Plants And Fish

[Strangerover]

I have been reading this forum (and very interesting it is too)

but one thing I can't seem to find....

There is all kinds of talk about planted tanks that seem to be there to show off the plants...

talk about fish and Nitrate and how you need water changes..

BUT...

what happened to the idea of having a tank set up with a light population and fast growing plants ?

this way the tank balances itself and you don't have to change the water etc etc.

I have had a tank in the past that I only changed the water when I gave it a good clean out (about twice a year)

The water was clear the plants and fish long lived and I had guppies, Gouromi and Cribs all breed in the tank so water must have been right ?

Does anyone do this anymore ?? i.e. set up the tank so the tank looks after its self ???

Real plants and small fish ...

If so.... what sort of populations do you guys have ??

 

[drobbyb]

If you are talking about Diana Walstad's style of planted tanks, I believe there are members on this forum who keep such tanks. Fascinating concept!

 

[aaronnorth]

some people do keep these type of tanks still, search El natural and it may bring up a few threads, i know Arul Nathans uses this technique, here is his flickr (not sure of his username on here!)

http/www.flickr.com/photos/arulnathans/3...57600026194951/

i know a few more people use this technique over on UKAPS.

There is all kinds of talk about planted tanks that seem to be there to show off the plants...

talk about fish and Nitrate and how you need water changes..

not sure what you mean about the Nitrate though? whether it be a low tech or high tech tank they all need Nitrates for proteins!

 

[treefella83]

i am no expert and dont pretend to be but there are many reasons why we all do regular partial water changes.
i cant see how any fish in the aquarium can thrive not just survive without the very water they live in being correct for their needs.

 

[Strangerover]

To elaborate on the Nitrate...

I know plants use it... and the end of the "cycle" is nitrate... which can build up in the tank.. hence.. change the water to stop it building up...

But there is a point in the tank where by the amount of Nitrate produced by bacteria will equal that consumed by the plants.... if you can balance this then the nitrate will not build up to a point where its a problem... pass this point and the water becomes more and more saturated with nitrate.

Now using this to control the tank may well require "tougher" fish and simple plants..

I rarely tested my water years ago... I did from time to time and the only thing I had a problem with was PH....

I'm not saying I'm going to ignore all the new information and will be getting a test kit...

but what I'd like to do is get a set up that does not need regular water changes.. why... because thats what I had in the past.. and I had happy breeding fish back then with no water changes ....

Please don't think I don't care about the fish... I do !! and so far have resisted putting fish in my nice new tank... I'm feeding it a pinch of fish food a day !

the plants are growing nicley under the 10,000k light and the snail is growing that came as a freebie with one of the plants !

 

[aaronnorth]

the NO3 levels will probably not get dangrous for the fish we keep, it has been shown that most fish species can survive Nitrate levels into the hundreds, and some upto 1000ppm.
The species that tend to struggle are salminoids, fry, and marines, but i have seen tests for marines to be able to withsatnd level of 88ppm