Llj's Filterless Ada

[lljdma06]

Same tank, new ideas. I'll fill in the details later. Got class now.

L

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Lol don't keep us waiting to long.

 

[lljdma06]

Lol don't keep us waiting to long.

Just finished class, so after I run some errands, I'll get on it.

 

[ian]

sounds good!

 

[lljdma06]

sounds good!

How can it sound good if I haven't even given any details.

Silly Ian! Or is it that my reputation precedes me?

 

[ian]

no filter = sounds good. I hate filters.

are you going for a Tom style bucket of mud?

 

[lljdma06]

no filter = sounds good. I hate filters.

are you going for a Tom style bucket of mud?

I dunno quite what I'm going for...

This is what I plan to do

-Replace my two Aquaclear 50s with 2 Koralia nano powerheads
-Remove my wood covered with Pelia
-Remove plants
-Remove most of the ADA amazonia, leaving about an inch layer, nice and mulmy
-Cap it with fine sand
-Add some river rocks or rocks of some type; minimal hardscape though
-replant the Saggitaria and the crypts
-add Eleocharis parvula
-replace the bulbs with a different color temperature bulb

Now, I offered the plants I wasn't keeping to another person, but if he turns me down, I'll offer them for purchase or swap.

I'll probably be doing the switch up this weekend. Planned livestock is just a shoal of corydoras catfish.

L

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Sounds good, looking forward to it

 

[lljdma06]

no filter = sounds good. I hate filters.

You still have a filter or no? I've been hating them too, except when they are being converted into a refugium. Then filters, especially the ones I tend to use, actually start to be useful. It's the sponges and media that are a pain. You gotta rinse them, they get clogged in FW and you lose flow. In SW, once your convert the filter into a refugium all you do is thin out the chaeto and it becomes a natural filter, and the flow from the filter is actually better.

Well, the way I see it, and correct me if I'm wrong, running a planted tank is a lot like running a marine system. The plants fill the role of the Live rock in a Marine system, which is your primarily biological filtration. The power heads provide circulation and nutrients to the LR, they should likewise provide circulation and nutrients to the plants. That's been brewing in my brain for a while now. I just didn't want such a high fish load to start this off. My cats have taken care of most of the fish in the tank. I'm down to two gracilis, one lampeye, and an oto. So a shoal of corydoras won't do much. No inverts are planned now. I think somethings up with the inverts in FL too, at least the FW ones. When I came into the lfs, a lot of people were complaining about FW shrimp just randomnly dying. All had planted tanks. Hmmmm...

L

 

[minnnt]

A work collegue was telling me about something similar... I was very interested to learn more but he couldn't remember too much about it. Looking forward to hopefully learning more from your experiment. I shall be watching from the sidelines. Good luck.

 

[lljdma06]

A work collegue was telling me about something similar... I was very interested to learn more but he couldn't remember too much about it. Looking forward to hopefully learning more from your experiment. I shall be watching from the sidelines. Good luck.

Let's see if it works. Now I am dealing with a mature system, so that may have an influence on how things turn out. I should try the plan on a brand new system to see if it works, but I don't really want to setup yet another tank (haha, gonna have 4 marine now and this planted!). It's a lot of tanks. But I am a beast.

I'm happy about having sand again, I had missed the look of sand. Really makes a tank look elegant, IMO. The river rocks will also add a different look to it. Very not what I normally do.

I may end up keeping the bolbitis. It's a plant that will benefit from a lot of flow, it'll do ok with rocks, and I've had that plant for soooooo long. I think since I got back from my Doctoral studies, so about 6 years in May. I may offer the following for sale or swap..

-1 piece of wood covered in Pelia & anubias. Covered! About 10-12" long, there's an anubia petite nana clustered on top too. Elegant piece. A prize for whomever does get it. This one maybe sold rather than swapped. It's quality.
-1 plain piece of wood; well not really plain, it's got moss on it and maybe some pelia.
-Assorted anubias, mature plants, but very small (petite nana and nana)
-Loose pelia
-Maybe some crypts. The tank will be mostly sag, crypts, and hairgrass.

Shame the tank is open top. It's an ideal environment for danios, actually, but they jump. I think Corydoras, however, will also enjoy the flow and rock environment and not be so inclined to commit suicide. When I see videos of catfish, it's typically with rocks, roundish ones.

We'll see, rescape is scheduled for Saturday. I've already told all my family and my tenant that I'm not to be bothered (just provide me with beer, potato chips, or pizza whenever I ask, yep, pizza day, not cooking), as I've also a new Marine tank to setup. Haha, if they want to watch, they are welcome. See a master at work. Haha, not really, not a master, not by a long shot. Just a very enthusiastic hobbyist who is getting reinvigorated. I will take a ton of pictures, though, and document.

L

 

[ian]

are you keeping the lighting you have??

and yes, i still have a filter. Love the idea of Cory's.

 

[lljdma06]

are you keeping the lighting you have??

and yes, i still have a filter. Love the idea of Cory's.

Yes, keeping the lights. They've served me very well. May change the bulbs out for a different color temperature, but I'll see how the rescape looks first. The tank has always been rather tannic & I'd like to lose that look. Go for a more crisp look. Getting rid of the wood should accomplish this very nicely.

I like Cory's too, good movement & a nice, present fish.

Haha, ever think of nixing the filter?

 

[Biulu]

Sounds interesting, and I love cories! What sand are you going to use? I have sand in a planted tank in Mexico with cories and I considered it a pain; as the cories scurry along, sand gets blown up into the water column and my plants are eternally covered in fine dust. It looks horrible!

Regarding the open top: I just bought for my 20 gallon long a piece of glass, cut to size. I had it cut into several pieces onto which I will glue marbles so I can easily remove them for cleaning or feeding. Couldn't you do something similar for your tank? Danios are lovely....

 

[lljdma06]

Sounds interesting, and I love cories! What sand are you going to use? I have sand in a planted tank in Mexico with cories and I considered it a pain; as the cories scurry along, sand gets blown up into the water column and my plants are eternally covered in fine dust. It looks horrible!

I'm using the Carib sea naturals. Moonlight white mixed with a more golden colored sand to warm it up a bit. I'll be keeping about 1" of Amazonia though. Kind of like using it as a base. I think plant growth will still be excellent and it is a mature substrate now.

Regarding the open top: I just bought for my 20 gallon long a piece of glass, cut to size. I had it cut into several pieces onto which I will glue marbles so I can easily remove them for cleaning or feeding. Couldn't you do something similar for your tank? Danios are lovely....

No, it's not that I can't have glass cut, I certainly can and actually the standard. 24" would fit fine with just a wee bit of overhang. My lights, however, are attached with legs and to do a pendant setup for the lights just to add the glass would be a pain. So, just easier to keep things as is and opt for a non-jumping fish. Corydoras are so pretty anyway. and I don't have to heat the tank.

L