ANYONE STILL DOING THE BERLIN METHOD

[Nano_Man]

Hi everyone just wondering how many people still use this approach. It was big in the early 90s . I have a fish only tank which is 2 power heads and a skimmer.
I welcome your thoughts

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Sure, I have 4 tanks, only one tank has filtration, the others are just flow and rocks.

Since the hobby relies on rocks primarily for biofiltration, I think every tank does the berlin filtration to an extent, wether they realize it or not.

 

[Fish Fan]

Beyond just running only a protein skimmer, the Berlin method relied (right or wrong) on a massive amount of rock and a deep sand bed. The idea was to foster anaerobic bacteria for denitrification. I think anaerobic denitrification in an aquarium is the subject of some debate, and either way I think massive stacks of rocks and deep sand beds have given way to much shallower sand beds and open 'scapes with far less rock. So no, I don't think the Berlin method is used much these days. I think there's better ways now to reduce nitrate, and personally I don't care for the wall of rock that starts at the bottom front pane of glass and climbs up to the top of the back pane of glass.

Here's a random internet picture that says it's from 1985. I'd say this is a very nice looking tank, but not really what people appreciate today: