Unfiltered Planted Tank

[mini_matt]

hi, i'm moving my fish to a larger tank and will be moving the filter over with the fish. my current tank has plants in it and want to get it heavily planted before I put shrimp in it, will not having it filtered for a while benifit the plants? it will be my first tank with lots of plants so have lots to learn, thanks

 

[aaronnorth]

the lack of circulation and the possibility of ammonia forming may trigger an algae attack.
Lack of circulation will also mean the nutrients do not get distributed evenly.
so there isnt really any benfit to the plants.

there is some more info here
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/298133-back-to-basics/

 

[mini_matt]

I will just transfer majority of the media over then so there will still be curculation then, I thought that the lack of surface agitation would mean there would be more co2 in the water? thanks

 

[RadaR]

I thought that the lack of surface agitation would mean there would be more co2 in the water?

Lack of surface agitation would reduce the chance of losing CO2 initially present in the water.
But surface agitation means the surface of the water actually "breaking" and being churned up. You don't want a surface that's static and not moving. You want it moving around to promote good gas exchange and prevent scum forming.
A planted tank, or any tank for that matter without flow provided by a filter or powerhead wont do well.

 

[mini_matt]

cool thanks for that i will just run the filter without majority of the media or maybe just the powerhead from an internal i have not being used

 

[Mikaila31]

I thought that the lack of surface agitation would mean there would be more co2 in the water?

Lack of surface agitation would reduce the chance of losing CO2 initially present in the water.
But surface agitation means the surface of the water actually "breaking" and being churned up. You don't want a surface that's static and not moving. You want it moving around to promote good gas exchange and prevent scum forming.
A planted tank, or any tank for that matter without flow provided by a filter or powerhead wont do well.

Normally I would agree. However I've been running a little 5 gal paludrium that holds only about a gallon of water. No water movement/ mechanical filtration. I don't think it could be any happier. Its been running a couple months without any problems.

 

[RadaR]

I thought that the lack of surface agitation would mean there would be more co2 in the water?

Lack of surface agitation would reduce the chance of losing CO2 initially present in the water.
But surface agitation means the surface of the water actually "breaking" and being churned up. You don't want a surface that's static and not moving. You want it moving around to promote good gas exchange and prevent scum forming.
A planted tank, or any tank for that matter without flow provided by a filter or powerhead wont do well.

Normally I would agree. However I've been running a little 5 gal paludrium that holds only about a gallon of water. No water movement/ mechanical filtration. I don't think it could be any happier. Its been running a couple months without any problems.

Paludrium... so the plants are the majority out of the water and get their CO2 from the atmosphere?

 

[mini_matt]

yeah thats what I thought, if there non aquatic it doesen't count in this instance

 

[RadaR]

Well, they can still be aquatic, just in emersed form not submerged.

 

[Mikaila31]

The build thread for my tank is here. I will let you judge for yourself whether it counts or not. I feel the little 1 gal of water in this tank is quite a achievement. My stream system is used very rarely, last time I turned it on was over a month ago. No waterchanges on this tank. I top it off weekly, but have not removed any water from it in the last couple months. I've never remove algae from the tank, since I set it up. I was expect a lot of algae do to all the black dirt on the land side. 26 watts of spiral bulbs on the tank. Even fully submersed plants like the little crypt. wenditti pearl regularly. I wouldn't say the land and water are separate I haven't pruned the tank in over a month. Not only is it extremely overgrown, there are masses of roots going from the land into the water.

I agree with you that a paludarium should not be compared exactly to a planted aquarium. But IMO a planted tank without filter or water movement can be done and can be stocked lightly with fish, shrimp, and snails. It can also flourish. It would IMO need either a warm climate or a heated fish room (if you want to keep tropical fish). So that the water is an even temp. It just requires going against what most suggest.

 

[mini_matt]

I love your progect! read it a while back and strait away wanted to do it too! lol i love your lil toad too but my girlfriend won't let me make one an have a lil frog too! rubbish lol was your land area still getting water logged when the stream was on? when I was looking at other progect similar people had fitted a drain hole on the land side so excess water can drain off into a holding tank so might help in your case

 

[Mikaila31]

Currently its too overgrown to run the stream. Also you forget about the little details when setting things up. The filter cord is like 5 inches to short to reach the powerstrip . Getting it to plug in is a pain, which is why its been stagnant for over a month. The land area did still get water logged last time the stream was on, but I never run the stream for more than a couple hours when it is on. The plants don't seemed bothered by this temporary flooding. If I wanted to run it full time I think that's certainly possible. I wouldn't go to the trouble of fitting a drain. Changing tank conditions is not something I do normally. The problem isn't really that the land floods. Its if the moss can with stand the continuous flooding. If it can't, well I need a more suitable plant, bog moss or something that will be happy with the flooding. At least thats how I fix problems .Suitable inhabitants = stable and easy care tank.

Like when many said keeping my two burrowing 2ft caecilians in a hi-tech planted tank wasn't a good idea. It was great IMO really not too many difficulties. The caecilians can and do fully burrow at times, they are impossible to find too. Plants never seem bothered by them. The ones that were died off a long time ago.

 

[mini_matt]

you forget about the little details when setting things up. The filter cord is like 5 inches to short to reach the powerstrip .

aww crap didn't think of that and just set up my new 3ft not sure if the heater cable is long enough how safe do people think it is to put a heater in the sump if the sump is one of those clear plastic boxes?

 

[Mikaila31]

I have used those plastic bins as tanks before. They work vary well if you are not bothered by the cloudy plastic. I haven't had any issues with attaching the heater normally, Its just important that the glass body does not touch the bin.