[APD] Re: observations

[Joshua L Wiegert <jlw at dune_net>]

Hey Roger.
I'm afraid I've never done what you said... but I'm curious what you mean 
by a "biological" filter.  A sponge filter is a bio filter.  A wet dry is 
a bio filter.  A UGF is a bio filter.  Certainly, a wet/dry is better than 
a sponge, and a sponge is better than a UGF (at least IMO -- I'm sure you 
could reverse the last two.).  
In my experiences, tanks with UGF seem prone to hair algae and high 
nitrates.  Sponge filters are seldom used in plant tanks, and wet/dry 
filters usually don't really support plants as well as tanks without.  
This is probably due to the high level of co2-o2 exchange.  On the other 
hand, I've seen some beautiful plant tanks set up with UGF (I've actually 
set these up myself) and with wet/dry.  So, hard to say.
Just as a point, if there's a lot of bacteria populating the tank (whether 
confined in the filter or not) they will compete with algae (and plants) 
for nutrients... s you should see depressed plant growth, including algae 
growth.... or so it would seem.  This would be especially true since the 
bacteria would have a decided advantage in a fitler, where -- presumably 
-- there's no light for algae, and you don't grow plants in most 
wet/dries.  
Wet dry filters are more commonly used in marine tanks.  ANd I'll tell you 
that they have absolutely no effect on the growth of algae in a marine 
tank.
However, an algae scrubber makes a big difference, greatly decreasing it.

 
-- 
end
  ____^___
><,DARWIN,>
Joshua L. Wiegert
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Feel free to contact me by any of the above means for any reason.
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