Cheap plants, less nitrate! POTHOS

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THE serrasalmus rhom
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doomiedee

Fire Eel
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My pothos are taking long to grow new roots

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THE serrasalmus rhom
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dscort

Plecostomus
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when i first built my tank i wanted plant filtration, thats why i put a window behind it above the sump. since have altered my design and put the plants on the top of the tank. got a 3 inch abs capped off so it holds water if the power goes out. tapped into my pump return for a nice slow circulation. 9 feet long with 12 planters.

i have a crappy well so any way to lower the amount of waterchanges the better.
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THE serrasalmus rhom
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Nov 3, 2011
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when i first built my tank i wanted plant filtration, thats why i put a window behind it above the sump. since have altered my design and put the plants on the top of the tank. got a 3 inch abs capped off so it holds water if the power goes out. tapped into my pump return for a nice slow circulation. 9 feet long with 12 planters.

i have a crappy well so any way to lower the amount of waterchanges the better.
Wow that's awesome, love how you incorporated the diy spray bar! Good stuff man, absolutely top notch!

my silver dollars love eating the roots!!
Yea most herbivores do, if it gets to bad you can buy a hydro ponic basket like I use so it will keep the fish out of the roots, eventually the roots will grow out but Atleast they can't nibble all the roots off!



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Strat Guy

Feeder Fish
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First post, joined after actually reading ALL 44 pages! Yes... I have that kind of time...

Anyway, after reading it all, I didn't see any posts about the actual care of the plant, but I did see a few posts about some people having some stem and root rot occurring. I thought I'd chime in.

Pothos is an Amazonian vine that grows up the sides of trees. It gets its moisture from water trickling down the sides of trees onto their roots which attach to the bark of the trees. That said, they aren't water plants. Not submersible, and not marginal. They just aren't meant to grow in water. What you're doing essentially is setting up an aquaponics planter in your tank. The idea behind aquaponics and hydroponics is that you're growing non-water plants in water by supplying them with a constant supply of fresh, new, rich water. A plant will get rot when the tissue is in an area of low water movement, like the back of an aquarium... That's why you see a lot of people who have been doing this for a while with the plant in a HOB filter or a sump, because the flowing water is constantly supplying the plant with freshly oxygenated water. Crown, stem, and root rot occurs due to the presence of a fungus on that part of the plant from being constantly wet, with little oxygen reaching the roots. By having water moving over the roots, you're oxygenating the roots so that rot cannot set in.

So, my suggestion to people that are having rot problems is to move the plants to somewhere with higher water flow, either to a HOB or a sump. If you don't have either of those, then place it in front of a powerhead or some area in your tank where the water is constantly moving.

Also, Pothos will rot regardless if the stem/leaves are in the water after about 7 or 8 months. They're cheap, so if you don't care, no big deal. If you're looking to have them last though, keep only the roots in the water.

I'll get some pics of my setup on here when I get a chance. I have two sumps, one is set up specifically to grow plants out of, and is a supplement to the main sump. I've got lucky bamboo and Pothos growing out of my overflow box, and in the plant sump I've got Pothos, lucky bamboo cuttings (getting them rooted), Louisiana Iris (not sure if that's gonna work out), and a Spathiphyllum (peace lily). Lucky bamboo (Dracaena) are another real good plant, and cuttings root real easy. You can get a tall one and chop it up into 10" pieces, and as long as it has flowing water over it, it'll root in about a week. They like dim light too. Spathiphyllum are the same way, dim light. They're a marginal plant though, so they actually live near water, so they're a little hardier.


Hope this helped out a little!
 

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THE serrasalmus rhom
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Great read guy and thanks for your contribution to this sticky!

A spray bar would be a handy tool to create more flow or even a bubble wand underneath would help! My whole tank has massive water flow so really anywhere I put it I see good results! My hydro basket always has air bubbles under it because its right next to my fx5 output which has no twin directional flow, just the hose aimed at the water, so the agitation is amazing.

Hopefully some of the members that are having trouble with their plants read this!

Thanks again!

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http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?504763-Cheap-plants-less-nitrate!-POTHOS

*Go S. Vettel #1 RBR! 3 BACK TO BACK WDC AND CONSTRUCTERS! :cheers:
 

doomiedee

Fire Eel
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Nov 13, 2011
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Can pothos live fully submerged and will my 4 line pim and Zamora cat eat it?

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