In a truly planted tank, plants only, what kind of filtration do you need? do plants rely on bacteria for anything? is water circulation the only thing necessary (aside from lighting) or is there actually a point in having a filtration system?
Confused about filtration in a planted tank
- Thread starter ThePBM
- Start date
In a planted only, all you need is a little circulation and dosing ferts as needed. This way you don't get any dead spots where algae can form, especially BGA.
for my personal opinion, you still need the filter to clean the water (Mechanical Filtration) i tried to setup a plantedtank that has only a powerhead and the result, yellowish water.
I think you still need mechanical filtration. You want to be able to catch fish waste, foot, plant matter, etc. Also - if you go to replant something and pull it out of flourite substrate like I have, you want some mechanical filtration because a cloud follows the roots out.
I definitely would recommend using a mech filter, but in planted only there is no need for a bio-filter.