Plant only filtration (why not popular in the hobby???)

[albertjavieraguilar]

The hornworts in my 20 gal tank with the plants in back continue to decline (the java moss continues to grow but at a slower pace). I am placing a couple of decaying leaves into the tank to see if this adds some of the nutrients that maybe lacking . Any idea on what nutrients dead leaves supply or how long it takes for the nutrients to be in a form that can be used by plants? What should I look out for other than checking the ammonium and nitrates?
BTW- The spider plants continue to grow like crazy and even the pothos have begun to have nice roots. Nitrates remain at zero.

 

[JamesF]

A few decaying leaves won't add anything for the plants. I think Tom Barr (on the Barr Report) had done some research on organic nitrate and found that it actually contributed to algae growth, whereas chemical nitrate didn't.
The emmersed plants also have all the CO2 they need from the atmosphere.

 

[wrslrcichlid]

It sounds to me like the plants that are doing well are outcompeting your hornworts for nutrients causing them to decay. Just a guess, but seems like it to me. You could try a new combination of plants or just remove the hornwort as it starts to die.

 

[albertjavieraguilar]

It sounds to me like the plants that are doing well are outcompeting your hornworts for nutrients causing them to decay. Just a guess, but seems like it to me. You could try a new combination of plants or just remove the hornwort as it starts to die.

Yeah, I agree the spider plants, pothos and java moss are probably outcompeting the hornworts (and water lettuce). Just seeing what leaving a couple of big pothos leaves to rot will do an if anyone had any experiences.

 

[wrslrcichlid]

As JamesF commented, I don't know how well the leaves will work - but you could increase the bioload or fertilize the water. Increasing the amount of nutrients available would obviously allow more plants to survive and grow. The only problem there is if you would be defeating the purpose of why you added the plants in the first place, and how much extra nutrients would you have to add to "fill" the pothos', spider plants', and java moss' needs to where some nutrients would be left for the hornwort.

 

[albertjavieraguilar]

Wrsl, yeah it's all about balance. In a fish only tank may want minimum nitrates, algae etc In a planted tank which includes insects, leeches, shrimp etc like mine I want algae, and some nutrients in the water. It interesting to see how plants and animals react to different conditions. It is also nice to have some nice plants growing outside the tank. So yeah one way to say it is putting the dead leaves defeats the purpose of why I added the plants in the first place. I like to see it as kinda trying to further complete the cycle minimizing chemical additives etc. I do enjoy my aquariums, and thanks in part to this thread I have learned many new and wonderul things.

 

[wrslrcichlid]

I will continue the updates on my tank. I did another water change yesterday (again waited a full week) and my nitrates were about 10ppm (and as already mentioned would normally have been about 40ppm before adding the pothos). I also noticed that there was quite a bit less fish waste in my tank as I vacuumed the sand and less on my filter pad (in my wet/dry filter) when I cleaned it. Since the plants are really the only thing I have changed my best guess is that as the plants remove nitrates it allows the fish waste to dissolve better into the water. I don't know if that is right (maybe someone can comment), but I haven't changed my feedings or removed/added any fish. I don't measure my feedings, but they have basically remained consistent. Since the plants are the only change, other than a longer period between cleanings (which should mean more waste), my best guess is the plants are helping in that area as well. Yeah for additional unintended positive effects!!

Also, one of my two spring breaks (I am in two colleges at once!!!) is next week so my class load will be much lower than normal, hopefully giving me time to build my shelf planter and get more plants. I would really like to decrease my tank cleanings from weekly (which is better than every 4-5 days) to every two weeks (or possibly even once a month).

 

[albertjavieraguilar]

Wrsl
How often to do water changes when your plants are controlling the nitrates . As you have seen there are lots of different opinions. Most people agree that the primary need of an unplanted aquarium is to remove nitrates. When your nitrates are being controlled by plants.... then it becomes a debate. Pheromones, hormones, excess other chemicals such as phosphate or potassium, lack of micro nutrients, salt buildup etc. I know of people (since i have done it) that never do water changes and others that do it as often as if they were not removing nitrates. You will not get a single correct answer. I can only share what i do. I will use aquarium water to water my plants. It comes out to probably a 10% water change monthly. My opinion is you can easily get by with your monthly water change if you monitor your nitrates. Good look with your planter. And do water changes as you see fit. Most of all don't worry and enjoy your aquarium

 

[professor_rob]

Awesome thread and lots of good info.

Read it all a couple of weeks ago and straight away added a decent size pothos and peace lily to my tank. It is a 650gallon and usually has a decent amount of nitrates with constant water changes.

Obviously I am not expecting miracles but if the plants can begin to (noticeably) lower the nitrates levels i will be very happy.

I have had both the plants sitting in the weir and the plants seem to be doing alright (2 weeks so far). I left the peace Lilly in the weir and have just moved the pothos to the wet dry sump just to split them up.

Few questions;
Under the tank there is a LED light not extremely bright but will it be enough light for the pothos in the sump? (I read that ambient room light is good enough)

The pothos has roots in the water and leaves above water, but the wet dry has rotating arms spraying water like it is constantly raining on the pothos is this good/bad/ok for the pothos? (will it have a similar effect to being fully submerged)

I will post up findings / results in a while of how things go.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[albertjavieraguilar]

Sounds like you have a nice setup. My experience is that ambient room light is good enough for pothos so yours should be ok. However, if you give it more light it will grow faster and remove more nitrates.
Never seen a pothos under constant rainy condition. I have heard they like to be sprayed with water from time to time. Having rained on is not like if its submerged since parts of the leaves will be exposed to air and have access to CO2 from the air. I don't know but my guess is the rainy condition maybe ok for the pothos (my main concern would be that it rots), let us know how it turns out