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[APD] African Planted Tank and RFUG
I have been leaning towards using a RFUG in my bosses 75 gal African tank at
work. I read about them in the archives as well as some of the posts Tom
Barr made to my questions back in Jan. '04. He said that the flow should be
slow, on the order of 1 GPM. I have been reading Diana Walstad's book,
Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. I learned that Ferric Iron is reduced in
the substrate to the plant useable Ferrous state under near anaerobic
conditions. If I use a RFUG, even with the low 1 GPM flow, I wouldn't have
any anaerobic area's in the gravel, correct?
I guess my question is: Why even use a RFUG? Tom once did on an African
tank. I must have missed the reasons (or forgot them) for using one
somewhere. Can anyone provide some of the positive factors in using RFUG's?
Can anyone give some of the drawbacks in using RFUG's? Remember, this is not
primarily a planted tank. The fish are very important to my boss.
I originally was going to plant my plants in pots buried in gravel or rocks.
This would shield them from digging fish. I am now leaning towards planting
some directly in the gravel and forgoing the pots as I have decided to go
with mostly small non digging Julidochromis, Neolamprologus, and
Labidochromis. Anubias and Java Fern will be growing on the rock walls. I
bought four bags of Onyx sand to use in the pots, but now I am wondering if
I should make a three product mix with the Carib Sea African Cichlid
Mix/Profile Aquatic Plant Soil that is in the temporary 20 H set up in my
bosses office. From what I have been reading it appears the benefits of
using Onyx for its Iron and other nutrients will be best realized where near
anaerobic conditions occur. Am I correct?
Thanks for your help,
Jerry Smith
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