Ad
related to: why do plants need nitrates in aquarium air
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In the natural environment these nitrates are subsequently taken up by plants as fertilizer and this does indeed happen to some extent in an aquarium planted with real plants. An aquarium is, however, an imperfect microcosm of the natural world. Aquariums are usually much more densely stocked with fish than the natural environment.
Nitrogen assimilation is the formation of organic nitrogen compounds like amino acids from inorganic nitrogen compounds present in the environment. Organisms like plants, fungi and certain bacteria that can fix nitrogen gas (N 2) depend on the ability to assimilate nitrate or ammonia for their needs.
All RAS relies on biofiltration to convert ammonia (NH 4 + and NH 3) excreted by the fish into nitrate. [4] Ammonia is a waste product of fish metabolism and high concentrations (>.02 mg/L) are toxic to most finfish. [5] Nitrifying bacteria are chemoautotrophs that convert ammonia into nitrite (NO 2 −) then nitrate (NO 3 −).
Nitrate is depleted in near-surface water except in upwelling regions. Coastal upwelling regions usually have high nitrate and chlorophyll levels as a result of the increased production. However, there are regions of high surface nitrate but low chlorophyll that are referred to as HNLC (high nitrogen, low chlorophyll) regions. The best ...
Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include those of the legume family—Fabaceae— with taxa such as kudzu, clover, soybean, alfalfa, lupin, peanut and rooibos. [45] They contain symbiotic rhizobia bacteria within nodules in their root systems , producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other plants. [ 58 ]
Best of all, air plant care is easy, if you understand what these plants need. Air plants are epiphytes, meaning they anchor to a host plant by their roots. They do not need soil to grow ...
Periodic removal of the algae that has grown inside of an algae scrubber removes nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate) from the aquarium water, thus providing the needed filtration. An algae scrubber is a water filtering device which uses light to grow algae ; in this process, undesirable chemicals are removed from the water. [ 1 ]
The total essential plant nutrients include seventeen different elements: carbon, oxygen and hydrogen which are absorbed from the air, whereas other nutrients including nitrogen are typically obtained from the soil (exceptions include some parasitic or carnivorous plants). Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients from their growing ...