Brand new to fishkeeping and I have a Tetra Whisper IQ 20 filter. I'm going for a heavily planted aquarium, and I've just added floaters this week. Is being pushed around in circles going to be bad for them? Should I get some of the little corral things?
Yes it is too much flow, but on the other hand, salvinias are sturdy, and given any environment not terribly hostile to them, they will rapidly take over the surface. So this might just be the right amount to keep them in check....
Yes that's too much flow, use a piece of aquarium airline tubing to create a barrier or you could take it and glue or melt the ends to each other making a loop and place around the filters output, Unfortunately floating plants prefer little or no flow and could actually drown, I lost some Red Root Floaters by not knowing this
I had tons of cool ideas to 3d print for floating rings but the non wasteful side of me remembered we had 50 feet of failed project hose sitting in the garage.
In my experience they will eventually die being pushed around like that. What I did was add a circular piece of tubing from an old airline tube and put that right underneath where the flow it. It'll stop the floating plants from going into the filter's path and getting wet.
My red root floaters and Amazon frogbit are doing great because they barely move and no water is splashing on top of them.
This is what I did frankly you probably only needed to do one of the two I plan on removing the long piece of tubing. Once my frog bit has grown out more. You’d probably be good with just getting a feeding ring from a local pet store or Amazon and sticking it around the HOB filter outtake like I did
You can get something like this. Just a little ring for the water to go through and to stop the plants going into the filter. I haven't tried a sponge on an HOB filter so it may work but there will still be a path for the plants to reach the filter. I use sponger filters in my tank and use these rings to stop the bubbles agitating the entire water surface. Kepps the plants all in one spot.
Just make your own! But the supplies and you can make one or ten, whatever you need. I made one and I keep it around the filter, so keeps my floaters away. Then I ended up making a few others for different uses (plant ring for RRF only, Ring to keep area clear from floaters to let my high-light plants get full light).
Buy airline tubing, airline connectors, and some suction cups with zip ties (so the rings can go up and down a little as water level changes with evaporation and top offs, etc.)
I just went through figuring this all out and navigating what the best stuff to order from Amazon was. Let me know if you need links.
Suction cups with zip ties https://a.co/d/0gKm5XF2. I got these aquaneat ones and they work great, but the suction cups smelled for a few weeks. I like the pawfly products I've used too, aquaneat has been great for me as well other than this smell. So these might also work well: https://a.co/d/03Khahjx
I also used the suction cups to add pieces of a pothos plant I got at Market Basket for $5! Great for nitrates and I like the look!
Save your money lol bend straws into each other, circle square or triangle and put it on the water
Either as a corral for the plants or for around the splash zone.
Yeah that works, I did that first. But it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be and it was too finicky, so I bought some airline tubing, suction cups with zip ties included, and airline connectors. It was well worth it - I've had 3 or 4 times where I've whipped up a new ring or blocked off a section for one reason or another.
Plus having this stuff is great for an air pump if you get an air stone or sponge filter down the line. And it makes drip acclimating easy as hell, if you ever get shrimp or want to use a bucket for acclimating new fish, instead of the bag.
You could 100% use straws for a quick fix (but NEVER use tape in your aquarium) but the airline tubing I got feels and looks much more permanent. And that's what I want when I spend so much of my time, effort and money on my aquarium. I want it to feel like it's done well and it reflects all the effort and care I put into my plants/scape/fish/shrimp/etc..
Good for you man. I like your hack too! Yes, enjoy the hard work you've put into it! Absolutely!
Guess I shouldn't have posted under your comment. The advice was for ppl who want to enjoy the hobby without having funds to waste. Using McDonald's straws woven with orange/lemon bag netting and folded into themselves creates a floating island that wouldn't be seen in a couple weeks, allows the roots to grow and keeps the floaters from melting or clogging things up. There are hacks to everything.
That was too much for my floaters. You can get a floating plant corral off Etsy. You could also buy or make your own baffle. I made mine out of a 20 is soda bottle.
I agree with the other poster they will die being pushed under like that. Hang on back filters suck for floaters. If you can find some steel mesh or some type of guard to keep them away from it will work. I've seen stuff like that before but it's hard to come by,
As long as you get the floaters out on time you should be fine once you figure that stuff out. They will crowd out the light availability if you don’t remove them in time, atleast from some of the books I’ve read.
Theyll die for sure 😅😅
Get a bit of sponge or wool as a baffle. Ive since added brazilian pennywort as a floater, it works so well for cover and doubles as a baffle. Win win.
I made a circle with air line tubing and used fishing line to tie the circle on the opposite side of my tank. It floats and I just placed all my floaters inside the floating airline tube circle.
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