[HS Classroom Tank Journal!]

@Betsy, you are too kind! 

BTW, the light-window ring is the top from a plastic, quart takeout container. I cut out the center, trimming it close to the doubled-over lip. I found some suction cups with open rings that slide over the doubled-over lip. The buoyancy is close to neutral, so it doesn't ride too high in the water. I like this because it helps keep partially submerged plants, like water sprite, from slipping underneath the lip. You can always trap air under the rim if you want it to float better. (Haha, I slipped in some physics!)

 

 

I love your class project and look forward to reading about how your students' experiments turn out. 

 

[Under-Gravel filter (UGF) mod]

15 minutes ago, AquaAggie said:

@Anita what keeps the root tab contents from just getting pulled down into the sponge beyond the ready reach of your roots?  Am I missing something?

Haha, nope, you aren't. 😉Yes, it is certainly possible for root feeders to struggle in an UGF setup. From what I researched, this is more problematic with strong currents created by a powerhead. I am using air stones, which create a gentle flow. FWIW, several people in this recent post, Opinions on Under Gravel Filters, described growing healthy, thickly rooted plants with their UGF setups. 🌴

The only rooted plants I have in this tank are Vallisneria, which are not particularly heavy root feeders. The rest of the plants in the tank can absorb nutrients from the water. Flow velocity drops dramatically as you move further away from the source of the suction (flow:distance ratio). Ideally, I should plant the Vals near the front and as far away from the uptake tubes as possible, but I wanted tall plants in the back, so there you go. 🙃

I expect all the plants, the Vals included, will dine fairly well on fish/snail waste and other aquatic compost. I will embed root tabs on occasion, as well as use Easy Green, to ensure everyone is getting a balanced diet. 🍽️

The more likely problem I foresee, is the Vals' roots will "chase"  nutrients down past the gravel and infiltrate the foam until they block the water flow. Like tree roots in your sewer main line. 😬

At any rate, for me this is a way of gardening indoors. And as any gardener has learned, there are no black-and-white, hard-and-fast rules to raising plants. Or any living things, for that matter. If the Vals don't grow, I can just transplant them into one of my other tanks. 🌿

[What would you do with this?]

How about a nano-paludarium? 

 

[HS Classroom Tank Journal!]

47 minutes ago, Betsy said:

@OceanTruth - I am ALWAYS down to shop plants! 😆👍👍  Do you have any favorite floaters?

I recently joined a few local Facebook groups to see if I could find some floating plant options...and I've got a few local stores I might call, too!!

One suggestion about floating plants. Depending on the type, when they grow out, they may significantly cut down the amount light sprinkling (to borrow Corey's light-as-particles model) down to your other plants. The Java Fern, Anubias, and I think the Melon Sword are low-medium light plants. But I believe the Scarlet Temple prefers med-strong lighting. 

I've got two types of floating plants and they impact how much lighting is available below very differently:

The upper tank has loose water sprite. It creates a somewhat diffuse shading effect. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lower tank has American frogbit. The flat, overlapping leaves create a much darker shadow below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I use a "light window" ring to give the water wisteria below (and to the right) more light. 

 

 

 

Of course, you can just scoop out extra plants out when they get too dense. Or you can keep the floaters corralled inside the ring, rather than around it. BTW, the floating plants will shed dead leaves too, which are harder to pick out among the whole plants. So they may interfere with the @Jimyclefertilizer vs dead leaves experiment. 

That's my geek-girl $0.02, at any rate. 🧐

[HS Classroom Tank Journal!]

Wow @Betsy, what an amazing classroom project you've put together! Your Board of Education needs to give you a raise. 👩‍🏫

 

[Shrimp and Snail Sunday - Show Off Your Invertebrates!]

But... I can't wait until Sunday... I want to post my shrimp pic now! 😇

 

[Shrimp and Snail Sunday - Show Off Your Invertebrates!]

3 hours ago, H.K.Luterman said:

It'll be fine. My mysteries run over my other snails all the time and it doesn't seem to do any harm. :3

Yup! Dem pond snails be tuff little suckers!🐌

[When are you most active on the forum?]

When the mood strikes, usually when I need a break from work. And the boss knows about it because she's me! 🤠

[Opinions on Under Gravel Filters]

3 hours ago, L.W. Wetarm said:

...I won’t go off topic and talk about all the controversial things he wrote...

I did try to warn you. 👻The same thing happened to me, haha! At any rate, it does make you think. 🧐 As @CT_ mentioned, your mileage may vary. 

[Suggestion Box]

8 minutes ago, Daniel said:

As far as I know you have to keep track of it yourself.

I would give you the 🏆 reaction, but, um... I've hit my limit. 🙀 Thanks @Daniel!

[Suggestion Box]

On 2/21/2021 at 1:52 PM, MDoc said:

I didn't even realize there was a limit on the number of reactions you could give.  That's a daily thing?

I just hit my reaction limit ceiling. du-OH! 🤪 So, can someone tell me, what is our daily reactions allotment? Is there a counter somewhere that shows how many reactions I used today (or in a cycle)? Or must I keep track of that myself? 😬🤔

[Under-Gravel filter (UGF) mod]

51 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

...it never occurred to me that you could modify [UGF]. That's a really neat idea. I'm interested in seeing how well it works in the long term.

For better or worse, I am a tinkerer. Haha! I was inspired after watching the Aquarium Co-Op video on hot-rodding hang-on-back (HOB) filters, Aquarium Filter Tips and Tricks! Start Saving Money Now! 

The good news is that if it fails, I only have to empty a 10-gal tank! 😈

[Under-Gravel filter (UGF) mod]

Just now, Goosedub said:

Interesting Mod. Are you anticipating any trapping of detritus in the sponge media? There is going to be next to no cleaning of that media so I wonder if it will eventually get clogged up, like a sponge filter or filter media in another type of filter. 

