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High tech without filter ?

to keep water crystal clear with fine sponge filters.
That. A while ago, I've been labouring to find a filter media able to mechanically remove bacterial bloom and single-cell algae from water. I failed.
 
looking forward to Eminor starting journal to share his filterless journey.

Different people have different standards of housekeeping, some don't need any mechanical filtration, some are ok with very coarse sponges, while others like myself like to keep water crystal clear with fine sponge filters.
I don't know, i always have to stop my journal because i'm doomed with tank, they leak, they are perfectly leveled. I also have hard time not touching something, the hobby is a patience therapy for me, it get better with time.

There is thing i don't change anymore like i keep doing lean dosing, using urea, i don't change plant anymore. The lido 120 still have difficult plant like tuberculatum and walichii
 
I don't know, i always have to stop my journal because i'm doomed with tank, they leak, they are perfectly leveled. I also have hard time not touching something, the hobby is a patience therapy for me, it get better with time.

There is thing i don't change anymore like i keep doing lean dosing, using urea, i don't change plant anymore. The lido 120 still have difficult plant like tuberculatum and walichii
I finally got some Tuberculatum and Furcata. The stems are still quite short and adjusting to my tank. Once they are tall enough to be seen, I'll post a photo in my journal!
 
I finally got some Tuberculatum and Furcata. The stems are still quite short and adjusting to my tank. Once they are tall enough to be seen, I'll post a photo in my journal!
nice, furcata is easier and it looks incredible when there is kind of a bush
 
That. A while ago, I've been labouring to find a filter media able to mechanically remove bacterial bloom and single-cell algae from water. I failed.

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Temporarily using a UV lamp kills water column bacterial and algae pretty fast. After I discovered how much algae was left in the water column after I scraped the glass and did a water change (despite my canister filters running for an hour), I bought a submersible UV lamp (which is way cheaper than an inline fixture) and place it in my tank for a couple of hours after maintenance.
 
Far easier to balance the tank rather than expect anything to live in a sterile enviroment.
Where's the nature? No wonder you all struggle to be happy with your aquariumns you think man can best nature rather than work with it.
I have hard time to not control anything, far inside me i'd like to try low tech but co2 is addictive same as high light
 
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That. A while ago, I've been labouring to find a filter media able to mechanically remove bacterial bloom and single-cell algae from water. I failed.
You need an 0.2 micron filter to mechanically remove bacteria. These do commonly exist in the lab but I doubt very much for aquaria. The UV steriliser is the way to go if you want to "get rid of" bacteria.
 
far inside me i'd like to try low tech but co2 is addictive
You can reduce CO2 injection, I suppose. Injecting some 5 to 10 mg/L sounds like a reasonable compromise (even to me).
I bought a submersible UV lamp
How does it work? UV is dangerous to all living organisms, so how come it does not damage the plants?
You need an 0.2 micron filter to mechanically remove bacteria. These do commonly exist in the lab
I'll see if I can get it. Such a mechanical filtration feels more acceptable to me than UV-lamp.
Far easier to balance the tank rather than expect anything to live in a sterile enviroment.
Where's the nature? No wonder you all struggle to be happy with your aquariumns you think man can best nature rather than work with it.
You're basically correct but converting the converted. None of present participants of this discussion is the kind of hobbyist you had in mind. We all know them and remind them that miraculous potions & technology won't save the day. Yet gently polishing this or that is, I assume, permissible.
 
I'd love to see these beautiful aquariums, with beautiful healthy plants, that strictly adhere to nature, and are un touched by the hand of man. My suspicion is they don't exist, I could be wrong.

Deeds not words will shape this discussion.
 
I'd love to see these beautiful aquariums, with beautiful healthy plants, that strictly adhere to nature, and are un touched by the hand of man. My suspicion is they don't exist, I could be wrong.

