Filterless Ecosystem

60 posts • Page 6 of 6

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

anyway, been a little while since I been on this forum - I figured you'd be in good hands with Alasse (((smiles)))

natural ecosystem is fine (no man-made products in the tank except two flexible bubble wands with hose(s) and one air pump (below the tank) - took the heater out for it is summer now)

all is good with the tank...tests are within normalcy

in the next year I do plan to slowly switch to all semi-aggressive fish (I need to wait for the community fish to (naturally) die off which may even take longer than a year, only time will tell)

as always, I will keep you all up to date on this strange unique-like tank


Alasse
 
Posts: 993
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
Location: QLD Australia

by Alasse

Hiya Yasher...good to see you!

If ya get a chance some new pics would be great. Tank sounds like its doing brilliantly, well done!


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

latest pic taken 5/8/2011
3388d-DSCN0864.JPG


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

other angles
c764b-DSCN0849.JPG
70d35-DSCN0850.JPG
be394-DSCN0861.JPG


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

here are 3 more

thanks for the compliment Alasse
15192-DSCN0855.JPG
6a601-DSCN0861.JPG
3fe00-DSCN0863.JPG


etag
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 1:09 am

by etag

hey..i'm new to this forum...but i have a good suggestion...if you would like to remove your last piece of equipment you could add in a good chunk of moss, a water lily, and double your current plants...

doing this would provide enough oxygen that aeration becomes unneeded...

there wouldn't be a current for the tank..but you would have a tank that is 100% self sustaining...


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

etag, thanks for the advice but I prefer a little bit of current for most of the fish I have in the tank originated from fast moving streams or rivers...but thanks for the support

as of now, August 16, 2011 I have gone without any filtration, artificial lighting and chemicals of any kind

latest chemical liquid test score as of Sunday (8/14/2011):

ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 30
oxygen: 9 (normal)
phosphate: neutral
iron: trace
ph: 8.2

In the last 9 months, I have gone from 57 fish of assorted types down to 52 (lost a few cardinal tetra due to ich several months ago (back in January 2011)

I feed mostly human food (chicken, liver (calf and beef), oysters and clams (out of a can), turkey (sliced), peas (out of a can), and once a week, on Wednesday I feed frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp.

Monday: human food
Tuesday: no food
Wednesday: bloodworms and brine shrimp
Thursday: no food
Friday: human food...25% water change
Saturday: peas
Sunday: no food...25% water change (and periodically prune the plants and clip away any cladaphora (algae) that may envelope itself amongst the plant leaves due to the enormous natural sunlight streaming into the left part of the tank (the other half has a curtain providing shade)

also I never vacuum...the plant side has 3 inches of gravel that is full of good bacteria which keeps the ammonia at zero for the 11th week in a row (and when it did go up it never reached 1.0 ppm, hovered around .25 to .50 ppm)

Thanks for all your comments and compliments...I will give the next update when the tank is in its one year without filtration, lighting and chemicals.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

mzhantsche (nickname) on Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:43 am GMT wrote:

"Thats what i like about the people on this site. trying different ideas. Good luck Yasher. Ill be checking your updates to see the progress. I suspect the ammonia will get out of control too. We should take a guess on how long it will take. I say 13 days."

In regards to this thread I started some time ago. "13 days?"

More like 13 months now

the latest on this tank is from the thread I started, entitled:

NO NEED TO WATER CHANGE EVER AGAIN

DO NOT TRY THIS UNLESS YOU ARE EXPERIENCED

I have proven that there is no need to water change ever again - that's right, EVER AGAIN!
How? Simple -

Anyone on this forum who knows me, knows that the tank I have has no filtration, no lighting except for aeration provided by a few air stones to produce the much needed oxygen and a heater...all else is natural rock/stone, wood and live plants with naturally grown cladophora (algae). This is the tank set-up.

I use absolutely no chemicals in the tank. I have 40 fish in the tank. I test every Sunday for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I test for temperature every day. There is direct sunlight on one half of the tank. I fed Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (human food and frozen bloodworms and shrimp).

Topped off the tank one or two days per week with a gallon or so of tap water.

This is the tank set-up.

October 16, 2011 was the last time I water changed. The chemicals, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate remained steady (ammonia: 0; nitrite 0; nitrate 40). On December 4, 2011 the ammonia level rose to 1.5 ppm, nitrite to 0.25 ppm and nitrate to 60 ppm.

I asked myself, should I water change or can I approach this in another way...........naturally.

I did not feed the fish in the tank (from Sunday, December 4, 2011 to December 11, 2011 Sunday); the fish were not lethargic, as playful as ever...and the liquid water test on December 11, 2011 revealed: ammonia 0; nitrite: 0; nitrate 40.

Yes, the fish get to eat on Monday (((smiles)))

Again, I have proven the fish industry is a huge hoax. The "experts" are more stupid than ever. It's all about the chemicals and the regulation thereof.

So after 13 months and now almost 2 months of not a single water change...I am truly creating a natural ecosystem that is almost self-sustaining.

please do remark on this thread - do not consider yourselves inferior in knowledge - Alasse is far more superior with knowledge in this hobby (((smiles))) - I have only attempted (and succeeded) to create as close as I can an all natural ecosystem


colwyn
 
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2011 6:36 am

by colwyn

What about a freshwater clam??? They are natural filters. They filter i think about 300 gallons a day. That would bea a nice addition.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

I have loaches that will feast on the clams...unless the clams are pretty large to begin with

I do have over 300 trumpet snails; 5 olive nerite snails; about 50 ramshorn snails that help with the cleaning of the tank

but I will look into getting larger clams - thanks for the idea

Filterless Ecosystem

60 posts • Page 6 of 6

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