[freshreef]

i know it sounds funny but....it is just a thought that cross my mind every time im going to fill my co2 tank...
everytime im going to fill my co2 tank i c dozens of N tanks - what kind of N is it? if its NO3 , can we use it to control the N level in our planted tank?

 

[Wheat]

Hi,

I would think it is Nitrogen gas (N2) if it is in a pressurized container.

I don't know about aquatic plants but land growing plants have a hard time utilizing nitrogen from the atmosphere. Legumes are quite good at it though but they cheat and house bacteria in their root nodules that incorporate the atmospheric nitrogen into organic compounds that the plant can use.

/Wheat

 

[HeyPK]

There is N2 dissolved in the water, but it is unavailable to plants as a fertilizer. It is very difficult to break the triple bond holding the two nitrogen atoms together. Plants can't do it. Only a few bacteria can do this, and they need a lot of energy to do it. Plants that have a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria can feed up to 1/2 the food they make in the process of photosynthesis to the bacteria in their root nodules so that the bacteria can fix the nitrogen. Nitrogen fixation---converting N2 into usable forms, such as NO3 or NH4---is a very expensive process.

 

[gnatster]

While pressurized N gas is not good for feeding your plants it is wonderful in the tires of your race car. When warmed it does not expand as air does, keeping pressures stable. Does not contain any pesky water like air does that lead to rust on internal wheel surfaces and it's handy to have around to power your air driven tools at the track.

Ohh wrong board...

 

[defdac]

The only epiphyte I know of that utilize N2-gas is some Cyanobacteria (those that develop heterocysts).

They worked on the Earths atmosphere long before life itself could live here, reducing N2 from the atmosphere and raising O2-levels.

I wouldn't use N2 because I don't like the blue green slime-look in my tank 8)

 

[dennis]

The only plant species that could easily use it would be the Azolla sp. but hte have a heteratrophic cyano bacteria in there leaves that are able to use the N2, although I am not sure how availabe that would be even to them as they are floating plants.....so injecting it intot he aquarium water would not do much.

 

[freshreef]

thank u all, and gnatster can i fill my motorcycle with N? ;-)