# Whats the best fitler meadia for plants?



## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

*Whats the best filter media for plants?*

Hey all. So I'm in the process setting up my new tank. Thing is I've never had a tank that was heavily planted which is the direction I want to head in. So I'm wondering if I can just do what I always do or do I need to approach this totally differently. Normally I would I stock my canister filter with carbon, ammonia chip, bio rings and alot of floss and stuff like that. So is this kind of set up ok for planted tanks?


----------



## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*I use only filter floss.

IF CYCLED. Ammonia lock is not needed because your tank shouldn't have ammonia in it anyway. Carbon is unneeded because there is no use for it, there's absolutely nothing you need to remove from the water with carbon. Carbon will just end up removing the nutrients your plants need. Bio rings is also unneeded because you will not be doing gravel vacuums. You need the mulm to collect on the floor to feed the plants. Your "bio" will be throughout the mulm, tank, and filter floss.*


----------



## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Filter floss is usually all you need.

One other piece of advice using canisters would be if you are using the spray bar attachment, point the flow to the back of the tank where it hits the glass.


----------



## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

James0816 said:


> Filter floss is usually all you need.
> 
> One other piece of advice using canisters would be if you are using the spray bar attachment, point the flow to the back of the tank where it hits the glass.


Why back at the glasss? I was thinking I would want as much movement as possible?


----------



## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

NursePlaty said:


> *I use only filter floss.
> 
> IF CYCLED. Ammonia lock is not needed because your tank shouldn't have ammonia in it anyway. Carbon is unneeded because there is no use for it, there's absolutely nothing you need to remove from the water with carbon. Carbon will just end up removing the nutrients your plants need. Bio rings is also unneeded because you will not be doing gravel vacuums. You need the mulm to collect on the floor to feed the plants. Your "bio" will be throughout the mulm, tank, and filter floss.*


Wont the fish release ammon into my tank that needs to be removed? Also, chlorine, sediment, and volatile organic compounds, should'nt these be removed from the tank for the fish to stay heathy?


----------



## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

jons4real said:


> Why back at the glasss? I was thinking I would want as much movement as possible?


Just the opposite actually.


----------



## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

jons4real said:


> Wont the fish release ammon into my tank that needs to be removed? Also, chlorine, sediment, and volatile organic compounds, should'nt these be removed from the tank for the fish to stay heathy?


The plants will take care of the ammonia. As for the chorine, that is removed by conditioners like Prime (if you are using any).


----------



## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

If you want cheap media, get a big bag of poly fil at wal mart. I only use poly fil(filter floss) in my filters.


----------



## archer772 (Nov 8, 2008)

I just use Bio Balls then Pot Scrubbers and then the floss, the same stuff WhiteDevil is talking about.


----------



## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

I don't use filters. The plants themselves is all that is needed.


my .02


----------



## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

jons4real said:


> Wont the fish release ammon into my tank that needs to be removed? Also, chlorine, sediment, and volatile organic compounds, should'nt these be removed from the tank for the fish to stay heathy?


*A cycled tank has the necessary beneficial bacteria to break down ammonia. Are you familiar with the Nitrogen cycle? Google and learn it as it talks about how ammonia gets broken down. Chlorine is removed with a dechlorinator. Sediment falls to the floor and feed the plants. Organic compounds fall to the floor and feed the plants. *


----------



## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

I will cetrainly look into that.


----------



## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

NursePlaty said:


> *A cycled tank has the necessary beneficial bacteria to break down ammonia. Are you familiar with the Nitrogen cycle? Google and learn it as it talks about how ammonia gets broken down. *


Man..... That was the best advise I have yet to be given in the forum. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.*w3*w3 After looking it up I have a better understanding of the science involved in the tank.


----------



## knownothingfishowner (Feb 22, 2010)

I've only used carbon when removing medications...which has only been once and left it in there for six or seven hours. 

Any other time, I've used Seachem Purigen. 

Although...some of the folks in here make good points about plants, fish crap and things like that. May remove the purigen and go with filter floss to see how that does in my tank.


