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Plant tank filters



Here is my $.02 worth....
I started my first planted tank just less than a year ago.  I have
succeeded wildly with lots of different swords and frogbit, ok with
Anubias and Cabomba and Aponogetons and Microsoria, fair to poorly
with Crypts and death to Lilleopsis(sp?) (several portions).  I now
remove about 1/2 pound a week of plant material from my single 50
gallon tank.  I leave it to you to label this successful or not.

I use hand injected CO2 with a ugf with a 50 gph power head.  I think
it is much too much flow, but it is what I use now.   I go on a
water-changing binge every 6-12 weeks, where I change 40% every day
for a week.  Then everything spawns (there are a LOT of fish in this
tank).  

When (not if) I redo this tank in July or so, I will lay down 3
pounds or so of laterite, cover with small pebbles, drift on 5 pounds
green sand, cover with 2 inches of #3 aquarium gravel, put in a
custom split ugf with heater in one riser and airstone in the other,
and then 1-2" more gravel.  This is intended to be anaerobic on the
bottom (thanks dr dave) and aerobic (biological filtration) on the
top.  Best of all worlds (I hope).   

Dave Gomberg, Experimenta      San Francisco CA USA   gomberg at wcf_com