Hornwort and anachris as filters ala ecology of the planted aquarium

[eldaldo]

I have had plants in my aquarium for years, but have not gone filterless until now after being inspired by the book, ecology of the planted aquarium. I set up my triturus and mesotriton tanks with some anachris and good hunks of hornwort. so that probably a little over half the water space is full of plants. (I also keep java moss, java fern, and anubias in the tanks. I have been monitoring the water parameters for three months now, and with water changes every two weeks, there are 0 nitrites, and nitrates are actually very low. Maybe the only problem is that over two weeks the hornwort grows crazy and I have to keep removing it. The cold water temperatures do slow its growth though. I have it in my 75 Fahrenheit fish tank and it literally fills the tank if I am not vigilant. My gut wants to contribute most of the nitrate removal to the hornwort because it grows the most. oh, and my light sources on both tanks add to roughly two watts per gallon. this has worked really well for me, but my word of warning is that each tank only has two newts, so the bioload is minimal. just wanted to share my experience.

 

[Jennewt]

Eldaldo, it would be a great service to the forum if you'd be willing to write a few sentences about this book (and how it's changed your view of newt aquariums) and post it in the Book Reviews section of the forum:
General Discussion & News from Members - Book Reviews at Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Portal

I'm impressed with the growth of your hornwort; it always dies out on me. How much light do you have over your tanks?

 

[Nathan]

Cool stuff, Eldaldo! I'm doing something similar with my notos, but duckweed and Riccia are my major nitrogen sponges. You don't have to trim them- just scoop them out!

Jen- I have found that hornwort tolerates a wide array of water conditions, but it is sensitive to sudden changes in those conditions. You have to acclimate it to your tank water just as you would a sensitive animal, and try to avoid very large water changes. Otherwise it will "shatter" and shed little branchlets all over your tank.

 

[eldaldo]

I have 40 watts over my 20g tank and 20 watts over my ten gallon. So pretty much exactly the reccomended amount of watts per gallon, but I sometimes wonder if this is valid for our semi aquatic aqauriums where the water level only comes up halfway. and by hornwort, I actually mean ceratophyllum demersum, not the genus, Anthocerotophyta. I've never tried growing anything from Anthocerotophyta, but it is possible that we are thinking of different plants. That's what I get for using common names. The ceratophyllum grows rather slowly in the cold newt aquariums compared to my 75F fish aquarium, but it still grows quick enough that I have to periodically remove it. This is compared to my java ferns and anubias which are about the same size as they were a year ago. I also failed to mention that I have wandering jew growing above water with the roots in the water. I imagine this does quite a bit to remove nitrates as well.