see.. now this is why i'm interested in this thread. i want to go there with the 800 gallon tank when i set it up. i'm trying to work out how to turn my entire livingroom into a wet dry/garden/filter without making it look like i live in a barn or a warehouse. but i WILL figure it out.
Plant only filtration (why not popular in the hobby???)
- Thread starter JK47
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see.. now this is why i'm interested in this thread. i want to go there with the 800 gallon tank when i set it up. i'm trying to work out how to turn my entire livingroom into a wet dry/garden/filter without making it look like i live in a barn or a warehouse. but i WILL figure it out.
Then it is not plant only filtration is it. It is a standard mechanical / bio filter with plants to remove the nitrates. Nothing new, but as the o p says, it should be more popular.
No, it was an example to help people imagine how the system works. I don't have a trickle filter or any other filter. I have a grow bed that gets water pumped up to it from an unfiltered powerhead. The water filled the grow bed then when it reaches it's maximum height it triggers the bell siphon and is released back in to the tank. My filtration is the grow media and the plants.. thats all. The grow media acts as bio media like any other surface in your aquarium. The plants harvest the nitrates and produce something useful rather than waste with other methods.
I get 0 readings across the board.
I get 0 readings across the board.
Might as well and a rain barrel to the down spouts and pipe it to your tank to keep it independently sustainable. lol
OK I have 2 heavily planted (underwater) tanks and have just recently (last week) add ivy and spider plants to one of the tanks. I tested the water for both tanks for the first time 2 days ago and had no ammonia or nitrates. I have not changed the water in either for over 4 months. Is that normal? I had assumed I would have fairly high nitrate readings. the 20 gal tank (got the ivy and spider plants too recently) has 7 goldfish, 7 flathead minnows and several insects along with the hornword, grasses and other plants. The 10 gal has 8 ghost shrimps , many baby ghost shrimp and lots of insects (drangon fly, mayfly, damselfly, crane-fly, nymphs to name a few.
Yes, because the plants are converting your nitrates into growth. As long as your bio load doesn't overload your bio media and you have enough plant filtration you will continue to see low readings. Note however that you may end up with deficiencies such as iron, phosphates, etc. So take care to watch your plants for queues. You will maintain happy healthy fish and plants very easilly if you just keep up with harvesting and or pruning and watch for deficiencies.
Plants DO consume ammonia.
And dont forget people, plants roots act as bio media too. They dont just sit there and absorb nutrients, they are the bio too. My 55 has no mech, no bio, just a HOB with pothos. I need to change that though soon to much debri sits on the bottom, stupid other filter had to break grrr. But no problems with its inhabitants.
Also remember, the more fish, the smaller the tank the MORE plants your going to need to keep nitrates down.
On a side note, grass is doing "ok". I think alot of it got to tall and fell into the water and died. The rest is still nice and green. So grass right now is a 50/50. Mint well I think it being invasive was a mistake to use in my container ha. This thing is sprouting up ALLLLLLL over the place. There are atleast 20 different areas it is comming out of the lava rock atleast 12" away from the original plant. But what does stupid me do? Got some more mint and put it over on the other side UGH.
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Now what I dont understand, is when I first tried mint It grew until I touched it and though because the water got over the "crown" it died. But I have been watching these sprouts crawl under the water with leaves and they and the stems are real GREEN. Now which to gets me thinking. CAN mint be planted into the substrate of a tank, provided it shoots its runners that way first they go to the surface and become emerged?!??? As of right now from what I am seeing happening, the answer is yes.
And dont forget people, plants roots act as bio media too. They dont just sit there and absorb nutrients, they are the bio too. My 55 has no mech, no bio, just a HOB with pothos. I need to change that though soon to much debri sits on the bottom, stupid other filter had to break grrr. But no problems with its inhabitants.
Also remember, the more fish, the smaller the tank the MORE plants your going to need to keep nitrates down.
On a side note, grass is doing "ok". I think alot of it got to tall and fell into the water and died. The rest is still nice and green. So grass right now is a 50/50. Mint well I think it being invasive was a mistake to use in my container ha. This thing is sprouting up ALLLLLLL over the place. There are atleast 20 different areas it is comming out of the lava rock atleast 12" away from the original plant. But what does stupid me do? Got some more mint and put it over on the other side UGH.
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Now what I dont understand, is when I first tried mint It grew until I touched it and though because the water got over the "crown" it died. But I have been watching these sprouts crawl under the water with leaves and they and the stems are real GREEN. Now which to gets me thinking. CAN mint be planted into the substrate of a tank, provided it shoots its runners that way first they go to the surface and become emerged?!??? As of right now from what I am seeing happening, the answer is yes.
Ugh this is very annoying. I keep reading people using hostas in ponds bare rooted IN the water and they grow like crazy... I know I dug mine up this summer, but being in shock cant take this long grrrrrrr.
Seems people are using Impatiens and seems they respond VERY well to being in water. I saw one person doing marigolds. That would be cool.
Maybe I need to chop of the "soil grown leafs" to make it grow?
Seems people are using Impatiens and seems they respond VERY well to being in water. I saw one person doing marigolds. That would be cool.
Maybe I need to chop of the "soil grown leafs" to make it grow?
Plants actually absorb ammonium not ammonia, though a very small amount of ammonia converts over to ammonium naturally in the presence of water and more effectively in lower ph ranges. Over time the process gets more effective in your aquarium. The rest of the ammonia that is left must be dealt with through the normal process.
What you are seeing is emergent plants. These plants have troubles at times going from soil based to water based.. They tend to grow new leaves after awhile. When the old growth begins to die off then remove it.. don't do it before hand because it is still working for the plant.
What you are seeing is emergent plants. These plants have troubles at times going from soil based to water based.. They tend to grow new leaves after awhile. When the old growth begins to die off then remove it.. don't do it before hand because it is still working for the plant.
The grass I have grows submerged similar to hornwart but do grow roots. Maybe I will try growing it just with its root wet and see if it goes out of the water like the spider plants and ivy. Or better yet I will jut pull some over the side of the tank and see it it continues to grow. BTW the tank with gold fish use to over trim my submerged plants and kill them. However I put so many plants in it that for the last 3 months the gold fish can't keep up with doing proper natural pruning. lol
Rivermud I wasnt going to get tech crazy on the words! I need a bigger tank so I can have a huge container 
