Less water changes with planted tank?
3 posts
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nea7 - Posts: 53
- Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 1:38 am
Less water changes with planted tank?
What do you think? Is it possible that you don't have to do water changes as frequently with planted tanks? How much does it differ depending on if your tank is partially or fully planted?
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a201 - Posts: 30
- Joined: Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:21 pm
Re: Less water changes with planted tank?
It's true that aquarium plants purify water. Logic dictates that more plants equal better water parameters. As for fewer water changes, probably not. It's likely best to continue the once weekly WC, but instead of the 25% - 35% WC's, reduce volume to 20%. The new water introduces trace elements and minerals the plants and fish require.
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greenamy - Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 5:27 am
Re: Less water changes with planted tank?
You might want to read the book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium where the author shares her method of using soil for a balanced planted aquarium. She claims that she doesn't have to add liquid fertilizers or root tabs and that the soil lasts years. She also states that she only cleans some portion of her filters & refills the evaporated water weekly. She only does water changes every 3 weeks to a month if I remember correctly. She has heavily planted tanks and not over stocked with fish.
I decided to try her method when setting up my 125gal tank. It took several try's to get it set up using the soil substrate. The organic garden soil I got had too much organic stuff and not enough soil, it just wanted to float. So then we dug up soil from our place to layer over it. Our property has been in the family for over 50 years so I know it has not been treated with fertilizers or pesticides and we obtained it from an area that would not have run off from farm lands around. We live on top of a big hill. I was thinking the book said 2in of soil and 1/2 to 1in of gravel or sand. I used 1/2in sand. I had two big pieces of drift wood in there so I couldn't put anything flat on the bottom to keep the water from disturbing the sand. I ended up with the soil coming to the top in a lot of places. It took forever for it to settle and couldn't really vacuum it out without disturbing more soil. I went back and read the book again and realized it was only supposed to be one inch of soil. She warns that if greater than 1in of soil and 1in of gravel or sand are used then it can become anaerobic and toxic to the plants. So I drained the thing a second time and removed all but an inch of the soil. I then layered it with closer to an inch of sand. I decided that the big pieces of drift wood I had were soft wood and I didn't want to use them any way so I left them out and decided to fill the tank before doing the hardscaping so I could lay a flat piece of plastic on the bottom while filling the tank with water so I could do so without disturbing the sand. It finally worked. I went on the search for driftwood in the streams and creaks around our place and found some pretty cool pieces. I have some of the smaller ones in the tank now. Ones I was able to boil. The large pieces I am treating in my tub using the method mentioned in this article. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/driftwood/
I also have added a few plants.
I decided to try her method when setting up my 125gal tank. It took several try's to get it set up using the soil substrate. The organic garden soil I got had too much organic stuff and not enough soil, it just wanted to float. So then we dug up soil from our place to layer over it. Our property has been in the family for over 50 years so I know it has not been treated with fertilizers or pesticides and we obtained it from an area that would not have run off from farm lands around. We live on top of a big hill. I was thinking the book said 2in of soil and 1/2 to 1in of gravel or sand. I used 1/2in sand. I had two big pieces of drift wood in there so I couldn't put anything flat on the bottom to keep the water from disturbing the sand. I ended up with the soil coming to the top in a lot of places. It took forever for it to settle and couldn't really vacuum it out without disturbing more soil. I went back and read the book again and realized it was only supposed to be one inch of soil. She warns that if greater than 1in of soil and 1in of gravel or sand are used then it can become anaerobic and toxic to the plants. So I drained the thing a second time and removed all but an inch of the soil. I then layered it with closer to an inch of sand. I decided that the big pieces of drift wood I had were soft wood and I didn't want to use them any way so I left them out and decided to fill the tank before doing the hardscaping so I could lay a flat piece of plastic on the bottom while filling the tank with water so I could do so without disturbing the sand. It finally worked. I went on the search for driftwood in the streams and creaks around our place and found some pretty cool pieces. I have some of the smaller ones in the tank now. Ones I was able to boil. The large pieces I am treating in my tub using the method mentioned in this article. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/driftwood/
I also have added a few plants.