Trying out aquaponic

[Ruturaj]

I had an air pump and breeder box lying around and a pothos plant that was dying with no water changes. I decided to try aquaponic way, goal is to grow the plant and may be reduce some nitrates along the way. I am not sure how effective it would be yet, but as plant grows it might be.

 

[Ruturaj]

I heard a argument over letting algae grow in tank to keep nitrates down, any one knows how effective is that vs plant?

 

[Hendre]

Looks good, hopefully it grows.

Algae helps, but terrestrial plants outperform aquatic plants in growth. I did a science project on this and the emersed plants

 

[Ruturaj]

Looks good, hopefully it grows.

Algae helps, but terrestrial plants outperform aquatic plants in growth. I did a science project on this and the emersed plants

Thanks. Is it because terrestrial plants have access to more co2 than limited in tank water?

I don't like algae in my display tank, I just heard this argument and was curious. Thank you for the info. How much difference was in the growth in your project?

 

[Hendre]

Thanks. Is it because terrestrial plants have access to more co2 than limited in tank water?

I don't like algae in my display tank, I just heard this argument and was curious. Thank you for the info. How much difference was in the growth in your project?

Correct. Atmospheric air has about 13x as much co2 compared to aquariums with co2 injection, I think.

In the short time period, the aquatic plants grew better BUT the emersed plants followed an exponential growth chart in the last two weeks, it was close. If I had more time then it would have been a definite win for emersed

 

[BIG-G]

I’ve kept pothos and other plants growing out the back of my tanks for years.
It does help a lot to lower nitrates.
The breeder box is something I’ve never thought of, this gives me new ideas.
Thanks for posting.

One word of caution, with the air pump under the tank you may want to install a check valve if you haven’t.
If the power fails you could have a flood.

 

[Nilsafeller]

I also keep pothos growing out the back of my tank and also potted in the house... the amount of growth from the aquarium is insane.. I'll take pictures between the 2 later to show the difference... it def seems as though the pothos out competes my submerged plants by quit a bit

 

[duanes]

Each plant, be it a higher terrestrial (like Pothos), aquatic, or a lower plant, like algae, will help remove nitrate.
But we can't expect miracles from just a few.
If you look at the biomass ratio of plants to animals worldwide plants naturally outnumber animals by a considerable amount(consider trees, kelp forests, grassland).
The same goes in the aquarium, to make a real dent, plants should significantly outnumber/outweigh the fish.
At the moment I get very low readings for nitrate in my 180 (<5ppm) but my plant load might be considered excessive.
There are 15 fish, most around 5", but below some pics of plants, terrestrial and otherwise.

Above is Dieffenbachia, note the thickness of the stem compared to fingers, leaves are about 1 ft long.
You can see papyrus leaves in the background, growing from the sump, below.

Below aquatic plant load in the tank

I also intentionally grow algae in the sumps making them a sort of algae nitrate scrubber along with a few other semi aquatic plants there, like Salvini and the newly added papyrus not in the shot below.

The root system of the dieffenbachia




.

 

[Ruturaj]

Correct. Atmospheric air has about 13x as much co2 compared to aquariums with co2 injection, I think.

In the short time period, the aquatic plants grew better BUT the emersed plants followed an exponential growth chart in the last two weeks, it was close. If I had more time then it would have been a definite win for emersed

Thank you. This was very insightful, I wouldn't have thought about differences. I will keep updating on growth.

I’ve kept pothos and other plants growing out the back of my tanks for years.
It does help a lot to lower nitrates.
The breeder box is something I’ve never thought of, this gives me new ideas.
Thanks for posting.

One word of caution, with the air pump under the tank you may want to install a check valve if you haven’t.
If the power fails you could have a flood.

Thanks, already added two to be on safer side. (Cardboards are there to block the light coming in from behind.)

I also keep pothos growing out the back of my tank and also potted in the house... the amount of growth from the aquarium is insane.. I'll take pictures between the 2 later to show the difference... it def seems as though the pothos out competes my submerged plants by quit a bit

That would be great. I use some water during water changes for plants, thinking about it, being in water is whole another level for plant for sure.

Each plant, be it a higher terrestrial (like Pothos), aquatic, or a lower plant, like algae, will help remove nitrate.
But we can't expect miracles from just a few.
If you look at the biomass ratio of plants to animals worldwide plants naturally outnumber animals by a considerable amount(consider trees, kelp forests, grassland).
The same goes in the aquarium, to make a real dent, plants should significantly outnumber/outweigh the fish.
At the moment I get very low readings for nitrate in my 180 (<5ppm) but my plant load might be considered excessive.
There are 15 fish, most around 5", but below some pics of plants, terrestrial and otherwise.
View attachment 1422996
Above is Dieffenbachia, note the thickness of the stem compared to fingers, leaves are about 1 ft long.
You can see papyrus leaves in the background, growing from the sump, below.
View attachment 1422997
Below aquatic plant load in the tank
View attachment 1422998
I also intentionally grow algae in the sumps making them a sort of algae nitrate scrubber along with a few other semi aquatic plants there, like Salvini and the newly added papyrus not in the shot below.
View attachment 1422999
The root system of the dieffenbachia
View attachment 1423000



.

Wow, that's a jungle. Must be pretty good for fish to have such low nitrates. I am not expecting much but I think it would be good learning exercise for me on relation between nitrate levels and this plants growth.

 

[Nilsafeller]

Thank you. This was very insightful, I wouldn't have thought about differences. I will keep updating on growth.



Thanks, already added two to be on safer side. (Cardboards are there to block the light coming in from behind.)

View attachment 1423031



That would be great. I use some water during water changes for plants, thinking about it, being in water is whole another level for plant for sure.



Wow, that's a jungle. Must be pretty good for fish to have such low nitrates. I am not expecting much but I think it would be good learning exercise for me on relation between nitrate levels and this plants growth.

This is a comparison I wanted to show you. First pic is potted next to a window... I am now useing tank water for my plants so well see how much difference we get there... second pic is emerged