IAL and live plants

[LittleBettaFish]

Here's a page I found in a two second google search describing some properties of the IAL.

http://www.allnaturalpetcare.com/Ind...-Aquarium.html

If your water has a low KH like mine, it will be much easier for the IAL to alter the chemistry of the water. However, for places with alkaline water and higher KH value, generally peat moss and IAL (the two main 'softening agents') are not going to be enough. Usually in those instances, you have to cut your source water with rain or RO water to decrease the KH value, which in turn should lower your pH.

[babystarz]

In my tanks with a lot of IAL I wait to add more leaves after a water change to give the plants a few days to recover. In the tanks where that's not feasible because the fish are shy, I swap out the plants so they're not in the blackwater for more than 2 weeks.

[aokashi]

*reads*

What i mean is hardness is a measure of dissolved minerals in the water right...?

how would IAL reduce that...?

[LittleBettaFish]

I don't really know. Maybe the acidity of the leaf as it releases tannins and breaks down has something to do with.

[babystarz]

Yeah my guess is that the carbon and/or nitrogen released by decomposition bind to minerals, maybe helped along by the tannins(?), and live plants will suck them up. I also use snails the help out with processing decaying plant bits too. The end product of that would be more oxygen in the water instead of minerals so I suppose that could lower hardness if you've got an efficient ecosystem in place to deal with everything. I don't pay close attention to my water hardness. I just know it's 8.4 out of the tap and naturally settles to 7.6ish, and the IAL will help take it down a little further. And I have a lot of iron in my tap water.

[Laki]

This has gotten complicated. What's kH of water? I know there is a lot of chlorine in my taps bc I can smell it if I run them long enough..
So decaying plant matter (from say, my hygrophilia) is beneficial like IAL but it doesn't release tannins?

[babystarz]

Originally Posted by Laki

This has gotten complicated. What's kH of water? I know there is a lot of chlorine in my taps bc I can smell it if I run them long enough..
So decaying plant matter (from say, my hygrophilia) is beneficial like IAL but it doesn't release tannins?

Yes and no. The right amount of decaying plant matter is good, it produces infusoria. A healthy eco-system can deal with a steady amount of it. If there is too much decaying stuff, then you can run into problems with ammonia spikes.

From the wikipedia entry on KH:

KH - Buffering capacity, temporary or carbonate hardness in the water.
Also known as 'total alkalinity' or 'acid-neutralizing capacity' (ANC) in some countries.
In tanks with a low KH value, say under 2-3d (35.7-53.6ppm), the respiration of the plants or animals at night (CO2 production) can cause large pH shifts which harm and eventually kill aquatic animals. This is called pH shock. It is due to lack of water buffering.
KH is consumed by nitrifying bacteria 24/7 so either your substrate generates more, you perform water changes to supplement it or you add chemicals to add KH to your aquarium as otherwise it causes a pH crash/shock.
If you live with soft water then you may need to raise it before you add aquatic animals to it. Measure the KH value and if it's less than 4d (71.4ppm) then add some of the items below to increase it.
Remember that KH always tends to go down over time (See old tank syndrome). KH is also reduced by the action of nitrifying bacteria and by water surface agitation.

[Laki]

omg so...
My running 5g can just crash overnight due to kH.
o-o
I never measured a thing in my water with any testing kit.

[Silverfang]

Laki, Gh and Kh here in the city are so low it's practically nonexistant

[Friendlyfishies]

now im confused... I didnt know you couldnt have live plants w/ IAL? Asside from less light is there another reason its not good for live plants? I like to have both...