@ Plantbrain:
Wow, thank you from the detailed response, I am learning a lot. I actually had an experience with an O2 shortage (fish breathing fast) caused by excess organics, like you said, in the form of mulm in the substrate. It was solved by raising my canister filter's spraybar to increase surface agitation, fortunately. Other than that, my DSB has been successful for a year or so now, but I might wait a while longer before I proclaim it foolproof, and recommend it to everybody. You kind of need to know what you're doing before you take it on, it seems.
My mom works for our state's environmental protection department, in the groundwater unit. She writes permits for wastewater reuse, so she knows a lot about hydrology, and she visits wastewater treatment facilities all the time. According to her, it is common to clean water anaerobically. It can be done in lagoons with the help of plants, but anaerobic filtration is much more popular. If plants worked better to clean water, wouldn't that be the most common method instead? Maybe it is less cost effective or something, who knows, but my point is, purifying freshwater anaerobically works, and it works very well.
Sorry I assumed you hadn't tested the off gassing from the substrate. Maybe I am a bit of a snot, LOL.
Wow, thank you from the detailed response, I am learning a lot. I actually had an experience with an O2 shortage (fish breathing fast) caused by excess organics, like you said, in the form of mulm in the substrate. It was solved by raising my canister filter's spraybar to increase surface agitation, fortunately. Other than that, my DSB has been successful for a year or so now, but I might wait a while longer before I proclaim it foolproof, and recommend it to everybody. You kind of need to know what you're doing before you take it on, it seems.
My mom works for our state's environmental protection department, in the groundwater unit. She writes permits for wastewater reuse, so she knows a lot about hydrology, and she visits wastewater treatment facilities all the time. According to her, it is common to clean water anaerobically. It can be done in lagoons with the help of plants, but anaerobic filtration is much more popular. If plants worked better to clean water, wouldn't that be the most common method instead? Maybe it is less cost effective or something, who knows, but my point is, purifying freshwater anaerobically works, and it works very well.
Sorry I assumed you hadn't tested the off gassing from the substrate. Maybe I am a bit of a snot, LOL.
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