You are correct star_rider.
Some of the Walstad camp advocate using CO2 while others are purists. I say if it can help, use it.
Some of the Walstad camp advocate using CO2 while others are purists. I say if it can help, use it.
No water changes ever. Why am I not having any problems?
- Thread starter Brandorr
- Start date
Sure, it's handled in nature... in open systems. Aquariums, obviously, are closed systems. I see what you're saying if the bioload is light, but in most cases people don't keep a light bioload... myself included. 
I see where you are coming from, but water changes are a safer bet, to me.
I see where you are coming from, but water changes are a safer bet, to me.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108172
This is his tank from about a month ago, with the stocking listed you should of had water quality issues, there isn't many plants in the tank at the time of that post, not enough to eliminate tank maintenance, i would check the water parameters again just to be sure, you have enough stock to create a good bio load, and not enough plants to take the load off...
Actually these pictures were taken after I had done a ton of pruning. It was a bit of a veritable jungle in the tank before... The way it works now, is I take out almost all the water sprite every 2-3 weeks. (I pull it out after the surface is completely covered with a 3 inch layer of water sprite. (If I let it stay any longer the bottom plants start to deteriorate.)
I think the key in my case is the combination of plants, and the massive over filtration. (There is a huge amount of media for the bacteria to grow over.)
I bought the tank some time in 2005. I am not sure what month.. It could have been late in the year, so it might be less than two years. (I just don't remember it was an unplanned purchase for my daughter, because she was asking for a kitten). The second pump was added this year. The serious stocking up levels started early this year at the prompting of my wife, who was complaining that it looked like there weren't any fish, and I just had a tank full of plants. This also prompted the pruning) I agreed after letting her know that as the fish grew we might need to get a larger tank.
(72G here I come) (I bought the second pump at that time). I bought the compact florescent about 1-2 months ago. (It is amazing.. If you are into plants get one) This lead to a lot of changes in a relatively short period of time... (Although it looks like the fish and I managed the transition relatively well, I wanted to verify that this is a valid method vs. some crazy fluke of luck..)It's just that so many people keep saying ticking time bomb in so many threads...
Ah, thanks!!
Liquid
Ticking time bomb? Its gonna blow up one day?
Just keep doing what you are doing. Watch your fish and plants and use some common sense. If things are going great....."If it aint broke dont fix it"
Otherwise if you see problems start to arise, dont be afraid to do a water change and post here for some help.
Good job using the liquid test kits, the strips are horrible.
For all you who are pressing the issue of water changes. Go to a river or lake if you have one in the area. Take a test kit with you and test your local waters and compare that to your results from your tank at home. How clear is the water in your tank vs. the huge body of water.
Im not advocating that everybody stop doing water changes to their tanks. Certainly some tanks need it more often than others. Often times people tend to get caught up in all the technology in this hobby, which is a great thing. However there are practices out there that people have been using successfully for hundreds and hundreds of years. One persons success could be the next persons downfall and one system is definitely not best for everybody.
Just keep doing what you are doing. Watch your fish and plants and use some common sense. If things are going great....."If it aint broke dont fix it"
Otherwise if you see problems start to arise, dont be afraid to do a water change and post here for some help.
Good job using the liquid test kits, the strips are horrible.
For all you who are pressing the issue of water changes. Go to a river or lake if you have one in the area. Take a test kit with you and test your local waters and compare that to your results from your tank at home. How clear is the water in your tank vs. the huge body of water.
Im not advocating that everybody stop doing water changes to their tanks. Certainly some tanks need it more often than others. Often times people tend to get caught up in all the technology in this hobby, which is a great thing. However there are practices out there that people have been using successfully for hundreds and hundreds of years. One persons success could be the next persons downfall and one system is definitely not best for everybody.
Sure, it's handled in nature... in open systems. Aquariums, obviously, are closed systems. I see what you're saying if the bioload is light, but in most cases people don't keep a light bioload... myself included.
I see where you are coming from, but water changes are a safer bet, to me.
One of the things that made me hesitant to do water changes is that I felt that the plants would lose nutrients and I would be causing "cycles" by changing water. My mother was a gardener when I was growing up, and she made here own soil, in a chicken wire set of composters. In addition to your typical leaves and lawn clippings, she put nasty garbage in it... She also paid me to grow earthworms for her. If I remember correctly, I got a nickel for each. Looking back at it I can't believe I actually "farmed" earthworms. (Factoid, baby earthworms aren't pink.)
I got to say that her vegetable gardens were the best I've ever seen. And she never used artificial chemicals (She used garlic and mint as pesticides if I remember correctly)
Well now to the point. I had tanks as a kid.
The tanks I maintained as a child, never had water changes either, but with much different results, I had massive snail population explosions, brown and green algae everywhere, blocked filters, etc.. I feel bad about how I treated those fish.. I would throw toys and pennies in the tank.. Eventually I killed off all the fish except for a giant pleco. (Part of the reason for the deaths is that we moved about 3 times, and I didn't really know how to properly transport the tanks. I lost fish in every move.). On the plus side, I was making money from the hobby for the first couple(?) of years raising fancy guppies. (Which were going on to better homes).
Because I knew myself, from when I was a child, I felt that creating a setup that required a rigorous maintenance schedule would be a disaster waiting to happen. So, I skipped the box filters and hang on filters, and went straight to the canisters. (Nobody talked about biological filtration back when I was a kid -- no internet). I figured that since plants eat rotting garbage, I needed lots of plants. As I grew the bioload I added more filteration to keep the double required filtration in place, decreasing the frequency of filter maintenance.
I read all your post's you were asking people how to set up a tank a few months ago, have you checked the wp lately, as you may know but just in-case the #2 bottle of RATES,the liquid test kit needs to be aggitated for 1 minute for accurate results, Having plants does eat up RATES, but they do not eliminate wc's, from your specs it looks like the test kit may be giving wrong readings.....
