Rootvale Technical Overview
Channel: dangerousfishbowl
Date: 2015-09-16

Rootvale is a verdant freshwater hexagon aquarium built around a single twisting root from top to bottom. This video explains all the technical details including filtration, lighting, aeration, etc.

To be clear, I don't add ammonia remover except just prior to adding tap water (Seachem Prime). Otherwise, the nitrifying bacteria in the filter, and certainly the plants themselves, facilitate total ammonia neutralization.

There is no supplemental CO2 beyond what the fish supply, but the plant growth is robust enough to require trimming every 2 or 3 weeks.

The Rootvale composition video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7_Gf4UWYSg

and still photos are available here:

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2015/show635.html

The white pumice filtration video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JoOg14EA00

By way of comparison, the ecoquarium concept, which involves no mechanical filtration, is explained here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYRAWyZtccw