Cycling and Bio-Filter in Planted Tank

I am debating whether I need to put any bio-ball type media in my
filter for the bacteria.
Do I need to build-up a bacteria colony in my filter for a planted tank
or will the plants take care of the ammonia, NO2 and NO3?

I have only five fish in the tank and not very densly planted tank. My
main concern right now is to get the plants growing while keeping the
fish healthy.

Apparently having a *heavily* planted tank will buffer the cycle process but
IMO it is very necessary to have a filter with loads of bio and mechanical
media. Seeing that you have little plants at this stage I would recommend
you get a filter, Aquaclears are my favourite, in my years of keeping fish
these HOB filters do a spiffy job.
--
Kind Regards
Cameron

"Shorty" wrote in message
ups.com...
I am debating whether I need to put any bio-ball type media in my
filter for the bacteria.
Do I need to build-up a bacteria colony in my filter for a planted tank
or will the plants take care of the ammonia, NO2 and NO3?

I have only five fish in the tank and not very densly planted tank. My
main concern right now is to get the plants growing while keeping the
fish healthy.

Dogma Discharge wrote:
Apparently having a *heavily* planted tank will buffer the cycle process but
IMO it is very necessary to have a filter with loads of bio and mechanical
media. Seeing that you have little plants at this stage I would recommend
you get a filter, Aquaclears are my favourite, in my years of keeping fish
these HOB filters do a spiffy job.
--
Kind Regards
Cameron

"Shorty" wrote in message
ups.com...

I am debating whether I need to put any bio-ball type media in my
filter for the bacteria.
Do I need to build-up a bacteria colony in my filter for a planted tank
or will the plants take care of the ammonia, NO2 and NO3?

I have only five fish in the tank and not very densly planted tank. My
main concern right now is to get the plants growing while keeping the
fish healthy.


If you only have a few plants, add the bio balls. If 50% of the gravel
or more is covered with fast-growing plants, you can start reducing the
amount of biofiltration. At 80% of the gravel covered in mature,
fast-growing plants, you can consider removing the filter entirely and
replacing it with a prefiltered powerhead. I've already done this in
one of my tanks and will probably do it for another - it's nice not to
have to do anything but fertilize and change water. ;-)

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

So, you basically move the water around with the powerhead without any
filtration?

That's cool. I suppose I need to wait and get my bio-filtration going
until my plants are more established and dense.

It would be great to run a tank with plants as the only filter.

thanks for the info!

Shorty wrote:
So, you basically move the water around with the powerhead without any
filtration?

Yep. Or an empty filter, or an airstone for small tanks where I'm using
Flourish Excel.

That's cool. I suppose I need to wait and get my bio-filtration going
until my plants are more established and dense.

Yes. Don't try it without lots of established plants.

It would be great to run a tank with plants as the only filter.

thanks for the info!

You're welcome. It's a lot of fun to get a balanced tank going. I tend
to consider removing the filter in lightly stocked tanks with small,
fully grown fish where I can feed very lightly. I wait until the plants
are growing well enough that nitrate goes to zero if I don't add any.
Then I remove the biomedia from the filter gradually, testing for
ammonia as I go. Once the filter is empty, you can use it for water
circulation or switch to a powerhead. You do have to keep the plants
healthy. If their growth slows down, you no longer have the safety net
of a filter.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Shorty wrote,
I am debating whether I need to put any bio-ball type media in my
filter for the bacteria.
Do I need to build-up a bacteria colony in my filter for a planted tank
or will the plants take care of the ammonia, NO2 and NO3?

A heavily planted tank and a lite bio-load you might get away without a
bio-filter. But, you might have to do more water changes more often.
Keep in mind that ammonia and nitrites are not the only thing a filter
is needed for. You still have DOCs (dissolved organic compounds) and
solid particulate waste to deal with. A build-up of eather, your water
quality slowly deteriorates. I think my tanks are pleasant to look at
because they are heavily planted, but they are *fish* tanks.
As for as filter media goes - there is three things to look for; SSA
(Specific Surface Area), void space and cleanability. Gravel used for a
filter media has a surface area of about 100 to 200 sq. meters per
cubic meter, pood void space, and really hard to clean - making it (at
best) a poor filter media. Plastic has 250 to 300 SSA, ceramic 300 to
350 SSA, matting 350 to 400 SSA, and sponge foam 400 to 500 SSA, void
space just right, and really easy to clean. Why spend the $s on plastic
or ceramic bio-ball type filter media when a much better media is
cheaper (sponge foam)? .................. Frank

On 26 Jan 2006 05:37:57 -0800, "Shorty"
wrote:

I am debating whether I need to put any bio-ball type media in my
filter for the bacteria.
Do I need to build-up a bacteria colony in my filter for a planted tank
or will the plants take care of the ammonia, NO2 and NO3?

I have only five fish in the tank and not very densly planted tank. My
main concern right now is to get the plants growing while keeping the
fish healthy.

There seems to be different opinions on the subject. I pulled my 4
bio wheels as they were not turning without constant cleaning of the
filters. Further, I don't even turn the filters off anymore, but pull
a cartridge and substitute a clean one. I have never lost my
bacteria. All 5 of my tanks are planted with dense fish populations,
that is more than 1 inch per gallon.

dick

Dick wrote,
I pulled my 4
bio wheels as they were not turning without constant cleaning of the
filters.

Ever check your DOC levels?

.........pull
a cartridge and substitute a clean one. I have never lost my
bacteria. All 5 of my tanks are planted with dense fish populations,
that is more than 1 inch per gallon.

It only takes one sq. meter of surface area with a bio-film to
metabolise nearly one gram of ammonia per day. Filters should remove
*all* three forms of pollution; dissolved compounds such as ammonia,
inorganic pollutants such as phosphate and DOCs, and solid particulate
waste. By removing all the filtering media at once and replacing it
with new, you *are* loosing all the bacteria within your filter. Your
filter becomes nothing but a machanical filter, removing some of the
solid particulate waste, like a pre-filter. If the cartridge, now your
pre-filter isn't cleaned or replaced at least weekly, the solid waste
decomposes within the media and is pumped back into your tank as
dissolved pollutants.DOCs start to turn the water yellow over time and
the water quality drops, unless you do a *lot* of water changing. Mean
while, the heterotroph bacteria that should be in the filter, is now in
your tank at high levels, along with ectoparasites such as flukes and
protozoa which thrive in high organic loaded water. High organics also
stress the fishs immune system and robs the oxygen from the water.

Just my opinion................... Frank

"Frank" wrote in message
ups.com...
Dick wrote,
I pulled my 4
bio wheels as they were not turning without constant cleaning of the
filters.

Ever check your DOC levels?
========================
A friend told me small snails would clog her bio-wheel filters. I can't
picture this since I never used them. They were probably going after the
bacterial coating. She finally replaced them with Aquaclears that I
recommended.

--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Troll Information:
http://tinyurl.com/9zbh
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

This is a lot of fun, to a balance tank. I tend to Consider the removal of the filter gently placed in the tank is small, Fully grown, where I can feed the fish very light. I wait until the plants Are growing, so that nitrate tends to zero, if I did not add any.