Common Houseplants in aqarium, the list!

[Joseppe]

Hello everyone

I have also been out from the forums for a while but I have resumed the plant testing. I have amazing results still with epipremnum and monstera still. I recently setup a 320gallon and 260 gallon, about to go wild in there with anything i can try. Will be going back to posting.

Heres the last setup i ran for about a year and half completely untouched other than guiding the plants a bit.


This is how i set it up day 1

This is how i took it down 1.5 year later

I also ran this tank without any waterchanges. I will be honest I never tested the waters much but I kept a very low stock in there and when I did test it I never tested more than 20ppm for nitrate. I only did a monthly top off of about 7gallon since that's what evaporated. The fish stayed amazingly healthy during this entire time. It was a fun little experiment but I dont know if it would keep yielding the same results in the long run.
I wonder if anyone has experience with long term waterchangeless tanks? I took it down to reorganize my fish room and setup the tanks i mentioned earlier, original plan was to run this until it started failing and see how far it would go.

 

[Joseppe]

View attachment 1546521
The Dieffenbachia is getting a little woody these days.
View attachment 1546522
Even with roots jus dangling in the tank.
View attachment 1546523

Cant stop staring at this. This is amazing. Thanks for showing

 

[AR1]

This thread is extremely useful.

I have planted Monstera, Pothos, and Canna lily in my pond, with the Canna lily being the latest addition.

In my opinion, both Pothos and Monstera do exceptionally well when their roots are partially exposed to air, where they can get fresh oxygen all the time. Mine thrived this way.

However, an unfortunate incident resulted in the demise of my Monstera when my sister accidentally overfilled the pond, submerging the crown of the plant, which caused it to rot. By the time I noticed, it was too late.

Right now, my Pothos is thriving, while the Canna lily is still in a bit of shock due to the sudden transition from soil to water.

I suggest creating another list that mentions all the houseplants that absorb the most nitrates from water. This will help aquarists who rely on plant filtration pick the most suitable plants for their tanks, ponds, etc.

Pothos, Peace Lily, and Spider Plants are some of the fastest-growing plants, meaning they absorb a lot of nitrates as well. I hope other members chime in and make useful additions to this list.

 

[Joseppe]

The initial list i made was what i personally concluded back then from what i had tried and from the research i did. I already learned a bunch shortly after creating it. Was thinking to make a new updated thread and remake the list properly. I list philodendron as potentially unsafe but in the meantime i've tried multiple species without ever having had any drawbacks.

You have a really good point about the roots as well. Something i started noticing too is that growth is much larger if grown partially on humidity and partially on water (when talking about pothos, monstera)

 

[duanes]

I've also had success using Papyrus (Umbrella Palm), in tanks, sumps, and ponds.

The hardest part is keeping it contained, and taking over.
I've had systematically to carve away at the root ball, or can totally take over an entire 6 foot tank.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/Paratilapia/new%20tank/.highres/123_zps9fb1ec8a.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/plants/papyrus/.highres/016-1.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

When I had ponds in the states, it'd be put in marginal areas, and brought in as a house plant in winter, and almost totally dry out.
Here in Panama, I just drop root cuttings where the washing machine drains, and swathes pop up. to heights over 6ft tall.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/pond/.highres/IMG_3040_zpsf51a16c8.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

 

[Joseppe]

View attachment 1548874
I've also had success using Papyrus (Umbrella Palm), in tanks, sumps, and ponds.
View attachment 1548875View attachment 1548876
The hardest part is keeping it contained, and taking over.
I've had systematically to carve away at the root ball, or can totally take over an entire 6 foot tank.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/Paratilapia/new%20tank/.highres/123_zps9fb1ec8a.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/plants/papyrus/.highres/016-1.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

When I had ponds in the states, it'd be put in marginal areas, and brought in as a house plant in winter, and almost totally dry out.
Here in Panama, I just drop root cuttings where the washing machine drains, and swathes pop up. to heights over 6ft tall.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/i97/dstuer/pond/.highres/IMG_3040_zpsf51a16c8.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds

View attachment 1548876

Anything you ever show on here is so lush, beautiful, not to mention everything in the background. I'm very jealous of your climate.

Do you think Papyrus could be containable under a 2foot canopy? I've also had semi succes with it in the past during summer but it died over the winter because i wasn't heating the room, only the water. (atleast that's my theory, a lot of open top plants died that winter while anything in covered tanks continued to thrive)

 

[duanes]

At temps below 60"F Papyrus usually stops growth.

 

[Joseppe]

At temps below 60"F Papyrus usually stops growth.

Guess i mistook it's rest for death, it was around 50-55F in my fishroom during winter. going to add it to the 320 when i happen to catch some in a shop and see what it does.

 

[duanes]

One of my favorite terrestrial plants is dieffenbachia, although it is said to be toxic to dogs and cats, I have not had an issue (so far) with fish injesting it, and some of them are partially vegetarian.


I just let the stems and roots dangle in the tank, the stems get thick, and strong enough to hold the plant up just sittin on the glass or frame.



It grows wild here in Panama, a wild patch I found in the mountains, below

 

[Joseppe]

On the subject of fish ingesting plants, I've had filament barbs eating epipremnum without side effect. They're notorious for eating anything green atleast they don't seem to care.