The Future of Planted Aquariums?

[techman81]

Here I am staying up late again and perusing Youtube when I come across this.
Takes me back to the days of undergravel filters. The only aquarium I ever had before getting back in the hobby last year, was in the 80s and I used an undergravel filter in combination with a HOB. I was a terrible aquarium keeper back then.

So what are your thoughts? Will it be a boom or bust?

Edit to add: I guess, based on their oldest videos, this has been around at least a year.

 

[Kwyet]

Interesting!

 

[Pepere]

So what are your thoughts? Will it be a boom or bust?

I guess if there is a giant unmet need that people feel to empty their aquariums of water and turn them upside down, or to plant an aquarium and ship out the planted substrate, it might replace all other systems….

Other than that what is the perceived benefit?

How is that foam going to hold up to repeated uprootings and plantings?

How well will it work in a larger aquarium with larger background plants with a lot more buoyancy that is uprooted with the bottoms thrown out and replanting that buoyant plant mass? Will it have enough hold?

How are you going to clean that foam as it gets clogged? Fine pour foam clogs in weeks… will it sprout BBA from being filled with organics?

Will the foam tear apart with repeated uprooting and movement of plants?

How will it look if you dont have full substrate coverage? And the base layer under the foam isnt really a beauty mark…

If you add hardscape, you cant really drain the water and turn it upside down anymore either…

Honestly it seems to me a solution in search of a problem…

It doesnt hold much appeal to me… I just dont see it solving a problem for me..

 

[Kwyet]

It has problems, but I like to see people trying to think outside the box and come up with new ideas. Turning the aquarium upside down is just a gimmick of course.

 

[Pepere]

has problems, but I like to see people trying to think outside the box and come up with new ideas.

I am all for experimenting too…. I have no idea if my thoughts and concerns are valid ones, they just are thoughts and concerns that popped into my mind…

 

[Art]

I love the ingenuity and looking at an established idea and trying to come up with something different.

@Pepere does raise some good points with this design, however, that I feel need addressing. I too think the foam won't work longterm. We all have had foam in the aquarium and it will become a sink for detritus. The landfill as he calls it. It will lead to algae due to how difficult it will be to clean.

A potential solve for that is to use another type of material that won't hold on to detritus. Perhaps a film of some sort that can be vacuumed easily?

Another potential issue is matching the size of the plastic squares to the different aquarium sizes. So many different sizes of aquariums makes matching difficult. This is why I went with pots as it makes it much easier. Unfortunately, they are very visible, attract algae and also tend to lose substrate as you replant that ends up looking ugly on your bare bottom.

All that being said, I am rooting for him and look forward to real life testing and future improvements. We DEFINITELY need more innovation in our hobby.

 

[hamfist]

@Pepere & @Art both make excellent points, and stated concerns that also came to my mind as I watched the video. The guy is clearly a bit of a salesman who wants to promote his idea. I would have liked him to acknowledge a few of the shortcomings of the system in his video. it would have felt a bit more honest.
The thing I am most dubious about is the efficiency of the filtration it offered. I feel any tank set up like that would also need all the "normal" filtration that we add to our planted tanks. It would also need the whole unit to be removed periodically for removal of mulm/debris.

Lastly, I simply think it doesn't aesthetically look as nice as a traditional "substrated" planted tank with substrate coming all the way to the front glass. I also like to see fish and shrimp grazing over substrate, rather than grazing over foam.

THat all said, I am genuinely please that he is thinking outside the box and coming up with new ideas. Ultimately some of his ideas may well have lasting impact in our hobby.

 

[gnatster]

I can see the use case for a tank maintenance company that keeps a wall of tanks with modules ready to go. Easy for staff to swap them out during a visit to keep clients' tanks looking fresh.

 

[Pepere]

$45 +S&H for a 5.5 gallon tank.

At that cost per square foot fits into my never ever category…

 

[*Ci*]

What if the modules were smaller, say 4”x4” - then you could customize the amount to fit the size of your tank, move them around for re-scaping (1 bush per module) easier, and replace worn out foams as needed without tearing the whole display up. You could even take a few out each week and rinse them under the tap (with plants intact) to clean off debris.

They would essentially act as pots which some of us like (@*Ci*, @Art ), but shallow and more natural looking.

 

[anewbie]

I'm old and set in my ways. My next project will be a 12ftx5ft with 2 1/2 to 3 inch substrate and pure ro water. When i start it it will look a little like this:



Then i will give it a year and it will look a little like this:



Why would i want to change my ways ?

Then i will spend my weekends weeding.

 

[Phish Tank]

in the 80s and I used an undergravel filter in combination with a HOB. I was a terrible aquarium keeper back then.

I still use UGF and a Tidal HOB, but no worries, I'm used to being called much worse than terrible.

I agree with @Pepere , price seems a bit steep for plastic and foam. I did run across a similar idea on aquarium coop forums, where someone was trying to do a matten filter foam substrate. Kinda interesting?

 

[ElleDee]

As far a glorified pots go, I'm much more interested in the modular planting contraptions that I've seen from Okinawa Bianco. I have no idea if they are the originators of this system, though apparently they do produce them for sale.

 

[techman81]

I still use UGF and a Tidal HOB, but no worries, I'm used to being called much worse than terrible.

Oh! To clarify, I wasn't a terrible aquarium keeper because of the filters I used. I was just bad at taking care of the aquarium . That was when I still had a very active social life and sports and partying came before fish.

 

[techman81]

As far a glorified pots go, I'm much more interested in the modular planting contraptions that I've seen from Okinawa Bianco. I have no idea if they are the originators of this system, though apparently they do produce them for sale.

I just recently saw a plant shelf system like that but I forgot where. When I find it again, I'll post it.

 

[techman81]

As far a glorified pots go, I'm much more interested in the modular planting contraptions that I've seen from Okinawa Bianco. I have no idea if they are the originators of this system, though apparently they do produce them for sale.

Remembered where I had seen this. It's the UNS Terrace. I wouldn't be surprised if they're the same product but just rebranded.

 

[ElleDee]

Remembered where I had seen this. It's the UNS Terrace. I wouldn't be surprised if they're the same product but just rebranded.

Yeah, that does look similar. The UNS marketing material doesn't make it look as exciting though. It's being sold as a sort of shortcut to a sort of Dutch style scape, where Okinawa Bianco is going for something else entirely. I admit I do love an overgrown tank.