Here is my original post from last year:
This tank has been up and running for 9 months or so. Happy to report that there have been no leaks or other complications.
New video:
I found that I did still need some mechanical filtration to keep the water clear. The fluidized media still takes care of the nitrogen cycle, but I found that the water never cleared completely, which I somewhat expected, but that was part of the point of this experiment... I wanted to set up a tank with the least amount of maintenance possible, so i wanted to see if you could get away without mechanical filtration and JUST use bio-media that wouldn't get clogged.
I think you may be able to get away with it for certain tanks, but with these mbuna, they are always tearing up the plants, stirring up the substrate, and making a mess. There was just too many particulates floating around. While the fish might have been fine and healthy with slightly cloudy water... I wasn't happy with the look of it.
I came up with a dead-simple and super easy solution but just putting a container of filter floss on the intake inside the tank. I can just reach my arm in once every week or two and pull the whole container out, change out the polyfill, and replace it in under a minute. Otherwise, tank is maintenance free besides glass cleaning.
Was it worth it? I don't know. I sure had fun and learned a lot, and i did come up with a very low maintenance system. I could have achieved results better than or equal-to with a sump system I'm sure, but as I mentioned in my last post... I had a cabinet I was trying to fit the system into, and I didn't want to worry about extra noise and moisture, as It was in the living room.
This is the last video of the system its current configuration. I am moving states and taking the whole system with me, but I will leave the cabinet part behind, and this canister will run 2 tanks in its next life. A 40b and the 55g
This tank has been up and running for 9 months or so. Happy to report that there have been no leaks or other complications.
New video:
I found that I did still need some mechanical filtration to keep the water clear. The fluidized media still takes care of the nitrogen cycle, but I found that the water never cleared completely, which I somewhat expected, but that was part of the point of this experiment... I wanted to set up a tank with the least amount of maintenance possible, so i wanted to see if you could get away without mechanical filtration and JUST use bio-media that wouldn't get clogged.
I think you may be able to get away with it for certain tanks, but with these mbuna, they are always tearing up the plants, stirring up the substrate, and making a mess. There was just too many particulates floating around. While the fish might have been fine and healthy with slightly cloudy water... I wasn't happy with the look of it.
I came up with a dead-simple and super easy solution but just putting a container of filter floss on the intake inside the tank. I can just reach my arm in once every week or two and pull the whole container out, change out the polyfill, and replace it in under a minute. Otherwise, tank is maintenance free besides glass cleaning.
Was it worth it? I don't know. I sure had fun and learned a lot, and i did come up with a very low maintenance system. I could have achieved results better than or equal-to with a sump system I'm sure, but as I mentioned in my last post... I had a cabinet I was trying to fit the system into, and I didn't want to worry about extra noise and moisture, as It was in the living room.
This is the last video of the system its current configuration. I am moving states and taking the whole system with me, but I will leave the cabinet part behind, and this canister will run 2 tanks in its next life. A 40b and the 55g
