Plant filtration- another proven winner!

Racersk

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2010
1,141
33
81
Covington
So- those of you that don't have a Pothos plant on their fresh water tank... My question is why the heck not!?! :cry:

I was sitting down in front of my fish desk, this is a 125 sitting on 2x4simple frame-4" off the floor with a keyboard tray serving as a laptop stand. My man cave place to relax. It has a simple overhead 3' DIY filteracross the back 6" with a pump in tank and a planter box with ceramic media and a spray bar running 2/3 the length. The other 1/2 has a 10G bow front plastic tank that I drilled and plumbed in an overflow. In this sump I keep dirt from empty earth worm containers and plant material from pothos trimmings. It is fed by a Cascade 1500 canister filled with nothing but bio media. This tank is now home to 9 fat n happy silver dollars and a newly acquired black Ghost knife...I know hes still in there, I can see the white of his stubby tail(look in Knife subforum for more info on the stub)...

Pictures worth a thousand words... This Pothos *tree* is growing out of my 10G bow.
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You can see the corner of the laptop even! lol

A couple more of this 6' tall growth...now this is 1/2 my fish room... this goes up to the ceiling -over 6' - and loops back to this trunk. The other heated tanks have similar growth in them...
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20140922_202957.jpg
The fish never cooperate for pics. But you get the idea.

The biggest 'trunk' from my heated tank is roughly 1" diameter!

What more can I say but...

"GO BUY SOME POTHOS!!"

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20140922_202957.jpg

20140922_202623.jpg
 

SickSauce

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 24, 2011
805
0
16
Mekong Delta
Very nice. What kind of light is that? Just a regular clip of light? I'll looking got a cheap light to grow my pothos

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

Racersk

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2010
1,141
33
81
Covington
Very nice. What kind of light is that? Just a regular clip of light? I'll looking got a cheap light to grow my pothos

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Simple CFL 23watt from Home Depot in a cheap heat lamp/work lamp hanging from the cord. I have x3 of them in the garage growing all my plants. Simple, cheap to purchase and use.

Pothos really needs little light. Especially if your bioload is low. If the roots take off stop feeding cause your going through an amonia spike!
 

SickSauce

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 24, 2011
805
0
16
Mekong Delta
Cool. My fish tank room gets some en direct light but not enough to grow my pothos into a tree haha

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Racersk

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2010
1,141
33
81
Covington
How do you put those plants in the tank? Did you make a box?
I placed the roots of this one into the 10G bow, it's now about half full of good dirt, mostly procured from Earthworm containers when I empty them of worms...water flows into this small tank from my Cascade canister filter from the tank below, basically a planted refugium.

My other Pothos I have the roots dangling into the tank, gives the fish a place to hide and looks very natural...Along with keeping Nitrates in check!
 

reptilerescued

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 19, 2014
264
7
33
nepa
We have them in all our tanks.

The pothos also work in brackish 1.008
wife has two GSP's in the 55 grow out and the pothos has been in since day one when I 1st started the cycle grew out the gar now it's got the green spotted puffers.
It's the only plant that has survived the fresh to brackish transition everything else started to turn brow so it was pulled.
This includes the infamous bullet proof java fern.

Rich
 

Racersk

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2010
1,141
33
81
Covington
We have them in all our tanks.

The pothos also work in brackish 1.008
wife has two GSP's in the 55 grow out and the pothos has been in since day one when I 1st started the cycle grew out the gar now it's got the green spotted puffers.
It's the only plant that has survived the fresh to brackish transition everything else started to turn brow so it was pulled.
This includes the infamous bullet proof java fern.

Rich
I wish I would have tried this...I have a brackish tank as well, but I am pushing 1.010-11 last I recalled, I was told that over 1.080 that Mangrove is about it...I think if I put a start in now, it will burn the plant... hmmm, might be time to start acclimating plants to salt next.

Thanks for the idea!
 
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