Fish Poo In Ecosystem
- Thread starter l.MetalHead.l
- Start date
in nature, there are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF GALLONS of water for the waste to be diluted in. In a home aquarium, it is not practical to expect plants only to deal with your waste. Yes, they will absorb a portion of it. but don't expect to fill your tank with plants and never have to worry about water changes again. Thats not how it works. Even without fish waste there are other things, such as hormones that need to be removed.
In a well established, heavily planted tank with light fish loading, and reasonable feeding, water changes are greatly minimized and often only amount to top offs. There are dozens of books out there dealing with this specific issue and many sucessful tanks that have been established and maintained in that format. It takes a lot of work and experience to get to that point.
It is not for your everyday hobbist though, IMO.
It is not for your everyday hobbist though, IMO.
Hmmm. Six responses and not one mention of bacteria! What do you think the nitrogen cycle is all about? Those nitrites, nitrates and ammonia are all byproducts of the breakdown of organic wastes (feces, etc.) by bacteria. Those wastes are the reason why we have to be so concerned about the bacterial population in a new aquarium. Those bacteria are the primary waste disposal team in a healthy aquarium. Some fish consume some detritus (feces) but much of the waste is broken down by bacteria to the point where it can be used by other organisms - such as plants. Of course, at each step in the process the bacteria involved are using the fecal material as food. With a low bioload we can lessen the need for water changes, especially with the help of plants, but we can't, in a closed system, eliminate the need entirely because we don't have a complete ecosystem. In order to do so we would need a complete food chain from microscopic to large predators. We would need to allow the growth of snails, insects, etc. Instead we do water changes.
Beasts
Beasts
actually some ecosystems are nearly complete closed system..nitrates are handled by anaerobic bacteria that consume the nitrates and leave nitrogen as a by product.
at issue is not really the bacteria but in reality it is the TDS that are not consumed by bacteria.
but as mentioned..even in a controlled system (rbishop) you may not need to remove these tds.
if you consider the bacteria keep in ind that even they may need some help handling the waste..snails etc turn the soil/substrate and thier job is an important part of the system.
others break down materials to assist the bacteria.
in a word..the whole system is complex the inhabitants rely on other inhabitants.
at issue is not really the bacteria but in reality it is the TDS that are not consumed by bacteria.
but as mentioned..even in a controlled system (rbishop) you may not need to remove these tds.
if you consider the bacteria keep in ind that even they may need some help handling the waste..snails etc turn the soil/substrate and thier job is an important part of the system.
others break down materials to assist the bacteria.
in a word..the whole system is complex the inhabitants rely on other inhabitants.