[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Freshwater Reefs
Charley asked about biodiversity in a freshwater tank.
I have a 60 gallon that was almost started as a reef, then considered for an
African Cichlid, and for various reasons ended up being a fancy goldfish
tank. In any case, it has a full plenum with a CaribSea Seaflor aragonite
substrate and several pieces of limestone rockwork. I've planted it in an
attmept to have the plants export nutrients, but they don't do particularly
well. Surprisingly the swords grow slowly, while crypts, bacopa and
hygrophilia just hang in there. I recently added hornwort, still too soon
to tell. I've thought about going out to one of the local lakes and
scooping up some sediment (it would be mostly limestone sand) in an effort
to introduce some biodiversity into the tank substrate. It's my
understanding that plenums/sandbeds in reef tanks work as well as they do
because of the lifeforms in the substrate. I was hoping to achieve the same
effect. I hesitate because of concerns about introducing critters/pathogens
that may attack the goldfish. Which is a long of saying that I too would be
interested in any thoughts/experience with this subject.
Tom