I have finally decided to share the progress of my pond, the 500 gallon one. There has been a lot of controversy on whether aquatic or semi aquatic make a difference on nitrate or ammonia levels in a aquarium or not, whether they are toxic to fish or not, whether you can plant the already potted ones bought from stores, and much more. So i hope that this thread will help clear much of that as i learn and share my experience.
First of all my pond has a RD/Midas cichlid, a pacu and a snakehead. Now some of you will criticize me that this ain't enough for my fish so i want to remind you this isn't their permanent settlement, just a growout. There also hasn't been any aggression, not since the first time i added the fish and everything is working out.
Secondly, i have planted semi aquatic plants, not aquatic ones due to my pacu and RD/Midas.
HOW I PLANTED MY PLANTS:
i bought two pothos plants, small ones. After washing away all the dirt, i found out that each pot had three cuttings, all of which has established root systems. But the roots were suffering from root rot too. So i decided to take a big risk and put all of them in my pond. it was one heck of a challenge to ensure their leaves didn't get fully submerged, but i did it. After about two days, new leaves, as well as new roots, started to appear and I was over the moon over my success. Now its been two weeks since i planted them and believe me, they have doubled in size. However, they haven't been able to even make a dent in my nitrates, which i have to keep down through 75 percent water changes per week, since i feed my fish heavily to avoid any possible aggression.
Then i decided to plant something big, a monstera. I was afraid to plant such a big plant, about 2 feet tall. However i repeated the same steps by washing the dirt from the roots. But the biggest challenge was how to plant it without keeping it from falling over. After a plethora of failed attempts, i figured out the best soulution. i put the roots in a plastic pot with holes and them filled it with medium sized gravel to prevent the stems from falling or leaning downwards. I then took a large plastic pot, placed it upside down, and then placed the monstera over it and it has started showing some growth. Hopefully i can make some significant acheivements in the near future with the plant filtration. I will keep on adding plants.
I will write more soon and give updates aswell. i will also post some pics as soon as possible.
