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RE: Filterless plant tanks
Roger Miller wrote, discussing his filterless tanks:
>But why
>should the big beautiful planted show tank in the living room or dining
>room have to put out constant annoying hums and gurgles? Why should we
>need to frequently clean and change filthy filter media? Why should we
>sacrifice limited near-tank storage space to house equipment we don't
>need? Why should we have to use frequent and carefully adjusted
>fertilization to replace the nutrients that we filter out of our tanks?
I know that a heavily planted "Dutch Style" tank can be run without a
separate biological filter. And in a properly maintained plant tank,
chemical filtration is generally not desirable or even necessary (water
changes to the work).
But aren't you missing the benefit of mechanical filtration - even without a
heavy fish load and possible overfeeding, plants do produce detritus. Do you
just leave it in the tank to decay? Not all filter units are noisy. And a
mechanical filter will not remove any nutrients from your tank (it might
remove some nutrient precusor products).
What do you use to provide water circulation in your filterless tanks?
James Purchase
Toronto