Anaerobic Substrate: is there hope? - El Natural

mommyeireanne · 06-08-2009, 09:31 AM

I think I was too used to my EN tanks being easy and resiliant.
Months ago I over-stressed my 75g tank. I did a trim, then had a plant club meeting and did another big trim to share plants. Probably my fast growers would have recovered from this, but that night I ripped out tons of dwarf sagitaria all along the front glass and planted the new plants I came home with.
The new plants didn't grow well (black rotting roots), and I didn't plant every inch like I had before, so there were spots without growing roots. About 10 days ago I noticed the gravel was becoming black. I also had a half inch area from the floor to the glass where I have just gravel, no dirt. I didn't like the look of the soil up against the glass when I first did EN tanks, so I generally do this tiny rim of gravel before adding dirt. I hadn't had a problem with this before. Well I gravel vac'd that area and did a major water change. I started poking it every night to release the HS bubbles. It's still producing a lot of bubbles when I do this. Today I put some dirt cubes (frozen mud) under the bare areas and tried to replant more Sag. The problem area is from one to three inches in the front, maybe 7% of the total floor area. And the rest of the tank seems good. Other plants are growing well, no bubling when I poke other areas of the substrate, my sensitive shrimps are happy, etc.
Am I heading towards disaster or can the anaerobic area still make a come back? Will I need to pull everything and start over? I am just sick about this.

Asgard · 06-08-2009, 10:47 AM

You could try adding some H2O2 Hydrogen Peroxide (3%), for a 75G tank you could add 28ml to get a 3ml/L concentration which would be fine for shrimp/plants/fish. It 'll kill blue-green algae and support your nitrification process. You could use spot-treatment on the places of substrate you suspect to be anaerobic, in that case it 'll hurt roots etc. on that spot.

WhiteDevil · 06-08-2009, 12:56 PM

Wait using using the 28/ml to 75g ratio and figure out percentage and do that for a 55 and algae will be gone and it also helps the nirification in the tank?

Asgard · 06-09-2009, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteDevil

Wait using using the 28/ml to 75g ratio and figure out percentage and do that for a 55 and algae will be gone and it also helps the nirification in the tank?

28ml is the figured out percentage for a 55G and yes it helps nitrification, since the bacteria doing the job are the aerobic type.
google is your friend

dwalstad · 06-09-2009, 11:13 AM

[quote=mommyeireanne;477183] I ripped out tons of dwarf sagitaria all along the front glass and planted the new plants I came home. Will I need to pull everything and start over? QUOTE]

Since the tank is doing well, I don't think you need to start over.

For the problem area, I'd pull out all the plants that are not growing well. They're only adding more organic matter to the problem area. The other thing you can do is remove some of the gravel from the front to make the layer less deep and a little more aerobic.

But, it could be that you don't need to do anything. If you have some Sag and other healthy rooted plants growing well nearby, they should slowly recolonize this problem area. As you have seen, planting stuff directly in a poisoned area does not work. However, plants nearby can safely invade this area. If they are growing well, they'll produce enough oxygen to protect their roots as they gradually penetrate the problem area.

Patience! Let Mother Nature do her thing.

WhiteDevil · 06-09-2009, 12:17 PM

Its safe to add peroxide to the tank?

google is everyone's friend.

dwalstad · 06-09-2009, 04:27 PM

Depends on the concentration.

I don't recommend it in this situation. All it is going to do is kill bacteria (that will quickly grow back). Any oxygenation effect will be fleeting.

Asgard · 06-09-2009, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwalstad

Depends on the concentration.

I don't recommend it in this situation. All it is going to do is kill bacteria (that will quickly grow back). Any oxygenation effect will be fleeting.

No, it's not gonna kill bacteria, it dissolves in H2O (water) + O2 (oxigen). The O2 will react with anything, it 'll also support the aerobic bacteria (good ones) and make life miserable for anarobic bacteria (blue-green algae), it 's a common and save cure.
Fish tolerate 39ml/l H2O2 3%, plants can tolerate much more, up to 10ml/l is save for shrimp.

Toxicity to algae: Chronic algae toxicity: IC 50 (72h) = 2.5 mg/l, Chlorella vulgaris, OECD 201.
Chronic algae toxicity: IC 94 (48h) = 1.7 mg/l, blue-green algae, literature. (all data related to: Hydrogen peroxide 100%)

Behavior in water treatment plants. Hydrogen peroxide quickly decomposes to oxygen and water.

Mullusks, LC 50 (96h)= 17.5 mg/l (physa spec.) Mullusks, LC 30 (56h)= 5 mg/l (Dreissena polymorpha)
Toxic to water plants: moderate. Water plants, EC 80 (7 days) = 34 mg/l

when in doubt: google

mommyeireanne · 06-10-2009, 05:42 AM

Thanks Diana. I actually tried peroxide early on, before it went black and anaerobic, there were a lot of diatoms along the window. I scrubbed it and added a weak solution (2 tsp of 3% in dechlorinated water) and squirted it on there. I'm one of those people who needs to hold back more with the Natural tank. The less I do the better, it seems. (Personality flaw: I also micromanage the bread machine

) So for now, I will just aerate it by poking down into it and let the Sagitaria do what they do.
I was really afraid that I'd have to start over. Thanks again.
M

dwalstad · 06-10-2009, 05:09 PM

I have trouble with the micromanaging, too. So many NPT hobbyists have gone on vacation and then returned to find that their tank took care of its problem-- all by itself!

I think your tank will be okay.