Yes, there will be some buildup; however, that is the reason for using coarse foam media. The Aquarium Co-Op foam has very large holes, so it is less likely to clog. With only 1 inch of gravel, I should also be able to vacuum stuff up. You do want some biofilm/mulm in the foam media, providing biological activity for the nitrogen cycle. 

Hopefully, I will not have to dismantle the thing. Ugh! 😝

 

[Opinions on Under Gravel Filters]

@Goosedub Haha, you must have been reading my mind! I recently did a UGF mod and shared the photo gallery in a post Under-Gravel Filter (UGF) mod.

[Under-Gravel filter (UGF) mod]

Fun discussion on Opinions on Under Gravel Filters started by @Goosedub. Funnily enough, I just finished a UGF modification that I hope will help avoid channeling, clogging, and trapped fry  issues. This build provides some mechanical filtration, boosts filtration media surface area, reduces weight of the substrate (because foam weighs so much less than gravel), and lets me use coarse substrate (pea gravel).

Disclaimer: I installed this in a small, 10-gal, vertical (tall), hemispherical tank, which helps alleviate the problem of diminishing flow:distance ratio that would be more problematic in a larger volume, horizontal (low and wide, aka breeder) tank.

Note: I purchased the Penn-Plax Premium UGF for 40-55 Gallons ($17.99), which comes with four plates and four uplift tubes. That's enough to outfit two of my 10-gal tanks.

Okey dokey, here is what I did. 😎

 

Step 1: Trim coarse foam to fit the bottom of the tank, leaving a 1/2" margin. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2: Trim UGF plate to fit bottom of the tank, again leaving 1/2" margin. The Penn-Plax plate is relatively soft plastic, so I used sharp scissors. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Install uplift tubes, no-clog air stones, and vinyl tubing. I like the Penn-Plax UGF because the uplift tubes twist and lock into the plate. This helps keep me from accidently dislodging them when I gravel vacuum, embed root tabs, or move plants around. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4: Cover with approx. 1 inch of gravel. Trimming the foam and UGF plate with a 1/2" margin lets me hide them behind the gravel. Add water, plants. Hook up air pump. Voila!

With such a small tank, I decided against using a powerhead. The photo was taken after running air for about 24 hours. The water cleared up over the next couple of days. The blue line marks the level of the UGF filter plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is what the tank looks like today, roughly 2 weeks later. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, so good! 🤓

[Opinions on Under Gravel Filters]

And there's...

 

[Opinions on Under Gravel Filters]

https://aquariumscience.org/ has quite a bit of information on under-gravel filters (UGF), including efficiency ratings of various types of filters. The website author, a chemist, cites articles from peer-reviewed academic/scientific journals. He presents the information in a tiered format—from Aquariums for Dummies to Bill Nye the Science Guy. As a former lab tech, I appreciate the inclusion of scientific papers, although admittedly I do not feel the urge to slog through them myself.  Zzzzzz..... Thankfully, the author has done this for me. 😍

Be prepared to read some controversial notions. The author unabashedly accepts the labels, "contrarian" and "chip on his shoulder." From his intro page:

Quote

Because the author calls out all the many parroted myths of social media, many say he is a “contrarian” (“a person who opposes or rejects popular opinion”). Because the author doesn’t like fake “marketing hype” and calls it out whenever he sees it, many say he “has a chip on his shoulder”.  The author pleads guilty to both charges. We list over 100 separate instances where we reject “popular opinion” because the “popular opinion” is not supported by the science. We also list 19 separate instances where we reject “marketing hype” as it is not supported by the science.

 

 

The first paragraph from the Review of Aquarium Filters page gives you an idea of website's tone:

Quote

One Big Scam

Any discussion of ANY filter requires a disclaimer. ALL commercial filters almost without exception tell the owner to replace the filter media (Cartridges, sponge, ceramic rings, carbon, Matrix, etc.) on a regular basis, once a month, once every three month or once every six months. Supposedly this is because the media becomes clogged and dirty. And the media is ridiculously expensive. We must emphasis:

Replacing the Filter Media is a Big SCAM!!!

Yes, there is absolutely no reason to replace the media on a regular basis other than to make a lot of money for the supplier of the filter.

 

Have fun! 🤓

[Let see YOUR favorite fish, that YOU own.]

Her magnificent blackness, the Queen of Spades...

[Enjoy Nature Daily]

When last week's snowstorm cancelled my video conferences, I spent the afternoon shoveling the driveway. This guy showed up to supervise. 😎 

[What’s this bug?]

5 minutes ago, Colu said:

It looks like a dragonfly nymph

That would be my guess as well. 🐉 

[Repashy & Guppies]

Thanks @OceanTruth! 😎

[My huge ramshorn snail 🐌 ❤]

@Yari, your photo reminded me that I have one of those methuselah ramshorns too! 🥰

 

[Repashy & Guppies]

On 2/8/2021 at 8:06 AM, KaitieG said:

I had some little silicone candy molds lying around and usually use that to set it in--they make particularly nice seashell shapes and seem to be a good size for my group.

I also use candy molds when making Repashy for my guppies. 🤓 Sometimes, I mix in Drosophila flies and larvae for a treat. For me, Drosophila are easier to culture than brine shrimp or other aquatic live foods. Also, molding the bugs in gel helps reduce waste from uneaten bugs drifting down into the gravel. My mutt guppies live with Neocaridina and various snails. Everyone grazes at all levels, on a variety of foods—brine shrimp, bloodworms, krill, flake food, Repashy, Drosophila flies/larvae, dried mulberry and grape leaves, squash, green beans, pollen, yeast. Haha, I guess they are pretty spoiled!