planted tank and filters.....

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
Just curious what kinds of filters all you planted tank people are using?

-al

[Ralph]

I use a canister on one and box (power) filters on two. The one that you probably aren't going to see much of here is the sponge filter, the bubbles strip the CO2 and they are very hard to hide.

[Ivan]

In my 26 - 29US gall, I have a fluval2+ internal , on my 50 I use an eheim ecco external.

[ChloroPhil]

Wet/Dry is the only way to fly with a tank over 20g. You can make a really good one for cheaper than you could buy a canister and they're a heck of a lot easier to take care of. Also, if made properly they can be covered to prevent loss of CO2 and have the added benefit of beiing able to house all your heaters and gauges under, rather than in, your tank.

Someone did a really good thread on a DIY wet/dry in the DIY forum. The only thing I'd change for a planted aquarium is to drill the back side to let the spraybar in under the rim and either cut a hole the size of the outlet tube or drill another hole in the side of the sump from which your return pump feeds. That way you can put a cover on your filter and keep the CO2 from outgassing in the filter.

I'm not usually given that option for my client's tanks so I opt for Eheim canisters. Fluval and Magnum filters just aren't what they used to be.

[thirston]

I use a Fluval 404 on my 75 gallon planted tank and an internal Fluval (I've forgotten the model) that I put peat into. I just make sure my returns are below the waters surface so I don't get a lot of gas exchange. I'm running CO2 via gas tank, regulator, needle, diffuser, and solenoid and use a PH controller to maintain some stabliity in the system. The tank houses a half dozen 4"+ Discus, some Cardinal Tetras, one clown loach and one albino bristlenose pleco.

[Ekar_Ogrit]

If not injecting CO2, I think you can use whatever filter you like. If you are using CO2 you will want to limit Surface agitation.

My experience is that my 29 gallon with a pengiun biowheel takes more CO2 injection than my 240 gallon with what essentially ammounts to a canister filter. Wet/Dry has some definite benefits (asthetics and price), but I was always concerned about CO2 loss(covering idea might work but I have no personal experience).

[ChloroPhil]

I'm going to be making a room in my house into a fishroom/plant nursery very soon. I'll be more than happy to document everything and describe how I made everything. The whole system is geared toward planted aquariums and should be of particular interest to us here.

Ekar,

The trick with Wet/Dry filters and gas exchange is to keep a lid on it. Yes, there will inevitably be some outgassing, but with a cover the CO2 will be re-absorbed into the water. There's no need to worry about anaerobic activity as the water should also be saturated with oxygen from the plants.

[Wahter]

I'm using Aquaclear powerfilters and powerheads with sponges.

If you go the Wet/Dry route, you could also lose a lot of CO2 at the point where the water leaves the tank. Some tanks are drilled low with and use a corner overflow, such as these from All Glass:

http://www.all-glass.com/products/aquariums/twinflo.asp

While that water is leaving the tank via the overflow, the splashing will really cause a lot of CO2 to be lost - even if you put some sponges on the bottom to minimize the splashing.

Just some info.


HTH,


Walter

[jklnbrg]

I use a Rena Filstar 3 for my 150 gallon planted tank. I have a large sponge pre-filter on the intake.
There are pics and a bit mor info over at DAAH. Follow this link:
http://daah.info/index.php?board=9;action=display;threadid=1260

John

[dm]

On my 50 gallon planted tank I have an Emperor 400. If I had to do it over again I would get an AQ500. Not because it is more volume but because the Emperor is loud and the AQs I have are almost silent. Also the AQs have a lot nore room for filtration. From now on I will probably only use AQs and foam type filters.

[Debbie]

I am partial to penguins. I have them on most of my tanks.

[Harriett]

I use a wet/dry on my planted tank. I have my heaters in the sump. I also have a powerhead stationed in the sump to drive the CO2 reactor which hangs on the side of the sump. The CO2 laden water tube (1/2" diam) goes back into the sump and sits on the bottom just at the bulkhead area so once the water is gassed up it goes right into the tank. I used to have my spraybar at the top of the tank (1" below water line) but have since moved it to sit at the bottom of the tank. By the time the water sprays out (straight up the back wall) there is very little current seen and no loss of Co2. I seem to have very good control over setting pH. There is a very energetic flow out of tank into prefilter but it's smooth and no splashing. With the wet/dry you have access to the filter pads and can clean them every day or too without shutting down the works. Whatever crap the plants don't suck up the filter pads do and the tank stays nice and clean. I also have a Magnum HOT hanging on the back of the tank to get the teeny stuff out of there---the w/d didn't seem to fine tune that level enough for me. Occasionally I vortex the tank for a few hours to polish...

