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Problem Plant and Soil works
Subject: Problem Plant Tank To Paul Sears
> I have used the Chemi Pure for a long time, and neglected to rea
> label after all these years. Here is what I can tell you about
> removes CO2, copper, metal, ions, odors, all pollution, gases co
> Phenol. I do not know what Phenol is. It is also an ammonia and
> scavenger. An old Chemi Pure ad in FAMA 1988 states that it doe
> remove trace elements and is the only filter medium that balance
> positive and negative charges with emphasis on the beneficial ne
> ion.
Well, if it removes copper and other metals, it _does_ remove
trace elements... that's what copper is.
> It is suppose to keep the pH at 7.0. The reason I used it on th
> Because I am adding CO2 via the yeast/sugar method to water that
> has a very low buffering capacity. For those reasons I thought
> be good for the tank. I do not understand why Chemi Pure which
> recommended for use in African Cichlid and saltwater tanks would
> GH.
I don't understand why you'd want it in a Rift Lake tank or a
Marine tank either if it buffers the water to a pH of 7.0.
> I presented your questions about iodine to the person that told
> it to my tank. Here is what I was told: Iodine benefits all li
> things as it does us. Yes plants do benefit from it too and gro
> and show nicer colors.
This is very novel advice. I'd like to hear where this person got
their information and if there are any scientific papers to back
up their advice. I've been a successful aquatic gardener for a
long time and have _never_ heard of anyone adding iodine to their
tank.
It is exactly the iodide we are interest
> Iodine does not remain in the water, but is chemically changed a
> state correctly yourself. I would not be concerned about the co
> using copper in plant tanks would be totally counter productive
> The use of some molybdenum will further enhance the look of your
Molybdenum is a minor plant nutrient, but so is copper. Many
trace elements are toxic in larger amounts.... that's why they are
supposed to be _trace_ elements.
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Subject: , Dupla doesn't - for me
<snip success story of potting Echinodorus with soil>
Glad you tried it, and gglad it worked!
> This doesn't make me want to rip out my substrate and go with po
> I still feel that doing so runs too much of a risk of H2S poison
> rampant anaerobic bacteria growth (or rampant growth of some oth
> life-form.) While there are those who are successful with this
> approach, I don't think it's a technique to recommend off the ba
There are some potential problems, (fouling the water with mud,
potential green water problems and the possibility of collecting
toxic soil come to mind, but it has generally been found that in a
_HEAVILY PLANTED_ healthy tank, the production of H2S really isn't
much of a problem.
> One can still use pots and other methods fairly safely, but late
> been giving some thought to another option. When I was putting
> my aquarium (45 gal), I was surprised that Dupla recommended onl
> 1 kilogram of laterite for an aquarium of that size. This small
> of laterite made me figure that perhaps a small quantity of tops
> give the same results as the small quantity of laterite gives.
> that whatever element that is missing from my fertilizer must be
> element, and a kilogram of soil probably contains several hundre
> of most any given mineral, and thus a small amount of topsoil mi
> with the laterite-layer of gravel may well be as good as a whole
> of the stuff (assuming that you keep up with your drops and tabs
Those of us who have been discussing soil ssubstrates in depth
have come to the conclusion that using small amounts of soil in
tthe substrate (similar to the proportions used in a laterite
substrate) are probably quite save and manageable.
One potential problem that I see with this approach is the
possibility of using up the nutritional value of the soil quite
quickly when it is used in small quantities. I know I have to
re-pot my potted plants with some regularity. This, of course,
would be difficult at large in the aquarium.
Karen Randall
Aquatic Gardeners Assoc.
Boston, MA