Deeds not words will shape this discussion.
I think you'll be waiting a long time😉 maintenance, especially for hightech is crucial for plant health. Low tech is a different story however, my tank stays untouched for months except for feeding the fishies
 
I think you'll be waiting a long time😉 maintenance, especially for hightech is crucial for plant health. Low tech is a different story however, my tank stays untouched for months except for feeding the fishies
Seems like low tech is peace for mind
 
my tank stays untouched for months except for feeding the fishies
Your tank is indeed beautiful, I can't deny that. It does however require human intervention. 😁
Seems like low tech is peace for mind
I wish I still had a low tech tank, fish behaviour in this setting is far superior and natural, compared to high tech... food for thought 🤔
 
I wish I still had a low tech tank, fish behaviour in this setting is far superior and natural, compared to high tech... food for thought 🤔
Sure is. I think it comes down to what we expect from this hobby... Unfortunately, I think too many inject CO2 because they think it's essential for plant health. If you want rapid growth (ie. is a serial-scaper) or keep plant species submerged that in nature are seasonally emerged, only partially submerged or otherwise struggle at equilibrium levels there is probably no way around injecting CO2. I don't necessarily think livestock behavior is foiled or hampered by CO2 (was probably ironically meant?) - especially if the injection rate (CO2 ppm) is sensible.

UV is dangerous to all living organisms, so how come it does not damage the plants?

Right. I would never Indiscriminately expose the water column to intense UV light - considering the plants etc, that may be more harmful than good IMO - Yes, it works fine (if not mandatory?) in reef tanks where you don't have plants or sensitive live corrals. In both my 150L tanks I run low-turnover internal UV filters (9W GMK). It kills pathogens and algae spores and of course bacteria that might be beneficial as well. However, most (by far) of the microbial activity we rely on lives in the substrate so I am not worried about that. I never had issues, and I haven't had a sick fish or algae for ages - how much this can be attributed to the UV filters I obviously do not know for sure. Back in the day I was worried about the UV breaking up micros (Iron chelates in particular) and would have the UV filters on a timer, but eventually I decided to leave them on all the time.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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I'd love to see these beautiful aquariums, with beautiful healthy plants, that strictly adhere to nature, and are un touched by the hand of man. My suspicion is they don't exist, I could be wrong.

Deeds not words will shape this discussion.
Agreed When it comes to a glass box we have to intervene
 
Hi,
We are all different people with varying lifestyles with different aspirations for our very different aquariums. What works for one may very well not work for others.
I thought the idea here is to share knowledge, experience, new technologies, constructive criticism when requested and new ways of executing and testing different ideas and systems.
I'm reading this thread because I'm extremely interested and want to learn the pros and cons of not running a filter, just as I'm also interested in leaner dosing amongst a myriad of other topics.
Belittling other people and their work in progress for me is not really conducive to constructive dialogue within a forum.
Another thing I would like to know while I'm at it is why our precursors are treated so reprehensively, without them we would still be watching and replacing our Swordplants, Val and Elodea as they slowly dissolve adding to, not aiding with our problems.
The past is the past but without it we have no future, and change is our only constant.
Cheers!
 
I can't find people doing filterless co2 tank, so i give it a try to see if the tank is going to be algae paradise without a filter backup.
 
I can't find people doing filterless co2 tank, so i give it a try to see if the tank is going to be algae paradise without a filter backup.
I did it. But only with very very lean dosing. I'm not sure how replicable these results are however... If you want to try, you're free to. In this tank I used filter only for co2 circulation. I did however have some very small sponge in my skimmer.
Screenshot_2023-04-07-21-51-01-915_com.miui.gallery.jpg
 
I did it. But only with very very lean dosing. I'm not sure how replicable these results are however... If you want to try, you're free to. In this tank I used filter only for co2 circulation. I did however have some very small sponge in my skimmer.

Without fish your small sponge might did the trick, which soil did you used ? what do you call very lean dosing ? thx
 
Without fish your small sponge might did the trick, which soil did you used ? what do you call very lean dosing ? thx
I used sand inert. Very lean dosing for me is very high lights plus less than 1ppm N weekly. That's why my HRA was very red, very low nutrients.
 
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