[Tony]

2 canister (304 grade) and 2 air sponge on 180g
1 canister and 2 sponge on 50g (not really planted but with floating plant and hang on the side plant)

Q: can you install a wet dry without drilling....

can some one point me to some information on setting up wet dry.
Thanks in advance.

[ChloroPhil]

Bless you Harriet! :)

You can get micron filter pads from any good store that sells salt water stuff. It usually comes in sock or fabric sheet form and is good at getting the little stuff.


Tony,

You absolutely can use a wet/dry in an undrilled tank, I've been doing it for a while. All you need do is find yourself an overflow box, usually at the same place you purchase your wet/dry from. It's just a matter of running a tube from that to your W/D and then from the filter to your tank and you're in business.

Be careful of the W/D filters that have integral Bio-Wheels, those things are hell on CO2. If you can, get one of those cheaper refit kits that's pretty much a plastic tub that fits in a small aquarium, they're perfect for plant tanks.

[Tony]

Thanks, how much for the overflow box and how much for the wet/dry filter? how much for the submersible pump?

or where should I spend more money on?
Is the spinning arm spray bar a bad thing or doesn't matter....

Thanks in advance

[ChloroPhil]

How much $$$ do you have to spend? I made my own filter out of a 20L and a rubbermaid container with Lava Rock in it. But I also had a tank full of fast growing plants to do the water cleansing.

I got my overflow off Ebay and won't do that again. However, there are some really good deals to be had in new W/D off there if you're within a short shipping distance.

I got a small pond pump on sale at an LFS. Prices for both will be location specific. If you can afford it I highly recommend springing for the biggest commercially available filter that will fit under your tank. Just make sure it's one of the traditional styles without the Bio-Wheel. Simpler is just fine as long as you can keep the water level in the sump high.

[Tony]

not much at the moment.
the w/d would be replacing the canister for the tropical or the gf canister.

They are on a kitchen bench and there is a corner that I can put something big. (well the canisters are sitting on a corner table, at the moment.)

I live in oz, so ebay is not a very convenient place to shop for that kind of stuff.... games, cd, dvd are ok....

but what is the order of magnitude and what are the ratios?
lava rock, can you get them at bbq place? or where did you get them?

[ChloroPhil]

I got a large bag of pumice at the local home improvement store and it was a lot more than I needed.

Living on Oz I'd go the the LFS and get a pre-made one, it's easier that way and you can be sure that you're getting something that will work.

When looking at pumps make sure to get one that will pump the gph you're looking for at about three head feet more than your tank+stand is high. The reason being, any angles in your outflow will add about another foot head of pressure, reducing the flow into the tank.

Can you post a quick pic of your tank so I can have an idea of what kind of plants you're using?

Thx,
Phil

att: Last picture of my jungle before my move two weeks ago. Whenever I look at that pic Guns and Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" keeps going through my head.......wonder why? :)

[ari_wh]

Phil,
Beautiful tank you have there... It must be hard having to tear the tank down for moving.... Can you give me the parameters and also your maintenance schedule?? I would love to have planted discus tank like that :).

Regards, Ari :)

[ChloroPhil]

For everyone's info, when I talk about a plant tank this is what I've got in my head. ;) Most of my ideas about filtration are based on the water cleansing capacity of this kind of plant load. If your tank isn't planted like this it's better to err on the side of caution and make sure you have good Biological filtration. Bio-Balls in a sump work really well...nix those bio-wheels. They don't like CO2. :)

My tank parameters and maintenance schedule at the time of photographing. The discus were gone by this point.

90g
302w PC fluorescent 10hr photoperiod
Pool sand/Laterite base layer
Shultz' Aquatic Plant Soil "Profile"
Weekly 50% WC

3/4tsp KNO3 3x/week
3/4 tsp K2SO4 2x/week
1/8 tsp Fleet Enema (GREAT for PO4) 3-4x/week
Traces as the plants need them: 10-15mL 2x/week

I wasn't too excited about this aquarium come time to move. I had let it grow out to see how fast I could get plants to grow, how much algae grew (VERY LITTLE!!!) , and to get more stuff to get credit for at the store. That Ambulia is two weeks old and grew from five stems the size of the smaller shoots in the pic. :shocked:

The hardest part was actually pulling out some of the plants. What you don't see in there behind the Ambulia monster is a well estabilished plug of about eight intergrown Crypt. spiralis with a serious root system. Two and a half feet of Glossostigma intergrown with chain sword wasn't fun either..:)