As I help other clients with larger scale terrestrial landscape and agricultural projects, I've been returning back to some concepts of sustainability. As always, I apply what I learn there to aquatic systems as well.

This concept is discussed and explained here:

Biodynamic agriculture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now the spiritual mumbo and all might appeal to some of you, but I think we need to keep in mind that we are looking for results and good logic, not marketing baloney here.

Like many product lines and aspects, not all of it is worthless, often there are several parts that are really useful. the same was true for Dupla and ADA.

Some of the ideas and things they say cannot be true or at least make you really wonder what they heck are they selling you

That said, this line of reasoning defines a non CO2 planted tank approach very very well.

I would consider such a tank using soil etc to work to this end far more than the CO2 enriched systems, KNO3 dosing etc.

The rates of growth are much lower.
Unlike terrestrial systems.........this is why these systems can work very well in farming and less so in aquariums.

However, besides that trade off, the input output ratio is extremely small, smaller than any other aquarium method or style there is really.

Ponder that notion for some time.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Lord Walter Northbourne’s book, Look to the Land. Organic farming is based on the ideas of soil fertility, biodiversity, and stopping the use of toxic, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

I do not buy into the cosmic spiritual crap, fine if you do, but it sounds much like a reactionary response to mechanization and large scale production of food.
Still, there are good concepts to be found within some of the readings.

Our tanks are small ecosystems.
We can control all aspects without that much effort compared to farms etc.

Can we claim to be approaching things this way and add CO2 at the same time?
I do not think so.

I think the Non CO2 soil tank does however, achieve this goal very well.
Now if you have a solar powered battery to run the aquarium, then you'd be really talking.

It can be done.

I think I'll do a project and use solar powered pumps and light to try a nice tank out using these tenents.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Yes, the USDA also discusses this and is a very link for those interested in it:

Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms (Related Terms)

Regards,
Tom Barr

Some make houses from recycled cardboards or wood etc lasting for 30 years only and call this “sustainable architecture”. This is NOT sustainable building. The one made of 100’s tones of steel and concrete which has incredible value for humans and lasts for 200 years forming city’s streets for centuries, passing from family to family several generations, IS sustainable.
Even “green building” concept not always right. Most architects just can’t withstand to here that crap on sustainability, as it is mostly misinterpreted. But they can’t argue with government and clients and forced to do a lot of stupid things.


Don’t bee fooled by that sustainability baloney made this way.
To make those electronics to use Solar energy they dig moon craters on Earth, yeah?
I leave 2 miles from the one: 500+ meters deep and miles miles miles long… this rocks.

Go for Solatube® (the best one) or SunPipe® and you will have tones of light 12h a day, more than enough for “non co2 soil tank”.
There are even Solar-Powered Attiñ Fan module available to run aquarium pumps.
It is very simple and will work just fine in CA, or Japan.
You can have a planted tank 10m under the ground in a bathroom, or in the garage without windows.
And this tank will have natural cycle of winter-summer growth variation.

Especially this could be very good thing for a BIG planted public tanks as a second source of light in addition to MH-HQI, similar to sky window above Takashi Amano’s home tank. I thought of this idea for years from now.
Sorry for your roof…

If you stick to photocells it is possible to fit lamps inside Solatube®, but you are shifting than from pure sustainability concept.
See LED Lexel® also.

No? Want to keep your roof at place? J
Than use technology of light… without lamps, and be the first one using this for a planted tanks, suitable even for a high-tech planted tank:
"Hybrid Solar Lighting (HSL) technology uses a solar concentrator to collect and distribute sunlight into the interior of a building via plastic optical fibers.”

It is a Solar Collector Unit + Fiber Optic Distribution Cable.
Used even for GreenHouse Lighting, Delivers 1000 micromoles of Sunlight or 50,000 Lumens of Sunlight, no UV, no IR wavelengths etc., color Rendering Index 100, typical CCT 5500K.
… but $$$.

Unfortunately, I have never used this amazing products in my architectural practice…
Consult at local architectural forums or firms.


And why you do not consider east CO2 method?
Sure with some “sustainable way made sugar” I mean… And bell type reactor.
Not too much, but for 7-10ppm would be ok.
Still no dry/liquid fertilizers dosing – just rich substrate.

And earthworm castings instead of soil is much better, even mineralized (BTW, good reading - first time I see someone calls for low labile organics in substrate to do not have rotting and ammonia outbreak – main problem with garden soil rich of very labile organics, this trick made 20 years ago but until now not used widely as it need lots of labor and easily replaced with EC).

Why wee need to run filter pumps 24h day?
Maybe using open type filter (sump) with “aerobic” technology with Kaldens K1 filter media for Moving Bed Process® (PDF 986Kb) or a sump with Matala® mats realizing Hamburger Mattenfilter concept will do the trick. No need to run pumps 24h/day - no need for accumulator.
Considering very low energy consumption of pumps, they will turn on from photocells at 5am and turn off at 20pm = up to 15h a day.

BTW, recently I developed Sump for a BIG planted tanks (>400L) based on Hamburger Mattenfilter technology using Matala® mats + EstroSieve as a mechanical prefilter module (in perspective) to escape from maintenance and cost problems posed by canister filters.
Maybe this sump can withstand long electricity shut offs, if no - Kaldens K1 technology can be used… Much better than Fluidised Bed FIlter.
This Sump construction is amazingly easy and beautiful, low maintenance and cost.
CO2 is misted in-line by Hydor Ario glued to prefilter lid on Hydor SELTZ II pump (I called this combo “MISTer PUMP” J )

No “cosmic spiritual crap” – just technical considerations.
Hope this would be useful.


naman

Here you go…

Lights:
Solatube® device
(I just can’t imagine how much less bills for electricity will get ADA’s Gallery if they use controllable Solartube®’s)

OR Luxury $$$ but no reconstruction needed for a roof:
Hybrid Solar Lighting (HSL) technology, no lamps

OR solar powered battery.

Pump:
- propeller pump, extremely low energy consumption and very good “wide beam” water current as from ADA’s Lily Pipe (which I know you hate)
- used for internal filter or HOB, so there is no need for high pressure pump
- if this pump would be electronic as TUNZE® propeller pumps it could be connected to TUNZE® automatic switch to DC current energy source – accumulator, and will work both when 100% needed electricity exists or just 20% (?)

- to lower energy demand for pumping water HOB filter should be used,
- and fixed to side of a tank with drilled holes in ѕ lower part for IN and in upper part for OUT with propeller pump standing in this hole.

Filter:

“HOB Sump”
- big volume, size equals to side pane of a tank
- with “boiling” Kaldens K1 media in it (OR instead of Kaldens K1 media make in this HOB Hamburger Mattenfilter from Matala® mats)
– minimal energy needed to “boil” Kadens K1 and…
- no back pressure at all
- mechanical prefilter is from Black or Green Matala® mat to exclude back pressure
- propeller pump with lowest energy consumption among all pumps
- with tight lid to keep CO2 at place.

If you want to have Kaldens K1 media really “boiling” set propeller pump backwards – in lower hole directing stream inside of “HOB sump” from bottom to top (up-stream). Less current in a tank also.

OR for higher bioloads :

“Dish type Sump” with Matala® mat under the tank
- not “box type” sump, but “dish type” with…
- very low water level, water moves through Matala® mat from top to bottom (downstream) and than pumped back to the tank from behind of a mat
- with a flat Matala® matt at the water surface…
- and surface area almost equals to tank’s bottom to minimize detrimental effect on bacteria culture during night pump shut offs (pump working from solar energy)
- installed very close to tanks bottom to lessen energy demand for pump.

CO2
- east method, bottle installed inside HOB/Sump to equalize temperature, no need energy for heating
- bell-type reactor with “breathing valve” as the most suited for this type of a CO2 supply (very stable dissolution regardless of east activity until there are minimal bubble count exists for a given tank’s volume, no overdosing, no tuning, no pressure needed)

Some background reading:
The Physics of Light Distribution in Hollow Structures; L.Whitehead



That’s it, have no time anymore…


naman

Because you do not need a CO2 gas tank to run a planted tank!
And a non CO2 approach requires no test kits, and no water changes.

The solar tubes I've seen here in action.
They used a large fesnel lens and fiber optic cables to channel it.
It's not cheap though.

Some shade cloth and some glass awnings would do the trick for that and be much cheaper.

But I still would need to the solar panels for energy to drive the tank's pumps.
There would be no heater(in CA, it would not matter).

Maybe you like CO2, that's fine, but the goal here is to reduce the inputs and outside aspects, including my meddling hands

You could use the DIY method, that would work well, especially if you could use the fermented brew afterwards.

I do agree with you about the buildings.
Make it right and it should last.
While some of the general ideas are pretty good and can be applied, some folks get way to carried away and do not think about the longer term aspects.
We have started working towards this goal for a client's property.
It has the makings to get close to many of the goals.

Regards,
Tom barr

Hamburger Mattenfilter is perfect for realizing “Biodynamic Aquarium” concept because it’s main aim is to accumulate as much mulm as possible. This mulm will act as vitalized compost from crops in Biodynamic agriculture. And it has no need for cleaning at all (in fact you make very bad thing cleaning it) !

For those new for Hamburger Mattenfilter I must stress some things.

Matala® mats is just grate for this, but:

- it is very easy to clean Matala® mats and this is just great for a very big pond filters, but for aquariums less in size than a small pond <3000L there is much less need to remove debris, so you can easily replace Matala® with any open pore foam as JBL Coars Filter Foam combining with JBL Fine Filter Foam or Enkamat® to have as I call this “controllable channeling effect' to make HMF work with water current along the mat.
- The same is for rigidity of Matala® mats – mats in a sump would be not more than 35Bx32H (cm) in size and filter foam has enough rigidity for it. It is stacked between glass panels also, so its fine.
- While it is very easy to clean Matala® mats, for Hamburger Mattenfilter you do NOT have to clean often as a main concept of HMF is build up as much mulm in mat as it is possible. The more mulm – the better HMF works. For “classical” HMF with perpendicular to mat water current there is no need for mechanical prefilter, while for mats made of Matala® it is a MUST to do not clear them! If you clear them you make filter much less powerful. BTW this is stressed everywhere in texts on filtration with Matala® mats and HMF – clear them as less as possible very softly rinsing in water (no high pressure!) to keep bacteria culture at place.

There is no need to make dividers in a planted tank sump (see my link for drawing).
Rigid structure to fix mats for is made of a meshed office can for papers for a classical HMF with perpendicular to mat water current, and from glass panes for HMF made of Matala® mats with water current along the mat. This modules moved freely in a sump, exchanged from sump to sump etc. Very easy to do and to clean mats.
Rigid structure for Matala® mats module is made in a shape “|_|”, or two sided version for bigger tanks - “H”. No bottom needed – just vertical panels and alu. L ribs connecting glass panels on open side!

To colonize HMF (from Matala® or simply filter foam) as fast as possible with heterotrophic bacteria do not use mechanical prefilter for a first 1-2 months, and add in a first week flocculants as JBL Clynol®, DENNERLE ClearUp! or Easy-Life® Fluid Filter Medium®.
It is a mineral flocculants, NOT chemical ones! They will make nice slime on mats for bacteria. Excellent when preparing to photograph your tank also.
Use bacteria cultures with those hetero’s - FRITZ-ZYME #360 Gravel Cleaner, TetraAqua® Bactozym, TetraAqua® Biocoryne, Dupla Baccies, HAGEN Nutrafin Waste Control, HAGEN Cycle Sludge Remover.

Some more reading for folks on HETEROTROPHS:
Cycling Your New Aquarium.


naman

Well, depending on the loading rates, the sponge filters may need a good cleaning every so often.

You can have too much "mulm". This is true for sediments as well as biomedia.
Things can and do get reductive if you have too much. It clogs and the reductive by products are not good for an aquarium.

You can have low load aquariums however.
These work for years without cleaning them.

Still, on most CO2 enriched systems, cleaning the mulm out every few months has a noticeable effect on the O2 levels, growth rates of the plants.
On a non CO2 planted tank, the rate of cleaning is very low however.

I think one of the key aspects in planted tanks and a good reason not to clean too much is that many of the smaller invertebrates that are hard to see or microscopic, not just the bacteria and fish alone, are stabilized and allowed to work towards cycling waste. Amano shrimp are very good shredders as well, as are most shrimp species.

Still, if you have too waste coming in, the smaller critters and the bacteria(as well as the fish etc) are using a lot more O2 trying to break down waste.

This has limits.
I generally error on the low side for bioload (less fish/easy to keep species, more shredders, algae eaters, and easier to grow plant species). I can always add more food or fish as needed, but it's harder to try and force an over loaded system to work.

Ideally, you could compost and reuse the plant trimmings.
This is something I've been toying with for sometime.
If the plant trimmings have been mineralized well prior, they work well.
If you toss a lot of plant trimmings that are slightly decomposed, they can induce algae just like adding NH4(likely because they are loaded with concentrated reduced N that breaks down in dead plant tissue rapidly).

Regards,
Tom Barr

Holy crap, this thread just blew my mind...

Great! More infinitely fascinating things to keep me distracted from doing my job. :-)

Thanks. No, really, thanks! My job gets boring... ;-)

Read the threads linked here and then the links in those for more info, especially on the sumps.






Regards,
Tom Barr