[niko]

I'm posting this in the "Fertilizers" forum because it has to do with NOT using fertilizers. And it has to do with using the natural variations of the tank's environment for an extreme benefit to the plants.

What you see is a tank without any fertilizers, even in the substrate. Very low CO2 levels - maybe 5 ppm. Light is about 50 PAR on the bottom, about 110 on the surface (tank is 24" tall).

Algae: You got to be kidding.

More and more people are starting to be interested in better ways to maintain a planted tank. Namely using less fertilzers. Excess fertilization has been a problem in this hobby and that can't be denied.

The pictures below do not prove that it is possible to have extremely healthy plants without any fertilizers. What it proves is that if a tank is run in such a way that the plants have time to "rest" and accumulate nutrients they can grow healthier than we normally think. That is the same principle used by ADA, but not popular in the US. It is about what is known as "permaculture" - using the natural trends of a system.

Yes, it is hard to believe that this sword grows in a tank with the parameters described above:

This Crypt is 12" tall.

I do not have more pictures of the tank. It was dismantled in 2007. These were the times when high fertilization tanks were all the rage. People had not caught up to the demanding care they need and the constant balancing on the edge of developing issues. Ten years later this mentality is slowly starting to change and this is why I bring up this topic.

--Nikolay

 

[bsantucci]

How established was this tank out of curiousity? Did it already have a good amount of mulm in the substrate?

 

[niko]

Tank was setup for 2 years. Yes, it did have mulm but not a lot - when you vacuumed you didn't remove massive amounts of dark brown muck.

And that is really the secret to such tanks - the microorganisms must establish properly. Then the flow of nutrients is what it is supposed to be. It is not forced, it is not supressed, it is not instable. These are all typical for a high fertilizer tank.

The above means that yes, there is mulm, but it is being processed properly. That involves not just mineralization. It involves the nutrients and other factors being in a state that is dynamic. This is a big thing that is never discussed and it does not just mean chelation (as in chelated Iron). The same fertilizer can act very differently depending on how it is processed - both biologically and inorganically.

The simplest, cheapes, and best example of the above is adjusting the Ca:Mg ratio. It is very easy to do and to see the difference. Once you get close to the proper ratio (4:1) AND with the proper fertilizer you will see very fast and very positive changes in the plants. You will find that the plants actually need way less of the other fertilizers too which is only a good thing - leading to a more natural and stable system. The "secret" proper fertilizer is very simple - Dolomite. Dolomite powder to be exact.

So yes, after 2 years, that tank had mulm but it was minimal and if stirred it settled very fast. The fish were 6 discus. So you see that the pollution of the tank was not low. But it was handled the right way.

And no - this tank did not get 50% water changes a week. This is reserved for high fertilizer tanks in an effort to combat accumulation of nutrients and waste. But as more and more people now see that does not work as drawn on a chart because the tank is a dynamic living system

--Nikolay

 

[DennisSingh]

Nice pictures Niko, I do not find it hard to believe that that sword can grow in those conditions.

Can you explain more this plant permaculture and resting...?

 

[bsantucci]

Tank was setup for 2 years. Yes, it did have mulm but not a lot - when you vacuumed you didn't remove massive amounts of dark brown muck.

And that is really the secret to such tanks - the microorganisms must establish properly. Then the flow of nutrients is what it is supposed to be. It is not forced, it is not supressed, it is not instable. These are all typical for a high fertilizer tank.

The above means that yes, there is mulm, but it is being processed properly. That involves not just mineralization. It involves the nutrients and other factors being in a state that is dynamic. This is a big thing that is never discussed and it does not just mean chelation (as in chelated Iron). The same fertilizer can act very differently depending on how it is processed - both biologically and inorganically.

The simplest, cheapes, and best example of the above is adjusting the Ca:Mg ratio. It is very easy to do and to see the difference. Once you get close to the proper ratio (4:1) AND with the proper fertilizer you will see very fast and very positive changes in the plants. You will find that the plants actually need way less of the other fertilizers too which is only a good thing - leading to a more natural and stable system. The "secret" proper fertilizer is very simple - Dolomite. Dolomite powder to be exact.

So yes, after 2 years, that tank had mulm but it was minimal and if stirred it settled very fast. The fish were 6 discus. So you see that the pollution of the tank was not low. But it was handled the right way.

And no - this tank did not get 50% water changes a week. This is reserved for high fertilizer tanks in an effort to combat accumulation of nutrients and waste. But as more and more people now see that does not work as drawn on a chart because the tank is a dynamic living system

--Nikolay

Thanks for the extra info. You mentioned something I've thought was the cause of a lot of problems with my tank here. The Ca to Mg ration. I have a GH of 4 and KH is non-existant. I think my Ca to Mg is off, and I often have stunting and crinkled leaves.

I now add a teaspoon of GH booster to the tank at water change. Is that enough do you think to get the proper ration? My thoughts are plants don't use a ton of this, so adding that extra bump weekly should in theory work, assuming the GH booster is mixed to a proper ration.

Any thoughts there or should I just get Ca and Mg separate and mix my own?

 

[niko]

Here are pictures of a tank from 2015. An example of how the state of the tank makes all the difference.
For years I ran this tank with water column fertilizers. It was up and down. Since it was a service tank I was there every Wednesday, no questions asked.
Everything that could be done to keep this tank clean was done. Will not describe all the products and practices. They were dumb because the basics were not in place.

The tank transformed to a very clean, very fast growing tank once the water column nutrients were reduced, and the Ca:Mg was adjusted properly with the proper material (Dolomite). Prior adjustments of the Ca:Mg ratio with CaCl2 and MgSO4 were borderline successful.

Once the tank gets in the "proper mode" you can see it - the water becomes extremely clear, the plants start to grow very healthy looking, and the stability of the system is unbelievable. And this is all done with LESS fertilizers, LESS water changes, and way less other maintenance as a result (removing old leaves, scraping algae here and there, filter maintenance, etc)

--Nikolay

Bump:

Thanks for the extra info. You mentioned something I've thought was the cause of a lot of problems with my tank here. The Ca to Mg ration. I have a GH of 4 and KH is non-existant. I think my Ca to Mg is off, and I often have stunting and crinkled leaves.

I now add a teaspoon of GH booster to the tank at water change. Is that enough do you think to get the proper ration? My thoughts are plants don't use a ton of this, so adding that extra bump weekly should in theory work, assuming the GH booster is mixed to a proper ration.

Any thoughts there or should I just get Ca and Mg separate and mix my own?

I hope you see were I'm going with that post - I'm looking for the people that have started to see the new direction of this hobby - the real Natural tanks, not what ADA promoted as such so they can sell their products.

Help me out if you feel so. Get some powdered Dolomite powder off ebay. It is a supplement for humans - some kind of health benefits from eating it. If you buy that powdered Dolomite you will have a guaranteed clean product AND I guarantee you that you will see amazing change in your tank.

An easier way to get Dolomite is to go to a pile of rocks that road workers place under asphalt. That is dolomite. But it is in form or rocks and you can't control the amount you add very well. Years ago I had setup a tank with these rocks as a substrate. Out of ignorance I learned a lesson - these rocks grew plants at an amazing rate. But they fogged the water - I had too much of it. I could not see but 4-5 inches into the tank. But the plants grew super fast - 6-8" sword leaves in 6 hours! I also had other plants, stems included (Rotala, and others). In a month and a half I trimmed so much plants that the local pet store gave me $40 credit as soon as they saw them. That is a story about the benefits of Dolomite.

So give Dolomite a try.

GH booster is a mix of chemical that will supply Ca and Mg but not in the proper form. Yes, it will work in some tanks - mainly tanks that do not have critical organics accumulation. I've ran such tanks in the past and the growth rate of stems was unbelievable (some plants shot 16" in 36 hours!). But the tank required constant maintenance. And as usual - shutting down if you can't take care of it for several days. That is the ultimate proof of an unstable tank. Believe it or not at least some of the ADA distributors have the same instability problems. These are the guys that show cool looking showrooms full of Japanese copy-cat tanks.
And yes, a tank that runs fast and healthy with the incorrect nutrient dynamics will be inferior to a tank that is properly supplied with nutrients - because of the work involved to maintain the tank in a good shape and because of the inherent instability of such improperly run tanks.

 

[mistergreen]

Nice looking tank. Of course your choice in plants are limited and also goes to show you how important CO2 is even in small amounts.
Most of the nutrients are coming from fish poop.

 

[niko]

Nice looking tank. Of course your choice in plants are limited and also goes to show you how important CO2 is even in small amounts.
Most of the nutrients are coming from fish poop.

True. If you don't know anything but 8 fertilizers that is.

Plus - that was not my tank. Not my choice of plants. Or fish.

So if I took 5 lbs. of fish poop and dumped in a new tank and put some good LED lights on it and 0 fertilizers I'd have a perfect planted tank? No. I will have an algae heaven for sure. It is the way everything works together.

And one more argument: Can you tell me why these same plants you see on the pictures did not do that well with high CO2, N=20, P=2, and all kinds of Fe chelates + traces, + GH Booster? Plus big water changes, plus Purigen, plus a brand new huge Eheim filter, plus the best lights money can buy? Please give me some idea, I'd like to know.

And what "high demand" plants are we always bringing into the conversation? If we start to name them we may also provide information about their natural environment. Which is never what a high tech tank is - CO2=30, Nitrate 10-20, Phosphate 1-2...

A guy that grew Erios for sale told me some years ago how much light he blasts them with. All I wanted to know is if that's how they grow in nature - with 14 hours of 200 PAR. But he sold them for good money and most people would call him "smart". The plants grew, he made money - for most people that is the end of the line. And that is why this hobby has reached an end line some years ago too.

So how do these "special" plants do it in Nature? Definitely not they way we are growing them. There are things we are missing. Things we've neglected for 10+ years now. Is it some kind of special mud they live in? Is it the soft water? A critical micronutrient? No. Again - it is the way everything works together.

--Nikolay

 

[mistergreen]

Can you tell me why these same plants you see on the pictures did not do that well with high CO2, N=20, P=2, and all kinds of Fe chelates + traces, + GH Booster?
--Nikolay

What case where these plants don't do well with those parameters?

High demanding plants require high light, meaning high CO2 and nutrients as well. Yes, natural systems do provide high CO2 and nutrients in the substrate/sediment. CO2 is produced by bacteria eating on the organics and in turn release nutrients. Bacteria are single cell creatures but they do a lot of work. Just look at yeast in a DIY CO2 situation.

Walstad tanks mimmic this natural system.

btw. Some plants in the wild grow emerged. Plants access CO2 from the air easier than water.

 

[AWolf]

I don't see any difference in adding CA and Mg in other horticultural forms. This is basically saying that this particular tank (and I'm sure many others like it), had the necessary nutrients in the tap water and fish poo and were under the correct amount of light to utilize the nutrients most efficiently. A balanced tank.

I submit that same exact tank with LED lights, or less fish, or a different water source may not be balanced, no matter the dolomite & CO2.

 

[Hoppy]

How do you use the powdered dolomite? Do you just dump it in the water, put it in the substrate, below the substrate, etc.? And, do you dose it on a schedule or just when you set up the tank?

 

[easternlethal]

"No fertilizers" - pictures of extremely healthy plants

Nikolay I have a window sunlit tank I set up after reading Walstad's book which has even more par that grows very well with no water changes, an hob producing laminar flow and natural fertilisation from fishfood. And as we can see here it works under artifical lighting too (although I don't know why with such nice natural light in the room the back of the tank is blacked out) Over time the healthy plants survive and the weak ones don't. sort of like - natural selection taking its course.

