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Re: New plant tank filtration
Rick Morrison wrote:
>I, too, am starting a planted tank after several years of successful
>fish-only tanks. I previously (to subscribing to this list) purchased a
>45 gallon high (36x12x24h) tank, a 2 x 30w hood, a Fluval 303 and
>a dual biowheel. All will be built into (this is what is taking me so
>long) a custom floor-ceiling cabinet.
>I now think that I have too much or maybe just inappropriate
>filtration for a planted tank. Should I use one or the other or just
>abandon both for a simpler system?
I don't think that it's "inappropriate" filtration, but it does sound like
overkill. The canister is probably all you need. The Bio-Wheel has
two disadvantages. I have a single-wheel model (Penguin 110, I
think) which I no longer use. Reason 1 is that it uses those
combination floss/carbon cartridges that I mentioned in an earlier
post; reason 2 is that my wheel often stopped turning due to, of all
things, snails clogging the axle! If you are growing plants, at some
point you will probably have snails in your aquarium. I've tried the
bleach dip for my plants...even tore the tank down once to get rid of
them, but somehow the critters came back on a new specimen. I
have a clown loach now who may be eating the smaller ones, but
with the jungle I have in my aquarium some still manage to hide.
Jonathan in unseasonably cool Maryland
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