Plant only filtration (why not popular in the hobby???)

[aquaponicpaw]

The future is the only crazy thing to wonder about. 20 years ago what we do today was unheard of. 20 years from now you might have a self sustaining aquarium where you do nothing. Who knows

ANd no pothos will not thrive under water. The roots and stems can say submerged forever but the leaves MUST remain above water or they will die off. If your losing even one leaf a month thats to many. I dont lose any. Google "Pothos submerged". You will see ALOT of people doing it and/or asking about it. The end result is THEY DIE. Just because it doesnt die off really fast doesnt mean its working. I bet you my business I am right

No need to bet. your stance is based upon something that you've read, and mine is based upon what I am doing. If one leaf dying off per month is too many. then I reckon I should also mention the 2 or 3 that seems to grow back in it's place. So how long you think It will be before it dies? because It's been in there for 4 monthes now. And my experience with plants have always taught me that only annuals flourish and then suddenly die. This aint no annual. Pic above all roots were grown under water. and notice the new growth here.. If plant ups and dies I am willing to come here and put my foot in my mouth. but till then... I'm pushing boundaries.

P.S. I googled "Pothos Submerged" and the first page I went to were of several people saying how they've had it growing for years.http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...vivariums/72099-pothos-totally-submerged.html

 

[ITHURTZ]

You might get 6 months or even 12 months before the plant dies. But you cannot have it submerged. Now if by some luck over 1 year later and its still growing......I need details so I can to!

 

[ITHURTZ]

As for caudata

I've had it grow fully submerged as well. Although, I try to grow it so that the leaves stay out of the water.

I have grown it emerged for years and it does great. Some of the leaves remain continuously underwater and even though they survive for long periods of time this way they do eventually die. As long as some of the plant has air exposure it should do well.

In my case it does fanstastically well if the leaves are emerged, but if they are underwater they don´t last very long. As i told you, the stems and root can be completely submerged and don´t even require a substrate, but for best results, the leaves should be out of the water.

I just chuck bits in with any tank that has water in and it grows really well some leaves need to be out the water


I see NO WHERE where someone successfully grew pothos 110% UNDER water.

 

[anarchir]

Guess this is my update. Included are pics of the turtle hanging out at night under a flashlight glow, and the roots of the plant. His tank looks rather clean lately since the inclusion of the plants and the planaria worms or whatever they're called are very minimal. I have been much more careful recently about removing any waste I see. As you can see in the photo the roots of the Peace Lilly are rather large. They originally had more of a conical shape due to the container they were in, and the under-water leaves you can see where from the previous container. The straggly white roots you can see jutting out are all new as of being placed into this tank which is a good sign I believe. I am a little worried that the tank is not getting enough direct sunlight for the plants so I opened the curtains up a bit more today. There are better locations for a planted tank in the house (such in the kitchen where it gets more sunlight, or in my office where the other pets hang out) but my woman really likes the look of it where it is and it would be such a pain to move it. Also of note, but not in a serious way, when I noticed our halloween pumpkin was rotting I dug out a handful of the seeds and tossed them to the bottom of the tank. It is a few weeks later now and I see some of them are finally sending out shoots. I dont expect much but it'll be amusing if I have crazy pumpkin sprouts growing into the substrate.

 

[Rivermud]

Pothos can survive submerged but they require a lot fo light penetration. Grown with just the roots in the water they THRIVE.

 

[aquaponicpaw]

You guys are reminding me Of how magnificent turtles are! How old is he^^^ and what are you using to move the water?

@Hurtz. Its ok man, those same characteristics in that post you shared are the same characteristics of the plant out of water. If the only variable In all of this is personal experience. Then success/failure Is on a case by case basis.

Here's a pic of the mother plant In the same window. I'd say the one in the tank is thriving. And this one, although it has new growth, It is not at the rate of that in the tank. but the rate of leaf die off is the same. notice the yellowing.

 

[Good_Times]

I've wondered many times where did this popularity of pothos and sometimes peace lillies begin in terms of the fishkeeping industry.

Do the pothos have phenomenal nitrate uptake superior to other plants? Or is it because they are flexible; hardy or have low light requirements?

There are countless other commonly available plants that can grow with roots submerged, but who decided pothos?

 

[JamesF]

You're reinventing the wheel aqua. Trying pothos underwater isn't a new boundary. It's been tried by thousands over the last decades (myself included). It doesn't last long term. It's just not an aquatic plant. The same is true for mondo grass and many other "aquarium" plants you'll find for sale. They last 1-12 months, then finally succumb to the unnatural environment.
If you really want good pothos though, keep a potted one in a south facing window and water with aquarium water, and you'll have a specimen better than any grown with the roots in an aquarium.
And by the way, many tree species put on tremendous growth and seed crops right before death, and they're definitely not annuals.

Good-times. I'd guess pothos came to the forefront simply because it is easily propagated through cuttings, is fast growing, and cheap. One friend can easily supply dozens. This lead to it being a very well known plant and put it in the front early for aquarium experimentation.

 

[Rivermud]

for as long as I can remember my family had a cutting of pothos sitting in a cup of water rooting. The natural progression I suppose is to toss the cutting into the tank water.

I need to re-stock my tank to get a decent bio load. Off to go harvest some sunfish.

 

[H]-[H]

Wow.. 39 pages and 3 hours of reading + searching up the names of plants...
Are there any plants that grow long roots underwater?
Or plants that I can just put in the tank coz my overhead filters have taken up most of the space..