But with this approach I had to let the plants decide whether to grow and where to grow and didn't feel like I had much say over the evolution of the tank. That's not necessarily bad and in some ways it's a purer more natural and holistic form of aquascaping I feel, but If I wanted to go real bonsai and exert more precise control (i.e. everything must grow where i put them when I put them during my weekly maint.) and there's a lot of rescaping then its back to pressurized co2 and dosing because the tank doesn't have time to settle.

Is that your experience or do you think it's still possible? I'd be interested in pushing that boundary..

 

[houseofcards]

The pictures below do not prove that it is possible to have extremely healthy plants without any fertilizers. What it proves is that if a tank is run in such a way that the plants have time to "rest" and accumulate nutrients they can grow healthier than we normally think. That is the same principle used by ADA, but not popular in the US. It is about what is known as "permaculture" - using the natural trends of a system.
--Nikolay

I'm having a hard time understanding how this is like ADA Japan. ADA uses an extremely nutrient rich substrate that will grow pretty much anything for probably a year without even adding water column dosing, yet they're system still requires you dose on a regular basis to make sure the plants aren't lacking in anything. In addition they require large regular water changes to reduce nutrients and other organics in the range of 30%-60% weekly.

So far all I've really seen is a couple of very limited setups with easy to grow plants. If you could grow what has been traditionally high demand carpets with showy stems like most of the ADA tanks using your method I would be more than willing to listen.

 

[tapwater]

above question also interests me

Bump: the dumping of dolomite one

 

[MtAnimals]

This makes a lot of sense....I have one tank plants seem to just thrive in,if a plant isn't doing well,I put it in my spec v and it goes nuts,along with everything I put in it.It had 1 O+ cap 6 or 7 months ago,since then,all I do is drop in about .25 ml of ammonia for the bio filter and the plants grow.

 

[Mikevwall]

Hmmmmmnm.....
Some pretty serious claims.
Im with house of cards on this one. Your proof is subpar, to say the least.

 

[Zorfox]

I think the title of your post has confused a lot of people. Maybe it should be "No fertilization added on a regular basis and healthy plants".

Plants need nutrients. There's no way around that. The plants are getting nutrients from the substrate and/or food we add to keep our fish healthy.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that it's harder to pull off a perfectly balanced low tech tank than it is for a high tech setup. High tech tanks follow a basic maintenance routine that when done properly requires little thought. Balance an entire ecosystem perfectly? Well that takes experience in my opinion. I admire a truly balanced low tech tank far more than any high tech setup I've ever seen. Reproducing nature in a box is not as easy as many seem to think it is.

All that said I think your'e comparing apples to oranges. Low tech setups are geared towards low maintenance with little regard to plant growth rates. High tech on the other hand is the complete opposite. This requires a lot of maintenance but the reward is accelerated plant growth. You simply can't compare the two.

Now for the negative. 6-8 inches of growth in 6 hours is an inch an hour! Let's be honest, that never happened. We aren't talking about kelp here. Most macrophytes do not grow at these rates even under perfect conditions.

Dolomite is nothing more than Calcium, magnesium and carbonates. That's it! It's simply a GH booster with a very poor solubility. It will not result in crazy growth rates we have never seen. In fact, too much will decrease growth rates.

I'm not trying to be rude about the claims you've made. I do however don't want new people to the hobby to think they can have the growth rates you say were possible. It's simply not fair to the hobby. Can we have healthy plants in a low tech non-fertilized tank? Heck yes! Will the growth rates exceed a high tech? Never happen.

 

[niko]

I'm having a hard time understanding how this is like ADA Japan.....

House,

Read this by itself:
"...if a tank is run in such a way that the plants have time to "rest" and accumulate nutrients they can grow healthier than we normally think. That is the same principle used by ADA.."

