spring2012
Well-Known Member
i only do a water change every 4 to 6 weeks, if i emptied the whole tank then my fish would die, as you have mentioned the good stuff for the fish builds up in the water so changing all the water would harm the fish, so every 6 weeks i change 1/3rd of the water, this is all is needed to keep the tank healthy, plus i clean my filter around this time as well, it has 2 spong filters in it that i squeeze out and clean, this is all the sludge i was on about, plus in my filter i have a section that has some mineral in it, its has small white chalky stones and the water filters through this also, its some sort of mineral, ive never replaced it so not sure what it is, the only other thing i use is a suction pump, this sucks all the crap out the gravel at the bottom of the tank, this is all fish crap and un-used food, this all usually goes in the bin, but im wondering if this sludge could be mixed in with a batch of compost, as some sort of additive, im really not sure whats in it but its mainly poo and slime that the fish create, so im wondering if i kept this and let it dry out so it would go sort of powdery, then i could mix it in with the compost before planting the plants,
i just wish i could test it and find out what is exactly in this sludge.
im going to run 1 of these 2ltr dwc hempies on pure fish water and bpn, no tap water will be used, this way i can see how the plant grows in total fish water and then i can sample the buds at the end, i would use it on all my plants but till i sample the buds from this test plant i would rather not risk it in case i ended up with a load of manky bud, but so far so good, the buds are more developed on the fish water fed plant, the plant is growing quicker and seems more in flower then the clone of the same age, but i wont know the quality of the buds till i sample the goods, but i will be giving a good flush a bit before harvest to get everything out the soil that i dont want in their
The mineral is to help disapate ammonia. Typically it must be re-charged every so often or it is of no use. I simply replace it when I add in new filter medium ( Google this and it will tell you how to re-charge ). Ammonia levels never get that bad unless you have numerous large fish or Gold Fish. I have 9 large African Cichlids in a 55 gallon so the Ammonia can get rough. I use an Emperor 400 and it works great. Cycles my 55 gallon tank almost 4 times an hour. The killa benefit is that it utilizes two bio wheels. The bio wheels store all of the beneficial bacteria to keep the tank cycled. Your water changes are right on. If you are doing them at those intervals then your tank is healthy and cycled. Probably the reason for good reactions with the plants. Cichlids enjoy a high PH and slight salt additive ( I TBsp for every 5 gallons ) or else I would probably use the water as you are. PH buffers for tanks are full of salts so I shy away from this. Another way to know your tank is healthy is when fish breed successively. I cant get mine too stop!
Sorry about the rant on Fish Tanks!! I just saw a question I could actually answer for you!!