I do water changes on my 20g and 10g just to keep the shrimp happy. My 20g is heavily planted and my 10g has flame moss and some marimo balls (i don't think its spelled right). If i didn't have the shrimp, i probably would do water changes on my 20g about every other week or so, and i would raise the TDS.
Plant only filtration (why not popular in the hobby???)
- Thread starter JK47
- Start date
Hey just wanted to report how my plant filters working. My tank cracked, so had to start from scratch. But I have 2 axolotls, and the plant filter, with a canister filter(I cleaned all bio media after tank cracked because it had been sitting without running for 24 hours) in a rubbermaid bin, and no ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. The plants took awhile to acclimate because I was getting ammonia in the bin about a week ago, but my gf accidentally broke the last 2 test tubes I had, so i havn't been able to test the water till today as I've been waiting for replacement tubes to come in the mail. However from last week to today my plants have been looking noticeably more healthy, and I have no ammonia/nitrite/nitrate at all.
I have photos in my pond in a small bio filter and the roots are huge and rooted quite well in the gravel at first they would fall out of the water quite easily but now they barely move and just today I added some more clippings from my grandmas photos to my 30 and 2 55s. I cant say how much its helping water conditions tho I do not have a test kit for nitrates only nirites and ammonia.
It took a while for my plants to start taking in some nutrients, I've tested a few times to double check, and everythings still good
I've tried partial plant filtration with duckweed as part of a noise-free bedroom filter plan, but the duckweed didn't really grow and spread that much =\
I have a 10g that I planted with 5 small sickly water lettuces and 2 red mangroves. It has no fish, but a lot of snails that hitch hiked on some plants. I set it up because I was curious to see how well the plants would handle nitrates etc. Each week I drain about 30-50% of the water and refill with water from my CA/SA tank when I do the water change which leaves a nitrate reading of around 10. By the end of the week the nitrates in the 10g are at zero. Also the tank is blanketed now with big healthy water lettuces and the mangroves are growing nicely.
With no fish in the tank this is not exactly impressive, but I think it has potential as one possible approach to using plants to help filter a tank. A stand alone tank, perhaps in-line with a sump or canister filter could be an interesting display all by itself. The use of immersed and floating plants works well for a number of reasons. First, there is no need to add CO2 because the plants get it from the air. Second, the floating plants (like my water lettuce) can grow so densely packed that there is minimal evaporation (I don't observe any water level change over a week, of course there is no water movement either). Third, as a display tank, the tank itself could be hidden, since the surface is what is on display with it's lush plant growth. If it was drilled you wouldn't have to even see the plumbing.
With no fish in the tank this is not exactly impressive, but I think it has potential as one possible approach to using plants to help filter a tank. A stand alone tank, perhaps in-line with a sump or canister filter could be an interesting display all by itself. The use of immersed and floating plants works well for a number of reasons. First, there is no need to add CO2 because the plants get it from the air. Second, the floating plants (like my water lettuce) can grow so densely packed that there is minimal evaporation (I don't observe any water level change over a week, of course there is no water movement either). Third, as a display tank, the tank itself could be hidden, since the surface is what is on display with it's lush plant growth. If it was drilled you wouldn't have to even see the plumbing.
hey guys I too have started my own planted pothos tank, do you think i have enough pothos + lucky bamboo to adequately remove nitrates?
i also have a wet/dry and a rena XP3
heres a vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYAP-v9nAyc
i also have a wet/dry and a rena XP3
heres a vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYAP-v9nAyc
Whats the best plant species to use? Any pothos? I had a quick google and it said the roots will rot if left in damp soil so reads as if they would rot in water :S