----------



## jons4real (Sep 6, 2010)

so you keep Purigen in your filter all the time? I never even heard of it before thanks for the info.


----------



## knownothingfishowner (Feb 22, 2010)

jons4real said:


> so you keep Purigen in your filter all the time? I never even heard of it before thanks for the info.


Yeah, I've been using it for about a month now with fantastic results. It's sort of weird hybrid of sorts, made out of some patented synthetic material. Plants and fish do just fine with it. 

Polishes the water like carbon, but doesn't strip the water of necessary elements and also seems to stabilize ammonia and nitrates so it doesn't spike like crazy out of nowhere. Also, unlike carbon, it allows CO2 or CO2 substitutes (Flourish Excel) to pass without interfering with it. 

Best option is to pick it up in the pre-packaged bag media - 100ml, which is enough to treat 100 gallons or less. Runs about 10 bucks, supposedly lasts around six months and can be "recharged" with a 10% bleach-water mixture...mind you that you rinse the hell out of it before reinserting it. 

Now, once I get my tank firmly established, which is far from being anywhere near right now, then I'll experiment with the floss filter. Then, I'm going to have to touch base with Nurse Platy or White Devil to make sure I don't make any mistakes and wreck the whole eff'ing thing. But, for now, I'm sticking with the purigen to coast me through the initial process.


----------



## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

jons4real said:


> Man..... That was the best advise I have yet to be given in the forum. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.*w3*w3 After looking it up I have a better understanding of the science involved in the tank.


Now you can research how plants work also.

With a heavly planted tank the plants actually consume the ammonia directly. Preventing the ammonia->nitrIte->nitrate spikes and replacing them with at most in initial (and safe) nitrate spike. Plus they consume carbon dioxide and return oxygen as well as reflected in high ph values above 8.

Then after a few weeks the bacteria build up and start consuming the ammonia. At that point the plants are forced to get their nitrogen from nitrates.

IMHO Anything you do to prevent that from happening with filters or water changes or whatever robs the plants of nutrients and prevents them from consuming the carbon dioxide and returning oxygen.
so what I do is setup the tank with plants and let it set for a week. The plants get established, condition the tank and clorine is removed. The add a low fish load and not add food for a week. (10g tank a single fish). Then stock up the tank and only feed a single flake per day. (with live bearers I add a couple of females for the male, for neon tetras or other schooling fish I add at least 4 fish so I have at least 5 fish total)

then I set back and enjoy the tank. no filters, no circulation, no air stones, no water changes (replace evaporative with straight untreated tap water from the cold water faucet).

my .02


----------



## igot2gats (Aug 12, 2010)

I'm in the same boat as the OP. I'm going to start a 29G Biocube heavy planted tank. 

Would it be ok to use the pre-packaged carbon cartridges that Oceanic sells at pet stores / LFSs?


----------



## knownothingfishowner (Feb 22, 2010)

igot2gats said:


> I'm in the same boat as the OP. I'm going to start a 29G Biocube heavy planted tank.
> 
> Would it be ok to use the pre-packaged carbon cartridges that Oceanic sells at pet stores / LFSs?


Carbon's not all that great for planted tanks. It's okay, I suppose, to use for a day or two in order to filter out any water impurities right after tank set up. But after that, you may want to go with Seachem Purigen which does virtually the same as carbon, but - and this is the best part about it - it doesn't strip the water of any CO2 like carbon would. 

Or, you could just let it sit like Beselbob suggested.


----------



## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

igot2gats said:


> I'm in the same boat as the OP. I'm going to start a 29G Biocube heavy planted tank.
> 
> Would it be ok to use the pre-packaged carbon cartridges that Oceanic sells at pet stores / LFSs?


*
Carbon also strips the water column of nutrients that plants need.
I never use carbon. I only use it to to remove medications. But then, I never use medications in my main tank anyway. I treat fish separately in a hospital tank with meds and salt. Therefore no carbon. Waste of money basically.

It can also be used to filter out color and odor, but you can fix this directly by finding out the cause of the issues rather than turning to carbon. 
*


----------

