Is it true (a friend told me) that if you have lots of plants in your aquarium there is no need for a filter?

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http://www.tindeck.com/users/crazyruzlan

Some people do that. Plants eat nitrates which is a filter I have a couple filters on my planted tank since I dont have that many plants

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I heard he once packed a bong load that lasted for 8 days and 8 nights

Yep. at least no mechanical filters. the plants themselves are filters.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

You can do a youtube search on aquaphonics to get a better idea of how it works.

Hello Ruslan...

I wouldn't go quite that far. I would say if you have a well planted tank, you don't need as much filtration in your tank, but you'll still need some.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

Or eco jar.

like:

Self-contained Microcosm

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

This is true, but you need to make sure your bioload isnt higher than your biofiltration (plants and bacteria in this case).

Beaslbob, how often do you feed your fish, how many do you have (in a single tank usually) and do you ever vaccum your tank?

Yes, yes they are filters. Just like land plants take in C02 and breathe out 02. Kinda' cool!

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

once per day, less if the tank gets cloudy. during 1-2 week vacations I just leave and come back. in a 10g tank I had a stable population of 30 guppies with 6 reproducing adults for 9 years from the original cycle trioNo.

thanks for asking.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Yes plants do act as filters. They utilise ammonia, nitrite & nitrate as nitrogen sources. Ammonia is the prefered nitrogen source & it is possible for the plants to absorb all of the ammonia before it is ever converted to nitrite then nitrates if there are enough plants & they are growing well. Fast growing plants like Cabomba & Water Sprite naturally absorb more than slow growing plants like Java Fern & Anubius.

Despite plants acting as a type of filter, IMO they should not be relied on as the sole source of biological filtration. It is always best to have a filter that is capable of processing all of the wastes produced in the tank.

If you want to research this kind of thing further I suggest googling & reading up on the Walstad Method of natural planted aquariums. This is a method based around the use of soil as a substrate & the general aim is to achieve a balance between plants & fish.

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Hello, my name is Daniel & I'm an aquariaholic

Plants+Filter+Living substrate= WIN

Lol, too funny! (I agree though.) I just like how you made it into a "forumula."

And Beaslbob: Wow! 30 guppies in a 10g tank! I'm impressed!! I knew you could have a larger number of animals in a small tank if it's well planted and established! (Everyone thought I was crazy, but you are proof!)

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

So I'm proof that you're crazy?

The specific 10g tank was started with 3 cycle fish. Male and 2 females. 1/2 black like "fancy" guppies (some with red tails). The about a month later the 2 females had babies and the tank was literally "black" with babies. So I though well they won't last long. but a year later over 50 were still there and growing. the population settled down at about 30 of various sizes with 6 or so full sized adults.

With platys I get much reduced number but still surprising. like 15-20 in a 10g and 30-40 in a 20 g.

Sure I start out with just a trio and make sure I start with just the male. Then don't add food the first week before adding his girl friends. Then feed lightly.

On the marine side I had 2 tangs (yellow and regal), a pair or clownfish, a purple pseudochromis, yellow watchman gobie and even a coral carfish in a 55g. That is an estremely heavy bioload yet the fish lived for years. But then the tank was a marine equilivant of a planted Fw tank with macro algae refugiums.

In all these tank no water changes, pH was high, nitrates and phosphates were unmeasureable.

FWIW one of the ideas (or posts) I see about planted tanks needing light fish loads to me is simply not true.

but that's just me and my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I got a planted 90 gallon that i barely ever change water on. There 6 huge tiger barbs, 4 giant danios, 6 rainbowfish, 10 medium sized tetras, 10 corys, 2 BNP, and 6 otos . I run a fluval fx5 with just ceramic rings in it no activated carbon. The substrate is 3.5 inches of eco complete. I have all sorts of low-medium ranged light plants. Vales, swords, TONS of crypts, all sorts of anubias from smaller ones like nana's to ones that are almost a foot tall, monster sized bunches of java ferns, and red tiger lotus that have so many lily pads on the top of the tank i have to cut them off every day to let light in. I use flourish every week and flourish excel every other day. I test my water and i get 0's across the board. PH sits at around 6.8. I have a tek light 4 bulb 48 inch T5 fixture that i put on for 6 hours a day. I grow a new anubias leaf like once every 8 days and a new growth on all the other plants every day. The eco system in my tank is perfect but it took a long time and slowy adding components over time.

thanks^^^^^^^^^

so it's not just me.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Lol actually when i was doing weekly 20% water changes my plants started to fade in color, the swords started to brown up and i wasnt getting as much new growth. Plants complete the cycle, really the only reason i have the fx5 is to create flow. Im considering downgrading to a smaller filter since a fx5 is kinda over kill on a 90 gallon anyway.

Interesting and thanks for observation.

I always wondered if that was the case.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Yeah, just a tad overkill (aren't they rated for 300g tanks?). But, I don't believe in overfiltering. But...people get them as less expensive alternatives to the more expensive Eheim filters.

mk4gti - add CO2 to your tank and I don't think you'll have a plant fade problem and they will take off....if you wanted better performance out of your plants.

LOL! I just realized that I worded that completely wrong! Hahahahaha! No, I meant that everyone thought I was crazy, but you are proof that it's not crazy and can be done. (Hahaha. Sorry about that!)

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

Isn't this fun?

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden