure though.