The planted tank
March 16, 2016Rather than the usual post about apprenticeship hardships or lessons learned, let’s dig into something a bit different!
This post is about planted aquariums or, more commonly known as, planted tanks. Simply put: a planted tank is an aquarium that contains real, live plants.
Creative freedom
Planted tanks are a hobby of mine I started to get in to about two years ago. Much like web design, I enjoy the challenge of creating something new and having the freedom to make just about whatever I want.
A new aquarium is kind of like a new web project in the sense that you have complete creative freedom. Like typefaces and colors within our web projects, we can add live plants, driftwood and fish to really bring our aquarium to life and truly make it unique.
A living, breathing ecosystem
Perhaps one of my favorite things about a planted tank is how they change on their own over time. Our fish may breed, adding more to our aquarium, and certain fish may take a liking to certain parts of the tank claiming it as their very own territory.
Essentially, we are creating our very own ecosystem. We keep the water temperature in a range that’s healthy for the fish and plants to live and grow in, while also adding light. The plants take in the light and give off oxygen. This is beneficial to the fish. Simultaneously, our plants absorb a large portion of fish waste in the form of nitrates. This process is called the nitrogen cycle. It exists in aquariums and the oceans covering the planet. There is definitely more to the process, but that is basically how it all works. Striving to maintain this balance is what allows our planted tank to really thrive.
Here is a great photo I found on The Planted Tank that illustrates the entire process:
So now that we have our fish and some of our plants starting to grow, what are some things we can do to continue to make our planted tank thrive?
Don’t overcrowd
I currently have a 20 gallon tank. The ultimate goal is to have something larger, at least 55 gallons, although my wife may have something to say about that. The difference between size directly translates to how many fish and plants you can have comfortably live in our aquarium. One of the rules that aquarium owners try to follow is the one inch of fish per 1 gallon of water rule.
Adhering to this rule is good for a variety of reasons. The first and most important is that it is humane. The last thing we’d want to do to our pets is cause them discomfort, or stress by not providing them adequate space.
Secondly, it’s also important for the balance of our planted tank. Over stocking our tank may result in a nutrient imbalance. Our fish may be raising the nitrates so high and so fast that they are poisoning themselves.
If math is not your strong suit, rest assured. There is a great calculator over at How Many Fish, that allows you to input information about your aquarium to see your personal recommendation for the number of fish you should be keeping in your tank.
Add nutrients
Most of us can assume that our fish need proper care and maintenance to live long happy lives, but did you know the same is true about our live plant? As I said earlier, live plants are great because they give off oxygen which is extremely beneficial for our fish, but we have to remember that our plants need food too.
Aquarium plants require nutrients to grow. The main nutrient is CO2, which is also the main inhibitor of growth in the planted aquarium. There are ways to address this problem, but you have to make sure you do it carefully, as CO2 in high doses may harm our fish.
Directly injecting CO2 from an outside source can be a great way to stimulate plant growth. Many aquarium owners accomplish this through the paintball tank method. Basically, a full CO2-filled paintball tank is used to slowly inject CO2 straight in to our aquarium water. By doing this in small, controlled amounts, the plants can absorb it.
This sketch shows a basic overview of the process:
Basically, our tank is connected to a bubble counter, which is used to measure exactly how much CO2 is being released from the paintball tank and injected in to our aquarium. Depending on the size of our aquarium and how many plants you have in it, it is recommended that our bubble counter bubbles between 1-3 times a second. The bubble counter is then connected to our diffuser, which is actually inside of the aquarium. Our diffuser breaks apart the large bubbles of CO2 in to hundreds of smaller bubbles. Breaking up the large bubbles is the best way to diffuse the CO2 gas in to our aquarium’s water.
I know it seems slightly confusing and maybe a little scary at first, but I can assure you that it’s not too bad. Although there are many components to the planted tank, these two things, coupled with regular water changes are some of the most important aspects to remember when keeping a planted aquarium.
Personally, I find owning an aquarium to be very satisfying. I really enjoy creating my environment and watching it grow overtime. There are many other important aspects of a planted tank that I have yet to cover, some of which can be very challenging. I hope to cover some of those in a future blog post.
Thanks for reading!