I have used the plastic a few times river, never had a problem using it even with lava rocks.
Ya jk is back!
Plant only filtration (why not popular in the hobby???)
- Thread starter JK47
- Start date
I have used the plastic a few times river, never had a problem using it even with lava rocks.
Ya jk is back!
I got the surprise of surprises today. I was calling around to different stores locally to source expanded clay pellets. I checked with the big box stores and the Dumpster had it for 32 bucks a 50 liter bag (36lbs). However my specialty pet and garden store (local chain that does national sales Zamzows) has 50lb bags for 23. WOW! I've never got anything from them cheap however they provide top of the line products catering to their niche as a local quality option. I'll be getting it up and rolling sooner than I thought.
Well, my info from the last store was dead wrong. They wanted to sell 20 liters for that price. I of course was absolutely not going to spend that kind of money. I have heard a lot of great info about Growstones and found a local supplier. I bought out his entire stock for 120 bucks. This stuff is LIGHT. I was packing around 2 cubic foot bags like they weren't there. Anyway, When I got home I finished the plumbing, rinsed the little hydroton I had, checked for leaks, then added the growstones while filtering the water outside. They say you don't need to rinse glowstone but it had an awful lot of powder so I wasn't taking chances. Once my water came out clean I finished filling. I have roughly 10 cubic feet of media in the grow bed. It is much bigger that it looks. The aquarium you see is a 2x2x4 100 gallon diy I made a long time ago. Both of the racks are 3 feet tall, 24 inches wide, and 48 inches long. Im having an issue with the durso right now, it seems to almost do a siphon then break, I have a vent drilled though not pictured. If anybody knows why its happening I am all ears. Pictures to follow shortly..
Okay, here goes.... lol, some are upside down, some are on their sides.. hopefully you all get the idea.
This is the pump I chose. I bought it from Worms Way for like 26 bucks. 370gph is plenty of turnover. I think I'm running somewhere around 125 gallons of water in the system.
Standpipe from the pump. It is 1/4" from the top height of the bed frame.
Durso standpipe draining back into the tank. I used craft hook and latch plastic as a media barrier.
The bottom of the growbed. Return pipe.
Drain into tank. (yes both pictures are upside down)
Hyrdroton added and spread.
Dirty water draining out through the screen door onto the front step.
Maximum water height, floating hydroton.
Bag the growstone came in. Planting height of growbed.
Long view of growbed after filling with growstone.
A better view of the planting height of the media as compared to the water level. It's about an inch and a half.
Frontal picture.
Hope you all enjoy. If you have questions or comments let me know.
This is the pump I chose. I bought it from Worms Way for like 26 bucks. 370gph is plenty of turnover. I think I'm running somewhere around 125 gallons of water in the system.
Standpipe from the pump. It is 1/4" from the top height of the bed frame.
Durso standpipe draining back into the tank. I used craft hook and latch plastic as a media barrier.
The bottom of the growbed. Return pipe.
Drain into tank. (yes both pictures are upside down)
Hyrdroton added and spread.
Dirty water draining out through the screen door onto the front step.
Maximum water height, floating hydroton.
Bag the growstone came in. Planting height of growbed.
Long view of growbed after filling with growstone.
A better view of the planting height of the media as compared to the water level. It's about an inch and a half.
Frontal picture.
Hope you all enjoy. If you have questions or comments let me know.
Nice setup RM. One question, what does the "Hydroton" or "Grow rock" offer that plain pea gravel or aquarium gravel doesn't? Just the light weight?
Much better surface area, ease of planting and harvesting, weight, compaction, flow. In weight alone, pea gravel weighs 90lbs per cubic foot. Growstone weighs 11 lbs per cubic foot. Growstone also holds water and air which is very beneficial to plant growth. If I use pea gravel I would have over 900 lbs of media alone sitting above my tank. as it is I have about 100 lbs
Thank you. I just finished moving into my new house and I'm getting some tanks up and running. Time to start working on my plant filtration.
