Log of My Experiment

[GodFan]

Before anybody freaks out I will have complete control of this experiment at all times. I have a backup tank for quick rescue if need be. And I will be keeping a sharp eye on things. As such please ****DO NOT ADD NEGATIVE COMMENTS**** I am open to advice and constructive critisism but I dont want to be told this is wrong.

Now that that is out of the way I have a 20 gallon tank that Im going to use as proof of concept for a few things. As many of you know I am a big advocate for naturally filtrated tanks and limited water changes. I know it is a controversial concept that many dont agree with.
I have done alot of research and I want to prove that the method of filtering with plants and skipping water changes is feasable and not cruel.
The goals of this experiment are outlined below:
-prove the effectiveness of plants as a filtration method
-prove the ability to keep fish healthy in no to limited water changes
-prove the overstated appeal of commercial filters
-have a nice tank lol

I will be using a homemade filter instead of a commercially available one. (I had a seperate thread for designing it this will be the build thread) I will be using both emmergent and submerged plants.

Now alot alot of people have made the point that it is difficult to determine the health and happiness of a fish. So I figured out a good test. I figure if I can get an extremely sensitive fish like a german blue ram to breed then that would be a good indicator of health!

As I said this is an experiment and hopefully I will learn through it. GBRs may turn out to be the wrong pic for this kind of experiment but we will see.

Any suggestions welcome!

God bless!

 

[fort384]

I think as a method of filtration, plants will work great. They are wonderful for processing nitrogenous waste. The problem I see with no water changes, is over time as you add top off water, you are concentrating and adding to the TDS of the tank. Over the course of a year or two, it could build to toxic levels. I think your concept would work very well, if you can seal the tank to allow for minimal evaporation and hence prevent top off as much as possible, or top off with RODI water.

 

[GodFan]

I think as a method of filtration, plants will work great. They are wonderful for processing nitrogenous waste. The problem I see with no water changes, is over time as you add top off water, you are concentrating and adding to the TDS of the tank. Over the course of a year or two, it could build to toxic levels. I think your concept would work very well, if you can seal the tank to allow for minimal evaporation and hence prevent top off as much as possible, or top off with RODI water.

Thanks! The top offs are meant to add essential minerals back to the water. TDS is my main concern though. It is also the subject I know probably the least about in the whole thing. I was under the impression it came from fish waste?
I guess my next question (which I may nit be able to get an answer for except through experimentation) is will any plants eat TDS or is there another natural way to get rid of TDS?

 

[fort384]

No and topping off isn't going to replenish it - it will just add to the TDS as these minerals do not evaporate. They are present in your tap water in varying amounts.

 

[Caliban07]

No and topping off isn't going to replenish it - it will just add to the TDS as these minerals do not evaporate. They are present in your tap water in varying amounts.

Would topping off with R/O eventually lower kh leading to a potential drop in ph?

 

[GodFan]

I was under the impression the plants needed minerals from non ro water? Also my kh is so low I dont think anything can hurt it.... lol

 

[Andy Sager]

The experiment is great as it's a somewhat replica of a natural ecological environment. Remember tho, you are doing it in a closed system unless you can seal off the tank to prevent any evaporation. That being said, if you are unable to prevent evaporation, you may want to use either rainwater or melted snow for your replacement water.
The fish's waste and little extra uneaten food should supply your plants with their food source and the natural water should eliminate the TDS issue. The whole key will be to find the balance of enough fish to feed the plants and enough plant life to neutralize the effects of the fish load.

Good luck with this and keep us posted.

 

[fort384]

Would topping off with R/O eventually lower kh leading to a potential drop in ph?

No. The minerals in tap water don't evaporate. Topping off with RO water would leave the total ions/TDS in the system the same.

 

[fort384]

The experiment is great as it's a somewhat replica of a natural ecological environment. Remember tho, you are doing it in a closed system unless you can seal off the tank to prevent any evaporation. That being said, if you are unable to prevent evaporation, you may want to use either rainwater or melted snow for your replacement water.
The fish's waste and little extra uneaten food should supply your plants with their food source and the natural water should eliminate the TDS issue. The whole key will be to find the balance of enough fish to feed the plants and enough plant life to neutralize the effects of the fish load.

Good luck with this and keep us posted.

On the contrary if you could keep evaporation from taking place, that would be a closed system. A small fish tank does not approximate or even come close to replicating a natural ecological system. Using rainwater or snow will not necessarily eliminate a buildup of TDS.

 

[GodFan]

Thanks for the input yall! I am alittle stumped as ro is out of the question and eliminating evap.... well I dont think that is possible. Rainwater isnt constant enough and we dont have snow lol
We may have an issue here. I will need to go back to one of my resources and see how they handled the issue.

 

[Wiggles24]

Godfan what types of plants do you use unsubmerged? I would really like to do something like this but i want to make sure the plants sure safe

 

[GodFan]

Godfan what types of plants do you use unsubmerged? I would really like to do something like this but i want to make sure the plants sure safe

Wiggles I have used several but dont know the names of them all. Pothos vine is a great one especially to start out. Just about anything should be safe as long as you dont cut it. If you cut it it is best to give it time to scab over before adding to the tank.

Also before you jump into a no water changes tank please do lots of research to be sure you do it right. You can ask questions here of course I would love to help!

 

[Wiggles24]

Thanks for replying. I have no intention to not do water changes i just want to help my tanks run as healthy as possible especially since with my schedule its easy to fall behind on water changes what do you think about spider plants?

 

[GodFan]

Thanks for replying. I have no intention to not do water changes i just want to help my tanks run as healthy as possible especially since with my schedule its easy to fall behind on water changes what do you think about spider plants?

Another excellent choice reproduces very fast as well!

 

[GodFan]

Ok just to update everyone. My LFS accidentally ordered a bunch of bog plants. They are selling me probably close to or more than 100 bucks worth for 15 bucks! Will be picking up tomorrow!

 

[Mebbid]

I'm interested in following this. I really want to see what happens to the parameters. What tests are you going to run?

 

[GodFan]

I'm interested in following this. I really want to see what happens to the parameters. What tests are you going to run?

I am not going to be testing myself. I will probably have my LFS run ph, kh, and gh along with the normal trites and trates. I never test any of my tanks normally. I will keep an eye on the health of the fish to ensure there is toxins.

I shouldnt say I wont be doing any testing. I will be tested with strips for whatever thats worth.

 

[threnjen]

I love a good experiment and will be following!

 

[Mebbid]

You can get a TDS meter very cheaply. It's one of the things I wouldn't pass on in an experiment like this.

 

[GodFan]

You can get a TDS meter very cheaply. It's one of the things I wouldn't pass on in an experiment like this.

I will look it up. Didnt know such a thing existed.