Life inside the glass box.

     It always amazes me how traditional styles of doing things always seem to work better or at least just as well as modern ways. Aquarium rigs have gotten so expensive and techie, with devices that monitor your tanks and send messages to your phone updating you on ph readings and what not. As if a drop in temp or raise in ph will force you to rush home to save the day.
     Personally I found that HOB filters ended up being less efficient then the Air driven sponges i run now. They are certainly less expensive to run. I use a single air pump rated at 100gallons to run three sponge filters, one in my 20 hex and two in my 29 gallon, as well as several air stones in the paradise jars. Maybe once a month or two i will squeeze the filter into a bucket during a water change but that's it. Aside from some tannin staining the water is clear.
     These are planted tanks that may not be Amano "quality", are certainly places of healthy plant growth. I don't use CO2 in these tanks, obviously it would be just off gassed. I do, however, use flourish excel. Algae is almost non existent, except for brush algae.
    Maintenance is a weekly water change. Anything under 10 gallons gets a 90% change, under twenty gets a 50%. The 20 hex and the 29 gallon get five gallons a week removed from them and the 45 gallon gets ten gallons removed. The week looks like this: Tuesday the fish get fed chopped prawn till their sides bulge, 2 hours later i do the water change, adding excel and fertilizers at full dose. Wednesday through Sunday fish are fed every day alternating between a meaty food and a vegetable based food. Excel is added at the recommended. Monday fish are fasted, tank lids are so much as opened as I'm not hope all day.
     I believe the fast helps the bacteria keep up as my water quality is really good for such over stoked tanks. The fast keeps the fish regular and forces them to feed on whats in the tank, algae and copedpods. The feast insures that, for at least one day a week every fish in the tank gets more then enough to eat. Of course I'm never afraid to skip an extra day or have an extra feast day if the opportunity arises.