We can increase the knowledge here as we go. I'm going to continue to update my thread as I move forward. Plants are amazing in combination with fish.. my philodendrons are already showing signs of growth in 3 days without seeding the grow bed.. sadly feeder goldfish are not the best critters for cycling a tank nor are they the most hardy but my wife really likes them.
Plant only filtration (why not popular in the hobby???)
- Thread starter JK47
- Start date
Would spider plants work? I put a "baby" one weighed it done in my tank several months ago for fun and I was surprised how long it continued to grow underwater before it started to die (1 1/2 months). Do you think they would be good plants on the surface. I get so many "babies" produced form my plant at work.
Yes, they would grow quite well. I had them simply sitting with bare roots in the water and had more than I knew what to do with in a matter of weeks.
Spider plants work above water 100%. I dont know about rivermud, but in my experience they dont grow that fast, and are sensitive to alot of light. Maybe rivermud can correct me or show me the way with these plants, but mine get bleached out if to much light is above them.
I have a potted spider at work that gets several hours of direct sunlight, it goes fast and i have to cut off alot of the shoots. I would think it would do well in water with lots of lite, but izhurtz you got the experience. Did y'all place the plants in a shallow shelf with just the roots in the water and does the water have to have movement to prevent rotting?
also, are you sure you weren't having deficiency issues with iron/?
As for me, i simply had them in an egg crate shelf with the roots in the water. I didn't have much water flow in the tank as it was a low tech tank to begin with. There was no grow light. the only light the tank got was from the ambient light during the 8 hour photo period from the tank light and whatever came in through the window. My room faced north west and the house was well shaded by trees so it got 0 direct sunlight.
My current setup is a vermiponics system. I have a grow bed (expanded clay media) with philodendron growing at the moment. The tank only has common goldfish in it right now, 7 of them at 7 inches long. the tank is 100 gallons. The plants only get ambient light. They were planted 1 week ago and have produced 10-15 new leaves total on 8 plants. For the minor bio load I am quite happy with the results especially considering I have not dosed ferts of any kind.
link to article, vids, and pics: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?448952-Vermiponics-Fish-Plants-and-Worms
As for me, i simply had them in an egg crate shelf with the roots in the water. I didn't have much water flow in the tank as it was a low tech tank to begin with. There was no grow light. the only light the tank got was from the ambient light during the 8 hour photo period from the tank light and whatever came in through the window. My room faced north west and the house was well shaded by trees so it got 0 direct sunlight.
My current setup is a vermiponics system. I have a grow bed (expanded clay media) with philodendron growing at the moment. The tank only has common goldfish in it right now, 7 of them at 7 inches long. the tank is 100 gallons. The plants only get ambient light. They were planted 1 week ago and have produced 10-15 new leaves total on 8 plants. For the minor bio load I am quite happy with the results especially considering I have not dosed ferts of any kind.
link to article, vids, and pics: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?448952-Vermiponics-Fish-Plants-and-Worms
Nice link rivermud, you got a big project. I just place 6 spider plants in the back of my tank lying on the water, they will need to be supported since they sit to low on the water and will probably rot some if left months, but its ok now until i rig something up.( was your egg crate the carbaord ones that come with eggs, if so doesn't that rot?) I guess it is an efficient system to reduce nitrogen when the spiders shoot out baby plants out of the tanks, just wish I had a use for the babies.
Egg crate is a light diffuser. You can buy it from places like home depot or Lowes.
oh show's you my lack of knowledge thought it was a a support to set the plants in the tank, placed a ivy vine in my tank yesterday hope it takes root.
