living filters

[jarcher1390]

my dad went to a place up in scotland where every thing is ecofriendly and the 1 thing that amazed ma dad was a living filter where all the sluge and waste water was recyceld it went thought various stages first a settaling tank where bactira broke down most of the sludge then in the next stage there was reids beds where reids were growing using nutrients from the slugde. apprently they were thriving. in the next tank there was brine shrimp and ma dad says it was chocablock full of brine shrimp. in the last tank there was subukins swiming around quite happipdly so it gave me a thought i cound make 1 of these filters. i was wondering what people thought. 1 great thing that u can feed brine shrimps to ur fish so it would be a never ending cycle and it could look pretty smat with the plants over hanging the tank
has any 1 got 1 of these filter systems id love pics
jonny

 

[Oddball]

Sludge filters (mud/slime) are old hat. Their current ideas being utilized in refugium filters. A traditional sludge filter requires alot of surface area and would have too strong an odor for indoor use. I seriously doubt that brine shrimp were being used after any filter being used with goldfish. Brine shrimp require higher salinity levels than marine fish. More than likely they were fairy shrimp (fw variety of shrimp) or scuds (gammarus) or copepods.
Do a google search on 'refugium' and you'll find a ton of info, blueprints, specs, and dealers.