The reference is to the peak light period coupled with increased CO2 calculated to be at its highest when the strong light comes on. So you have 1-5 hours of very strong light + higher CO2. The plants kick into high gear ONLY during this period. The rest of the 24 hours is either low light or darkness. The plants are not rushed to grow and use up internal and external resources. Releasing waste is also reduced - plants polluting the tank is a topic that few people even think of. Compare that to a 10-14 hour high light tanks. Plants running at their fastest. Eating and leeching what not. Fast. Can I stress the importance of "rest" once again? Look at the first two pictures of the Sword and the 12" tall Crypt. These were "rested" plants that showed their potential in an environment that most enthusiasts would consider borderline acceptable for plans. And we all know what would happen if I stuck a plant from a high light tank into this same tank (lower light, zero fertilizers, some substrate mulm) - they will go through a period of shock. So the question is why bother comparing the two environments if both grow great plants? Here's why:

The result of the ample "rest period" that ADA employs - if we can believe ADA's professionally timed and produced pictures of course - are plants that are exceptionally healthy with substrate fertilization and minor daily doses of fertilizers. Simply put - clean water and food hidden away from the algae. You will agree - such tank is more stable, the plants look especially healthy, and if there are any issues they can be handled way, way easier. There is something to be learned from that, isn't there?

Don't get me wrong - ADA's approach is not perfect. I'm not sure what is wrong with it if there is a need to change water weekly and if their distributors are all over the gizmo that bubbles Oxygen radicals to reduce algae. Some time ago one of their European distributors made a lengthy review on how this device worked in his own showroom. It was strange to read how all his tanks got algae in one week when he was away. That was his starting point to prove that the device worked. I did not understand why an entire showroom full of ADA tanks, ran with ADA products, by people that can do that 24/7 if needs be, would deteriorate so fast. My best answer is that as a business ADA has to somehow continue to support the need for products. It would not make sense to sell you a few things and tell you how to get to a point where you don't need anything any more.

I started this topic for a reason completely different from clarifying how the two main "methods" work - EI or ADA's - and much less discussing which one is better. In addition - there is so much misunderstanding about both approaches that it's not even funny. The bottom line is that we can all agree - if you were long enough in this hobby you have seen situations that will make you think that a truly Nature based method of setting up and running the tank is not only possible, but the best logical approach. The word is "permaculture" and if we close our eyes when we see it it will not just go away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

It is time we start understanding what really matters in planted tanks - microorganisms first, nutrients and their transformations second, everything else follows. But I personally want to know how to setup such tanks, not necessarily to know the name of every bacteria, chemical, chelate, etc. And I think that I have made some progress on that. Hope to have some news soon.

 

[niko]

What case where these plants don't do well with those parameters?

High demanding plants require high light, meaning high CO2 and nutrients as well. Yes, natural systems do provide high CO2 and nutrients in the substrate/sediment. CO2 is produced by bacteria eating on the organics and in turn release nutrients. Bacteria are single cell creatures but they do a lot of work. Just look at yeast in a DIY CO2 situation.

Walstad tanks mimmic this natural system.

btw. Some plants in the wild grow emerged. Plants access CO2 from the air easier than water.

Mister,

I had tried virtually everything to make that tank work without problems. After all it was a tank that I visited once a week. Nobody wants and unpredictable tank.

So for years I believed that water column fertilizers will actually work just fine if I manage to dial them right. The best results I got were good plant growth WITH some algae still lurking around the corner. I attributed that to my own mistakes - test kits, water quality - as well as the owner of the tank maybe overfeeding.

So the bottom line is that I could never get that tank to run absolutely clean and stable. I used every practice and approach that you can name - all in the direction to clean the tank and make good use of those water column fertilizers.

You maybe right about some bodies of water having high CO2. But 30 ppm? And coupled with high fertilizers? No. Not the algae-free bodies of water. In addition - bacteria are only part of the organisms that make or break the planted tank. There is a table floating around showing how little of the bacteria actually does for converting Ammonia into Nitrate. It is somewhere in the range of 5-10% of the overall biofiltration. So what are the rest of the microorganisms? What is the other 90%? These are questions that we should have clarified a long time ago. Something is shifting in this community and it looks like more and more people are starting to look that way.

Yes, some plants grow emersed. That is actually something that often makes me laugh at our hobby. In reality most plants that we keep in our tanks would love one thing - to get out of the damn glass box. But we force them in. Together with plants from completely different parts of the world and different requirements. You see where this is going - we are doing everything else but "Natural". ADA with their "Nature Aquarium" slogan is doing the very same thing.

So some people are looking ahead - for some time now there has been a European biotope contest. I know, you'd expect tanks with a few plants, bunch of wood and rocks and some ugly ass fish. Well, not so... You will be surprised at what you see. As I said - things are changing. Changing in a different direction.

Bump:

Nice pictures Niko, I do not find it hard to believe that that sword can grow in those conditions.

Can you explain more this plant permaculture and resting...?

Strung,

What if I told you that right now I have 27" tall Swords with leaves 2-3 inches wide, making one 16" long new leaf every 36 hours? And these swords are planted in 1 inch deep substrate... I thought deep rooting is a must. I thought that water column fertilizers are a must.

And get this - the swords that I described above are in a 24" deep tank that has PAR 20 on the bottom. 60W of LEDs dimmed to about 40% - meaning that I grow these monster swords with 25 watts of light. That is truly weird. But it is happening right here right now.

The "secret" is root supplementation - 5 months ago I put some laterite + some root tabs in that substrate. And also the other day I noticed that accidentally 4 out of the 5 swords are directly illuminated by the Warm White LEDs in the fixture. Meaning that the LEDs shoot their light directly into the rosette of the plants. The Sword that does not get illuminated like that still grows - just it makes a new leaf every 2-3 days. Either way - if I can grow a 27" tall sword using a 5W LED at 40% something is weird - that's just 2W! . Something in that tank is helping things tick differently from what we all think is right...

And yes - I add only Dolomite. Maybe 3 doses in the last 45 days. TDS is 87 so the Ca and Mg are not a lot. The fish are 2 pearl gouramies and 6 Cories - hardly supply any fertilizer. Tank is 180 gallons.

Here's a video from yesterday (got some Cory fry so I made the video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UA_IzQATlc

 

[niko]

I don't see any difference in adding CA and Mg in other horticultural forms. This is basically saying that this particular tank (and I'm sure many others like it), had the necessary nutrients in the tap water and fish poo and were under the correct amount of light to utilize the nutrients most efficiently. A balanced tank.

I submit that same exact tank with LED lights, or less fish, or a different water source may not be balanced, no matter the dolomite & CO2.

Wolf,

No, I'm not saying that the tank was just perfect and my magical Dolomite made sparkles fly.

There are three things about using what I call "proper" fertilizers:

1. You are not adding unneded elements
Example - Sulphur and Chloride (MgSO4 adds S, CaCl2 adds Cl).
Accumulation of things we overlook has become a new trend in some discussions. Apparently it is a big, very big deal. Once again - big water changes do NOT clean the tank perfectly. Have you tried to lower your P from 1 to 0.5? Did it take a 50% water change? No. It took many 50% water changes - about 5 in average - that's 250% water change. And here we like to think that a weekly 50% water change will remove all the Sulphur we have added with our MgSO4. Or K, or Cl, or a long list of microelements that we don't even know how they play a role in the tank when excessive.

2. There is something different in the way the nutrients are processed IF you are letting them actually move from one form into another.
Example - Adding MgSO4 and CaCl2 - the two molecules dissociate very easily in water. But adding Dolomite involves at least some kind of sustained release because you are basically adding rock that you disolve in the slightly acidic water. The release is not the end of the story. In three tanks now I've seen the strong effects of adding Ca and Mg that way. In one of these tanks I had actually added Dolomite pebbles as a substrate. The tank got milky white - I could not see deeper than 1-2 inches in the tank. In this milky chalky soup about 8 or 10 varieties of plants grew as if there was no tomorrow. Swords and stems (Rotala). This example gets even weirder if you know that the tank was brand new + there were no water column fertilizers added. Just light and CO2.

