Filtration

I will be setting up a 75 Gallon tank with 2 - emporer 400 filters as a planted native this spring. I the past I have filled the filter medium containers with carbon on both FW and SW tanks. I have heard that in a well planted tank carbon should not be used on a regular basis. Any feedback on what filter medium is typically used in a planted tank would be greatly appreciated. I was also planning to use the substrate from a local lake. I checked it out and it appears to be beach sand (man made lake). Is this a good substrate alone (there are lots of planted growing in it) or would a layer of soil possibly covered with a layer of lake sand be a better idea? I have ordered some of the books recommended at this site, but it is always interesting to hear from experienced native fish/plant keepers on what works for them.

I will be setting up a 75 Gallon tank with 2 - emporer 400 filters as a planted native this spring. I the past I have filled the filter medium containers with carbon on both FW and SW tanks. I have heard that in a well planted tank carbon should not be used on a regular basis. Any feedback on what filter medium is typically used in a planted tank would be greatly appreciated. I was also planning to use the substrate from a local lake. I checked it out and it appears to be beach sand (man made lake). Is this a good substrate alone (there are lots of planted growing in it) or would a layer of soil possibly covered with a layer of lake sand be a better idea? I have ordered some of the books recommended at this site, but it is always interesting to hear from experienced native fish/plant keepers on what works for them.

I just use a mechanical medium. In my main plant tank, I have an HOB and a powerhead with foam stuck on the end (the foam is actually trimmed-down pillow foam from the craft store). I have done it with just the powerhead/foam combo, as have friends of mine. You can also buy official filter foam for powerheads at the pet store.

Also, if you have a low fish load (of fish that enjoy still water) you may not need to filter at all. I have a small handfull of completely unfiltered tanks. I've kept Elassoma and Heterandria in little unfiltered tanks, and you could probably do the same with other species from similar habitats so long as the load is kept light.

Regarding the substrate, your entire lake is probably not beach sand. They probably trucked that in just for the swimming area. See if you can find some good mucky stuff in another location in the lake. Otherwise, I'd just pick a spot where the vegetation is growing relatively densely, as there must be something good about it in that spot!

I agree with Laura -- you don't really need to use carbon in a planted tank, or in any aquarium situation, for that matter. It's great if you want to polish the water and make it look a bit clearer, but most experienced aquarists view it as a waste of money.

Anything that is really porous and doesn't contain CaCO3 should work well as a media. I would go with foam, like Laura said. It generally provides more surface area for your buck.

Why would CaCO3 be a problem?

Why would CaCO3 be a problem?

I meant that it's generally not a good idea to use something that will release lots of CO3^-2 (ie, crushed coral) as a filter media in a freshwater tank, unless the habitat you're trying to replicate has a naturally higher acid neutralizing capacity. I don't know much about the lake in question so I can't really say, but if it's your standard, medium-sized N. American lake, chances are the water doesn't need to be buffered.

Gotcha. I sometimes forget that other areas of the country have naturally hard water! In my area of GA, the water is so soft that I add crushed coral and even calcium tablets on purpose!

Ph in local Ohio streams that I have tested, is usually above 8.0. In fact my tapwater is 8.3

The Michigan basin area is pretty interesting hydrologically speaking. I've noticed a huge difference in tapwater pH between where I used to live and where I live now. In Ann Arbor, it's about 7.5, and only 20 miles east, it jumps up to about 8.3. I'm thinking it might be due to the fact that Ann Arbor is built on top of sediments that were deposited during the Carboniferous, and just a few miles to the east, groundwater would be flowing through Devonian limestone deposits.