HOB filters w/ plants?

[fireman731]

So I have been seeing people with their HOB filters are putting live house plants in them (as well as their regular filter media) to use more nitrates, have any of you done this? What type of plants do you use? I have an established ( 1 year) 28 gal and I was wanting to keep cherry shrimp but was concerned that the nitrates would be a problem because they say shrimp require perfect water conditions. I change 10 gals a week so about 50% a week but my nitrates usually hang around 5-10 PPM maybe between changes every 3-4 days at 5 gals a time. Also, would anyone see any problem with the cherry shrimp being housed with black skirts neons Cory's betas or plecos? I also have a 10 gal beta tank with do dwarf frogs. I only want a few shrimps, if they have babies I would just let the other fish eat them as I don't wanna mess with breeding them.


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[Mebbid]

Generally you don't have to do anything special to breed shrimp. It's better to just let a colony grow and pull some out and sell them or give them away to other aquarists when you have more than you want. It's pretty safe to just ignore them tbh.

At 10ppm nitrates your water should be great for them.

Bettas will tend to hunt the shrimp and I'm not sure how the frogs will work with shrimp though.

 

[gilpi]

I have grown pothos in the HOB. Not sure if it helps the water, I guess if you have enough of them it can help lower nitrates.

 

[BBradbury]

Land Plants in Filters

So I have been seeing people with their HOB filters are putting live house plants in them (as well as their regular filter media) to use more nitrates, have any of you done this? What type of plants do you use? I have an established ( 1 year) 28 gal and I was wanting to keep cherry shrimp but was concerned that the nitrates would be a problem because they say shrimp require perfect water conditions. I change 10 gals a week so about 50% a week but my nitrates usually hang around 5-10 PPM maybe between changes every 3-4 days at 5 gals a time. Also, would anyone see any problem with the cherry shrimp being housed with black skirts neons Cory's betas or plecos? I also have a 10 gal beta tank with do dwarf frogs. I only want a few shrimps, if they have babies I would just let the other fish eat them as I don't wanna mess with breeding them.


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Hello fire...

Small plants in small filters won't do much to remove nitrates from the tank water. This is typically for show. The plants need to be much larger. I use Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema) in my tanks. The larger the plant the more nitrogen the roots remove. If you use enough plants, you won't need to change the tank water very often. You do need to use an airstone to aerate the roots. This helps the plant use the nutrients in the tank water. The plants grow quickly in a tank with a lot of fish. I trim my plants weekly.

The Cutlass variety of the Chinese Evergreen is the best plant I've found to maintain pure water condtions. Drop the roots of this plant into the tank water and you'll have your perfect water conditions alright.

B

 

[fireman731]

Ideas on how to hang it or plant it on my tank?!


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[gilpi]

I would make a container with holes in it and hang it on the back of your tank inside and place the roots there, somewhere between the last light and the back of the tank, almost like a HOB but inside the tank.
I have seen some plants grow real nice with a setup like that if that's the look you're after.
Do a Google image search, you'll see plenty of that.

 

[seove]

So I have been seeing people with their HOB filters are putting live house plants in them (as well as their regular filter media) to use more nitrates, have any of you done this? What type of plants do you use? I have an established ( 1 year) 28 gal and I was wanting to keep cherry shrimp but was concerned that the nitrates would be a problem because they say shrimp require perfect water conditions. I change 10 gals a week so about 50% a week but my nitrates usually hang around 5-10 PPM maybe between changes every 3-4 days at 5 gals a time. Also, would anyone see any problem with the cherry shrimp being housed with black skirts neons Cory's betas or plecos? I also have a 10 gal beta tank with do dwarf frogs. I only want a few shrimps, if they have babies I would just let the other fish eat them as I don't wanna mess with breeding them.


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In my overflow box and HOB filter I have two Lucky Bamboos and a Sweet Potato plant.

 

[militantpotato]

I use pothos. In my 180 i have the roots freely in the tank, with the stems stuck through a small cutout in the plastic strip of the lid. In my 20 gallon the roots are stuffed in the hob filter compartment, with the lid off. The marineland filter came with a plastic media holder that keeps the roots in place well enough. You could wedge them in with a little bit of foam cut to size.

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[Coursair]

You would need some areas of very dense planting for RCS to survive. And then most babies would be eaten. You would probably rarely see adults as Bettas and Tetras actively hunt small Shrimp.

My nitrates go up to 20 for my plants and my RCS are fine. I just don't go higher.

If you want to see your Shrimp, set up a 5-10g just for Shrimp.

JMHO

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[MICEY]

MANGROVES GROW GREAT IN THE FILTER you can get them on aquabid