So there is something in the transitional states of fertilizers that makes a big difference.

3. German fertilizers
Toby, FlowGrow, introduced a fertilizer system, here on TPT some time ago. The basis of it were fertilizers that not only supplied only the needed elements without the unneeded extras, but also seemed to work based on some sort of synergy - the elements seem to "match" together and produce very, very good growth. I apologize but so far, pretty much everything that Germans make has always proven to work - for good or for bad. Toby's ideas were eventually dismissed on this forum because of our mindset. But the truth remains - we should not add unneeded elements AND we should know that the form in which you supply the fertilizer matters. Matters a lot. Dolomite is only one example that I personally have seen work without any doubt.

The balance of a planted tank:
I can tell you directly - a stable planted tank can handle way, way more than we all think. 40% evaporation, CO2 ran out, fish overfed, strong light, low light, high CO2, fish never fed, frequent water changes, barely any water flow, no water flow, TDS in the 700s, TDS in the 150s... That is how stable a true balanced tank is.
And yes - it will not grow all plants whenever I decide to stick them in. Like everything else in life - if we miss the big picture we are up for a beating. Don't stick a Java Fern in that tank when the P is zero. Don't expect it to grow a sword if there is no CO2 and no ferts..
The bottom line is that you will have a tank that will always be there for you - ready to play along whatever you fell like doing today. It will not have to be "shut down" when you go an a vacation. It will not have to have the water changed or else.

I have a tank like that behind me right now. And right now it looks like a wild creek - overgrown vals, super clean Anubias, and some mosses. Can I turn it in to a high light tank that grows much more plants? Or reduce it to a moss only tank? Yes, and yes of course. If I feel like it. There will be zero issues either way.

That tank established itself over 1 year period. I worked 16 hour days and never even looked at it. There was water, gravel and circulation. Nothing else. In one year, in spring, all of a sudden some plant seeds sprouted in that tank by themselves. I let the tank go wild - added light, CO2, more circulation. In about 2 moths the plants filled it so much that the fish I had added could not swim. That was 2008. Algae? You are kidding again... Never.

Actually that tank cleans BBA in 1 to 30 days from Anubias. I tried that with 4 different Anubiases. Worked every time. Yes, one of them cleared in 1 day! Here are pictures:

Day 1, Anubias #1

Day 1 from above, Anubias #1:

Same Anubias #1, Day 4:

Same Anubias #1, Day 14:

Day 20 of Anubias #2. Took 30 days to clear.

Day 7 of Anubias #3, Took 7 days to get this clean:

Hope you see how a truly stable tank is - very different from what we believe it can be.

Bump:

How do you use the powdered dolomite? Do you just dump it in the water, put it in the substrate, below the substrate, etc.? And, do you dose it on a schedule or just when you set up the tank?

Yes, kind if stir in some water. It does not disolve really - it just forms a foggy white liquid. The fine particles shimmer under the light while floating around the tank.

In a slightly acidic tank the fog goes away in about 30 min.

Alternatively you can use a turkey baster to deposit it somewhere in the back of the tank and watch the white piles diminish over about 36 hours.

Either way - it works. Like nothing else.

Bump:

Hmmmmmnm.....
Some pretty serious claims.
Im with house of cards on this one. Your proof is subpar, to say the least.

Not as serious as me telling you to turn your water toxic by adding Nitrate to 20 ppm and Phosphate to 2 ppm. Any water company will really want to know where you got this polluted water sample from. But I will tell you that countless people grow plants that way.

And will not tell you about stability, clean water, or accumulation of unneeded factors.

The rest will be finished off by the internet - many people with little understanding will give you a lot of the same advice. You will indeed think that it is a good way to run a tank. Nothing subpar here - we all know that more is better