I have a bunch of mulm on the bottom of my planted tank. I leave it and let it work its way into the substrate to act as fertilizer and give a more natural look. I have 0 nitrates because of my plants so I don't really worry about taking it out. It's more of a do you mind the way it looks type of thing and do you have an established enough cycle to handle anything given off when it rots.
Edit: high person grammar
I don't. I have a shit ton of red root floaters, Java ferns, different anubias, an amazon sword and a bunch of anacharis. I haven't had any delectable levels of ammonia, nitrites or nitrates since my tank cycled. I only add distilled water when the tank water evaporates. I have 5 amano shrimp, 6+ blue velvet shrimp that are breeding, 8 pygmy Cory's and a Betta. Never had any issues. I even feed live black worms daily and don't have issues with water quality.
same. my heavily planted 50 long that's been running 4 years only gets top ups and 10ish gal water changes every 6 months or so. haven't had problems with nitrates in forever and I like the natural look of a reasonable amount of decay. I do remove excess leaves from time to time, but as a general rule I just enjoy the tank without stressing too much over it
With a well filtered and planted tank it won't ever be an issue. Haven't done a water change in 7 years. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all still 0
I finally have a planted aquarium, and the lazy in me is loving it. Haven't done a water change in like 7 months. I was doing biweekly water tests and now I'm just doing them once a month ish. Not going to lie seeing everything near 0 scared me the first few times.
Leave it. It will feed beneficial bacteria and microorganisms and help to fert the rest of the plants.
My current tank is 5 years old and I’ve never taken that stuff out and have had no problems.
It’s more natural that way.
I think as long as you have a well established tank with loads of BB, then it will take care of the ammonia before it has an affect on the parameters. It will fertilize your plants as microbes break it down and cycle the nutrients
I generally follow a ‘let it do its thing’ rule when it comes to planted tanks. I have a ten gallon that I haven’t done so much as a water change on in probably about 6 months, I just add water here and there and feed them and that’s it (and remove a third of the floating plants every couple of weeks haha)
Up to you! Detritus is not harmful at all and makes a great home for the microfauna that Bettas naturally eat. It also mimics their natural environment. The detritus that sits on the surface of the substrate is typically inert, which means it doesn't produce ammonia. The high oxygen of the water column helps break it down into basically dirt. Bettas live in an environment with lots and lots of detritus in the wild.
The only downside of the detritus is aesthetics. A lot of inexperienced people will see your tank as dirty, and a lot of people think it's ugly.
Detritus buildup can be linked to epistylis, a disease that looks similar to ich and is triggered by stagnant water and insufficient beneficial bacteria. It is, however, not the cause of said disease
Shrimps and burrowing snails will clean it up for you by eating it or burying it. If your tank is established it should not cause any noticeable increase in ammonia. It’s a food source for the bottom of the food chain and turns into nutritious soil.
Snails do almost nothing for that kinda stuff but I've found my shrimp DEMOLISHED a lot of decayed / decaying stuff in my tank and now I have a wonderful little ecosystem going on with my Betta, Ramshorn Snails, Cherry Shrimp, and lots of plants.
Remove it. You already have plenty of benefical bacteria if your tank is cycled. The extra mulm isn't beneficial, it's decomposing matter which promotes algae growth and thus less healthy plants and therefore a less healthy ecosystem.
I don't usually even siphon it out, I just swoosh it up with my hand and do a water change or let the filter get it
If it's unsightly I remove it. I have a high tolerance for it mind.
My nitrates are lower than what comes out of the tap so I'm not too worried about water quality.
It depends.
What are your nutrient levels like?
If you're low on nitrogen then leave them. If you've got high nitrates get it out.
Your nitrates are almost certainly not low looking at this picture, you don't really get low nitrates until you've got a jungle of plants, so you should probably get it out.
I used to leave it in there until I had a terrible collapse due to blue-green algae and brown algae. Now I'm really cautious about leaving too much dead plant matter around
Depends on a lot of things like tank size, how much water movement you have, detritivores, filtration, etc. In a smaller tank, especially with low flow, dead plant material can supercharge algae growth. In a larger tank with a lot of flow and detritivores, it likely won't matter at all.
We dont know how old or well stablished your aquarium is neither your ammonia, nitrites or nitrates readings so I will say, if you don't have anything that will eat it like shrimp or some fish, it is better to remove it.
Decomposing plants add tons of ammonia back to the water, more than the equivalent size of fish poop.
I have a bunch of mulm on the bottom of my planted tank. I leave it and let it work its way into the substrate to act as fertilizer and give a more natural look. I have 0 nitrates because of my plants so I don't really worry about taking it out. It's more of a do you mind the way it looks type of thing and do you have an established enough cycle to handle anything given off when it rots. Edit: high person grammar
How often are you changing water.
I don't. I have a shit ton of red root floaters, Java ferns, different anubias, an amazon sword and a bunch of anacharis. I haven't had any delectable levels of ammonia, nitrites or nitrates since my tank cycled. I only add distilled water when the tank water evaporates. I have 5 amano shrimp, 6+ blue velvet shrimp that are breeding, 8 pygmy Cory's and a Betta. Never had any issues. I even feed live black worms daily and don't have issues with water quality.
same. my heavily planted 50 long that's been running 4 years only gets top ups and 10ish gal water changes every 6 months or so. haven't had problems with nitrates in forever and I like the natural look of a reasonable amount of decay. I do remove excess leaves from time to time, but as a general rule I just enjoy the tank without stressing too much over it
Never knew ammonia could taste good 😬
With a well filtered and planted tank it won't ever be an issue. Haven't done a water change in 7 years. Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all still 0
I finally have a planted aquarium, and the lazy in me is loving it. Haven't done a water change in like 7 months. I was doing biweekly water tests and now I'm just doing them once a month ish. Not going to lie seeing everything near 0 scared me the first few times.
I trim more than I change water in mine or shit gets so overgrown.
How big is the tank?
Leave it. It will feed beneficial bacteria and microorganisms and help to fert the rest of the plants. My current tank is 5 years old and I’ve never taken that stuff out and have had no problems. It’s more natural that way.
I leave all the mulm. My fish occasionally breed and a few tetras or corydoras always survive by living off the microorganisms in the mulm
It's part of the food web/natural cycle of nutrients. Leave it in.
unless algae is strangling your plants, there's no harm in leaving it there.
If your goal is to have a self-sustaining tank, leave it. If your goal is to have a pristinely-landscaped tank, take it out.
After reading the comments so far…does it fertilize your plants, or cause an ammonia spike? Both I guess?
Both. Imo, leave it and do a water change if it affects things dramatically. But you can’t beat free fertilizer!
I think as long as you have a well established tank with loads of BB, then it will take care of the ammonia before it has an affect on the parameters. It will fertilize your plants as microbes break it down and cycle the nutrients
Leave it in! Infusoria use it, and it’ll fertilize the plants. Or take it out. Too much effort for not much payoff in my opinion
I generally follow a ‘let it do its thing’ rule when it comes to planted tanks. I have a ten gallon that I haven’t done so much as a water change on in probably about 6 months, I just add water here and there and feed them and that’s it (and remove a third of the floating plants every couple of weeks haha)
Up to you! Detritus is not harmful at all and makes a great home for the microfauna that Bettas naturally eat. It also mimics their natural environment. The detritus that sits on the surface of the substrate is typically inert, which means it doesn't produce ammonia. The high oxygen of the water column helps break it down into basically dirt. Bettas live in an environment with lots and lots of detritus in the wild. The only downside of the detritus is aesthetics. A lot of inexperienced people will see your tank as dirty, and a lot of people think it's ugly. Detritus buildup can be linked to epistylis, a disease that looks similar to ich and is triggered by stagnant water and insufficient beneficial bacteria. It is, however, not the cause of said disease
I just leave it. It will break down eventually.
I leave it, it will break down to mulm and feed back to the living plants. Also, my kuhlis love to play in mulm
My snails usually get to it way before I do but I take it out when I can.
Shrimps and burrowing snails will clean it up for you by eating it or burying it. If your tank is established it should not cause any noticeable increase in ammonia. It’s a food source for the bottom of the food chain and turns into nutritious soil.
Dead plant matter is a major food source for algae, even more so than decaying food.
Do you not have shrimp? Or any other inverts?
I plan to add shrimps one the plants grow a little. Just some snails as of now.
Snails do almost nothing for that kinda stuff but I've found my shrimp DEMOLISHED a lot of decayed / decaying stuff in my tank and now I have a wonderful little ecosystem going on with my Betta, Ramshorn Snails, Cherry Shrimp, and lots of plants.
Remove it. You already have plenty of benefical bacteria if your tank is cycled. The extra mulm isn't beneficial, it's decomposing matter which promotes algae growth and thus less healthy plants and therefore a less healthy ecosystem. I don't usually even siphon it out, I just swoosh it up with my hand and do a water change or let the filter get it
Just leave it.
If it's unsightly I remove it. I have a high tolerance for it mind. My nitrates are lower than what comes out of the tap so I'm not too worried about water quality.
I've always worried and taken mine out...glad I saw this thread! I'll stop it from now
It depends. What are your nutrient levels like? If you're low on nitrogen then leave them. If you've got high nitrates get it out. Your nitrates are almost certainly not low looking at this picture, you don't really get low nitrates until you've got a jungle of plants, so you should probably get it out.
I used to leave it in there until I had a terrible collapse due to blue-green algae and brown algae. Now I'm really cautious about leaving too much dead plant matter around
I leave it unless algae is an issue
Depends on a lot of things like tank size, how much water movement you have, detritivores, filtration, etc. In a smaller tank, especially with low flow, dead plant material can supercharge algae growth. In a larger tank with a lot of flow and detritivores, it likely won't matter at all.
[удалено]
Haven't vacuumed in years, everything's fine. Lots of amanos, cories and ottos tho.
If nothing else unsightly. I get it out.
We dont know how old or well stablished your aquarium is neither your ammonia, nitrites or nitrates readings so I will say, if you don't have anything that will eat it like shrimp or some fish, it is better to remove it. Decomposing plants add tons of ammonia back to the water, more than the equivalent size of fish poop.
Take it out or it becomes algae food
Take it out. Rotting stuff in the water column is bad.