I have noticed a bit of die-off from the spiders, so that would explain it. Darn, I really like the look of those plants! I wonder if there is an alternative to them that have a similar look. Possibly some sort of pond grass or reed type plant?
Plant only filtration (why not popular in the hobby???)
- Thread starter JK47
- Start date
Not the best experience so far with adding plants to an already established tank....I got a few golden pothos and cleaned the roots off and stuck the whole root ball in the aquarium with the stem/leaves above. Had the power head pointed towards them and had a few next to my AC 110s so I had constant water flow. Also had some air stones underneath to get oxygen to them. A few days later, water got cloudy and had a large ammonia spike to 4! Roots still looked healthy and leaves were nice and green. The roots that fell off were clogged in filter tubes so I cleaned those and did a large water change. I removed plants and need to start over. Did I screw up by putting the whole root ball in? I would have liked to put the plants in my AC but i dont want to remove the bio filter. Could I afford to do this? My system is 220 and has been established for year now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
How many plants should be used per gallons of water, or is it more of a how many fish do you have type of thing?
An update on my pothos experiment for anyone interested. In my overflow weir I have a good sized peace Lilly. I bought a black cat-litter tray, drilled holes in it and chucked a few pothos plants in it and placed it on top of the tank. The bottom of cat litter tray is just in the water (it cannot be seen from top as the tank is built into wall, kinda). My uv filter out goes into the litter tray for water movement.
I just checked my water before the water change tonight. Nitrates can usually get to 50+ppm when water change is due. I had to test twice as they read 0!!!! I did not believe it. It is a 650 gallon tank with not much plants really and this has eliminated nitrates.
Last test before my previous water change the nitrates were sitting at about 20ppm before the water change thanks to the plants, now a big fat 0!!
The plants have had very good growth.
Now I just need to work on the water clarity of the tank and I will be set.
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I just checked my water before the water change tonight. Nitrates can usually get to 50+ppm when water change is due. I had to test twice as they read 0!!!! I did not believe it. It is a 650 gallon tank with not much plants really and this has eliminated nitrates.
Last test before my previous water change the nitrates were sitting at about 20ppm before the water change thanks to the plants, now a big fat 0!!
The plants have had very good growth.
Now I just need to work on the water clarity of the tank and I will be set.
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Just stumbled across this thread and wanted to share my experiences with plant filtration. My wife and I have been raising an Mbu puffer as well as some Tanganyikan cichlids for about three years. We have moved tanks several times during that period but always had emergent plants as part of the tank, for both security for the fish (the plants' roots..) as well as aesthetic reasons.
This is the stock tub they were living in while our house was being remodeled...
Filtration in that tub was just by the Peace Lillies Roots and a couple of canister filters. Towards the end of the run with that tub, I tested the nitrates at one point and to my surprise, they registered about 40ppm. I says "surprise" because we were so busy with the remodel that I maybe had time to do a water change once a month and it had honestly been 2-3 mos. since I serviced either of the canister filters. Our puffer is 26" long and eats two whole crawfish a day, if that gives you any indication how much organic waste was going into the water and how much the plants were pulling out.
Here is the new setup, a 300G...
This is the setup for the plants...
...The two baskets in back are for the Peace Lillies and clay beads are used as the media. The black eggcrate in front is for the cuttings of Pothos, parrot's feather, etc. The two wire grates on the sides are for other plants such as orchids and bromeliads, which do not want to be in the water but like the humidity from below.
The tank's primary filtration is a wet-dry but after my positive experience with the plants, I would not do a big tank without them. Here is the build thread if anyone is curious...
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...ka-quot-300G-build-for-our-26-inch-Mbu-puffer
This is the stock tub they were living in while our house was being remodeled...
Filtration in that tub was just by the Peace Lillies Roots and a couple of canister filters. Towards the end of the run with that tub, I tested the nitrates at one point and to my surprise, they registered about 40ppm. I says "surprise" because we were so busy with the remodel that I maybe had time to do a water change once a month and it had honestly been 2-3 mos. since I serviced either of the canister filters. Our puffer is 26" long and eats two whole crawfish a day, if that gives you any indication how much organic waste was going into the water and how much the plants were pulling out.
Here is the new setup, a 300G...
This is the setup for the plants...
...The two baskets in back are for the Peace Lillies and clay beads are used as the media. The black eggcrate in front is for the cuttings of Pothos, parrot's feather, etc. The two wire grates on the sides are for other plants such as orchids and bromeliads, which do not want to be in the water but like the humidity from below.
The tank's primary filtration is a wet-dry but after my positive experience with the plants, I would not do a big tank without them. Here is the build thread if anyone is curious...
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...ka-quot-300G-build-for-our-26-inch-Mbu-puffer
Damn! That's one beautiful tank setup^^^
Iv never been into plants growing out of the top, but you have made me a believer
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Iv never been into plants growing out of the top, but you have made me a believer
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Yeah that is an awesome setup with the plants on top.
With my setup I have to keep the plants in pots as the fish will shred the roots quickly. Every now and then my pearsei will pull a whole plant from a pot and i will find it in pieces. They are very sneaky.....
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With my setup I have to keep the plants in pots as the fish will shred the roots quickly. Every now and then my pearsei will pull a whole plant from a pot and i will find it in pieces. They are very sneaky.....
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Pearsei are vegetarians, they eat plants and plant roots for a living. Any plants put close to pearsei are goners, mine would eat a head of romaine or a half lb of peas per day.
Yeah between the pearsei, lemon barb and tinfoil barbs. Any plants that get dragged in are gone in minutes.
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