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Let part of filter clog?
In "A practical guide to choosing your aquarium plants", Peter Hiscock advocates letting one of the sponges in a canister filter clog up so as to allow for anaerobic bacteria to develop there, as a complement to the anaerobic bacteria which are (hopefully) building up in the substrate. For the same reasons, he advocates a flow rate of half the typical recommendation. He writes, "The ease with which water flows through [medium/large-grade inert gravel] substrates will remove nutrients, create oxygen-rich conditions, and cool plant roots, all of which will severely hinder plant growth." Obviously, he is a strong advocate of substrate heaters. Published in 2001 by Barron's. I think it's a solid book. How do the above assertions sit with various folks' experiences? |
#2
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Let part of filter clog?
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I am probably wrong, but my understanding is the main reason for having a anaerobic bacteria culture in a filter is for decreasing excessive nitrate, but in a healthy planted tank, you probably need more nitrate than you fish produce. Cheers Kenneth "Adam Gottschalk" ¦b¶l¥ó ¤¤¼¶¼g... In "A practical guide to choosing your aquarium plants", Peter Hiscock advocates letting one of the sponges in a canister filter clog up so as to allow for anaerobic bacteria to develop there, as a complement to the anaerobic bacteria which are (hopefully) building up in the substrate. For the same reasons, he advocates a flow rate of half the typical recommendation. He writes, "The ease with which water flows through [medium/large-grade inert gravel] substrates will remove nutrients, create oxygen-rich conditions, and cool plant roots, all of which will severely hinder plant growth." Obviously, he is a strong advocate of substrate heaters. Published in 2001 by Barron's. I think it's a solid book. How do the above assertions sit with various folks' experiences? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *** Usenet.com - The #1 Usenet Newsgroup Service on The Planet! *** http://www.usenet.com Unlimited Download - 19 Seperate Servers - 90,000 groups - Uncensored -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |
#3
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Let part of filter clog?
I second Kenneth on that one, keep your filters clean, a clogged filter would just dirty up the water with high DOC. You would probably need to add Nitrates sooner or later. -- **So long, and thanks for all the fish!** "Kenneth Ho" wrote in message ... **** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com **** I am probably wrong, but my understanding is the main reason for having a anaerobic bacteria culture in a filter is for decreasing excessive nitrate, but in a healthy planted tank, you probably need more nitrate than you fish produce. Cheers Kenneth "Adam Gottschalk" ¦b¶l¥ó ¤¤¼¶¼g... In "A practical guide to choosing your aquarium plants", Peter Hiscock advocates letting one of the sponges in a canister filter clog up so as to allow for anaerobic bacteria to develop there, as a complement to the anaerobic bacteria which are (hopefully) building up in the substrate. For the same reasons, he advocates a flow rate of half the typical recommendation. He writes, "The ease with which water flows through [medium/large-grade inert gravel] substrates will remove nutrients, create oxygen-rich conditions, and cool plant roots, all of which will severely hinder plant growth." Obviously, he is a strong advocate of substrate heaters. Published in 2001 by Barron's. I think it's a solid book. How do the above assertions sit with various folks' experiences? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *** Usenet.com - The #1 Usenet Newsgroup Service on The Planet! *** http://www.usenet.com Unlimited Download - 19 Seperate Servers - 90,000 groups - Uncensored -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |
#4
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Let part of filter clog?
Adam Gottschalk wrote in message ...
In "A practical guide to choosing your aquarium plants", Peter Hiscock advocates letting one of the sponges in a canister filter clog up so as to allow for anaerobic bacteria to develop there, as a complement to the anaerobic bacteria which are (hopefully) building up in the substrate. For the same reasons, he advocates a flow rate of half the typical recommendation. He writes, "The ease with which water flows through [medium/large-grade inert gravel] substrates will remove nutrients, create oxygen-rich conditions, and cool plant roots, all of which will severely hinder plant growth." Obviously, he is a strong advocate of substrate heaters. Published in 2001 by Barron's. I think it's a solid book. How do the above assertions sit with various folks' experiences? For a CO2 enriched plant tank and in general: I would never suggest you to let your filter clog. Mainteance is a key to keeping aquariums. Canisters can long peroids without cleanings, but generally removing mulm and organic build up is a good thing. He does mention large to medium gravel, well that's not the best for plants anyway. 2-3mm or specialize substrates are much better such as flourite, onyx sand, etc. As far as bacterial cycling, substrates are where roots exist. Roots need O2, they release O2 if the surroundings are anaerobic. Roots are not static nor is the substrate. Plant roots do not need anaerobic condition to thrive. This is a MYTH. I can say this because I've grown many plants in very aerobic conditions and so have many hydroponic growers which is one of the main methods for aquarium plant culture....but the nutrients are generally in the water column with these methods. Cooling of plant roots has never caused an issue for me in decades, cables have never once been shown to help significantly(anyone's tank, where the improvement was due to cables alone)nor anecdotally with my own tanks(I've had 7 cable tanks over the years for long peroids), some might claim subtle differences, but they would be subtle at best. O2 rich environments in the roots do NOT severely hinder plant growth. I discussed this years ago about RFUG's and my tanks which at the time did much better than those with cables(which I also had)or their no flow systems(no cables/RFUG's etc)See APD. Using a substrate like flourite which has high surface porousity both externally and internally in each grain, plenty of trace metals like Fe, Mn will yield a much more significant and better improvement for your plant growth. This way the roots get the O2 they need easier, but also have the advantage of the anaerobic internal spaces in each grain. Uprooting etc does not cause problems for the bacteria since each grain is it's own unit and environment. Filter's are mainly for mechanical removal of detritus, water movement, back up for plants in case they get stunted. My vote would be to clean the filter or use a filter that removes fine particles. Alternatively, large weekly water changes will also keep this down. Non CO2 planted tanks are seldomed cleaned, but half clogged filters are not why those work well. Stable flow rates will help, a half clogged filter is waiting to become totally clogged. Simply reduce the flow rate itself if that's the goal. There's plenty of bacteria in the substrate already and keeping the flow rate stable would be more helpful to the cycling in a tank. Regards, Tom Barr |
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