Killer Pothos!

[duanes]

Because my X-wife couldn't remember numbers.
And because she was quite impulsive, I put her pistol in a safe, she could never recall the combination to.
One of the many survival techniques I learned in the VN war, like sleeping with one eye open.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Not sure, will look into it. But...the main goal of this exercise is water quality. The slower a plant grows, then the less nutrients it is uptaking from the water...kinda defeats the purpose to use a slow grower.

My four favourite aquarium plants are, in no particular order, Hornwort, Duckweed, Guppy Grass (Najas) and, believe it or not, Hair Algae! And I choose them mostly because they grow like weeds, even under my brown-thumbed care. But this tank houses fish that mow all that stuff down like weed-whackers on crack, hence the terrestrial experiment.

corn is the most nitrate consuming plant, hornwort actually comes second

 

[Morti]

If you have reasonable humidity or can use a mister, plus have decent lighting, then pretty much any aquatic stem plant would work. You can plant them in pots just below the waters surface, so fish won't nibble them and let them grow emersed. Hygrophila is perhaps the easiest one as it can take quite dry air but you could even use echinodorus if you have enough humity. I'm not aware of any toxicity with those and there are other species that are considered herbs in their native range, I think limnophila aromatica is one of the top of my head.

You can also look at things that grow hydroponically like lettuce or even strawberries and sweet potatoes. It won't give the same look but will remove nutrients and give you a reward.

 

[Morti]

Just thought you also have grass like carex plants which are fine for dogs to nibble on and might even do them some good. Some grow very well with wet feet.

 

[jjohnwm]

If you have reasonable humidity or can use a mister, plus have decent lighting, then pretty much any aquatic stem plant would work. You can plant them in pots just below the waters surface, so fish won't nibble them and let them grow emersed. Hygrophila is perhaps the easiest one as it can take quite dry air but you could even use echinodorus if you have enough humity. I'm not aware of any toxicity with those and there are other species that are considered herbs in their native range, I think limnophila aromatica is one of the top of my head.

You can also look at things that grow hydroponically like lettuce or even strawberries and sweet potatoes. It won't give the same look but will remove nutrients and give you a reward.

Thanks! The set-up is a couple of long window-boxes, thoroughly perforated at the bottom and mounted on a rack that submerges the bottom third in the aquarium water. Each box contains 4 plastic flower pots, such as new plants are often sold in. Each pot is filled with inert plastic media, bits of cut-up filter foam, etc. which is hopefully enough to support and stabilize the plant stem, while the roots will be free to grow in the pot and right through the bottom of the pot and the window-box into the tank. I'll try various plants and whichever one or two seem to do best will eventually replace the failed ones (when it comes to plants I usually have lots of those!).

Light should be adequate with a couple shop lights mounted above. Humidity is a problem; during winter, simply heating the house dries the air out to a frightful extent, especially thanks to a wood-burning stove. Misting is impractical in this set-up.

I'm looking for plants that can grow with continually submersed roots....but in arid, dry desert-like air for about half the year...and all while being non-toxic! Greedy, I know...

I'm going to look into lettuce; never would have thought of that on my own.

 

[Fishman Dave]

Water cress, and has the benefits that you can harvest it too for lunch.
Also mint, loves to have its feet wet and comes in different varieties such as apple mint, and again you can keep it in check by eating it.
If you don’t want to ever see out of the window again, the umbrella plant (cyperus alternifolius) loves wet feet and grows like crazy, but is a little substantial in size when it gets going. Easy to propagate though as every umberella that touches the water grows into another plant.
Monstera (Swiss cheese plant) is one that you can get the Ariel roots to grow submerged and they go really filamentous and make good filters themselves as well as lapping up nitrates.

 

[Midwater]

+1 for watercress.
-1 for monstera, another aroid with the same calcium oxalate.

 

[jjohnwm]

Water cress sounds great, and I know I can access some locally; I'll get some for sure, while still keeping an eye out for other options as well. I have 8 pots total, all about 5x5 inches, so I can try a few types at once.

Monstera is one of my all-time favourite houseplants, but I recall a friend having a huge one long ago that often produced droplets of clear sap or fluid. Don't know if it was sweet or attractive to critters, but it was exactly the sort of thing that Duke would investigate given the chance...so I won't give it to him.

Cyperus...they call it papyrus in greenhouses around here...would be perfect, in fact I have a bunch overwintering in my fishroom now, standing with its roots in water in a stocktank. I take it outside in spring and it flourishes in my outdoor stock tanks each summer. But...it gets to be about four+ feet tall, way too high for the tank in question. Apparently there is a smaller version, around 18-20 inches high. I buy one of that variety every time I see it...and it always gets to be more than four feet tall!

 

[Midwater]

Triffid.

 

[Morti]

Watercress is great but it's a very rampant grower, which may be a good thing. We used it in our pond vegetable filter.

The fluid you saw in your friends monstera is caused by a process called guttation. In the setting you are considering it would be mostly water and completely harmless, it's just the plant get rid of excess moisture during the night.