FW filtration

[cr500_af]

I would guess that most of us with FW tanks (i.e. non-advanced keepers) use your standard HOB filter.

I've heard of protein skimming in FW, but only once. Does anyone operate a FW tank with a skimmer? I assume they differ from SW skimmers, but I know zilch.

 

[acroholic]

FW skimming is a myth. It doesn't work, other than oxygenating the water.

I don't know the mechanics of it, but if you took a venturi skimmer and put it in saltwater you'd get the ultra fine bubbles we are used to. Take that same skimmer and put it in freshwater and the bubbles are much larger in size.

In FW tanks the export is handled primarily by WC and GAC. Biofiltration is in most cases HOB, cannister or wet/dry. I use a wet dry with bio-balls on both my FW tanks.

FW Planted tanks are a different story. In a heavily planted tank, nitrogenous wastes are consumed primarily by the plants. I never cycled a heavily planted FW tank. Plant the plants and add the fish. I usually used a Cannister filter for CO2 injection, and would have some biomedia in there, but that was just in case a large chunk of the plant mass died or I needed seasoned media for a new tank or a QT tank.

 

[cr500_af]

Thanks, Dave. A very, shall we say, prominent person here told me there were FW skimmers but they were "different" than our SW ones.

I always wondered what you had under your RR freshwater tanks, and now I know!

Oh, and anytime you are sick of either one of those big FW tanks, I'll haul it to the dump for ya.

 

[fish scales2]

And a fuge? Your thoughts Dave. Possibly worth it or not? I have thought about this alot, maybe too much.lol And well done it once or twice as well.

 

[hn1]

They may be referring to an overflow type input into a HOB. There are mods and some newer filters coming out with that arrangement. Designed to skim the surface film into the input of the filter.

No where close to the same function as a real skimmer.

 

[cr500_af]

HN1;521909 wrote: They may be referring to an overflow type input into a HOB. There are mods and some newer filters coming out with that arrangement. Designed to skim the surface film into the input of the filter.

No where close to the same function as a real skimmer.

Nah... I won't "out" him, but he said the reason they were different was just what Dave said... the bubble head wouldn't build. The only wrong thing was the reference to these mythical "different" FW protein skimmers.

 

[scuba steve]

To be completely accurate, protein skimming technically does work in FW, it's just very inefficient and not very effective 'cause you don't get the fine bubble size, foaming capability, etc. that you do in saltwater. There are no FW specific skimmers, it's the same protein skimmers used for SW, just not much point to doing it.

I've know a few people who have done fuge's under the display tank, typically where you have fish that would eat or otherwise demolish plants. Main goal is nitrate consumption by the plants. If you going to do that you definitely want to have the fuge lights on opposite of the display lights to counter the plant photosynthetic cycle, this avoids drops in DO and pH fluctuations.

 

[cr500_af]

Thanks Steve. You have PM, also.

 

[acroholic]

I see no reason you couldn't have a refugium for a fw tank, but I think it would be more for export than anything else. Use fast growing floating plants, or maybe use a java moss type plant as a FW equivalent to cheato.

 

[dragoon]

Scuba steve hit it on the mark You can use PSKs on FW systems, but they don't work too well. They will carve gases pretty well though so you can use your PSK to inject CO2 and perhaps mix some supplements...