Dieffenbachia filtrartion

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duanes

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Isla Taboga Panama via Milwaukee
I know most people prefer using Pothos these days, but I have found the lowly dieffebachia to be very effective at filtering out nitrates, and it is widely available in garden and plant shops..
I have it growing bare root, in both my125 gallon sump, and atop my cichlid tank, and along with the submerged Vallineria, and Mangroves,.
my nitrate numbers have been negligiable, even though I consider th ecichlid tank, over crowded.
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The plants do take up some space, and at times I need to chop off roots from taking over.
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Some of the braches can get as thick as my by arm
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Thought dieffenbachia was toxic…good to know it doesn’t affect fish
It’s toxic to cats at least and back in the day slave owners would put the dieffenbachia otherwise known as dumbcane into the mouths of disobedient slaves which when chewed can lead to the mouth burning, the throat going numb, and a temporary loss of speech which is where it got its name from as it made you “dumb” or mute. Dumb cane is truly a beautiful plant and is one of my personal favorites.
 
It’s toxic to cats at least and back in the day slave owners would put the dieffenbachia otherwise known as dumbcane into the mouths of disobedient slaves which when chewed can lead to the mouth burning, the throat going numb, and a temporary loss of speech which is where it got its name from as it made you “dumb” or mute. Dumb cane is truly a beautiful plant and is one of my personal favorites.
Yikes!
 
Good to know..maybe I’ll add this to my tank and see if it helps. I currently have a 28 gallon plumbed to the sump of my 250 to reduce nitrates with my stingrays and Oscar’s

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Looks like a very effective set up/
Has it been set up log?
What are the nitrate readings?
 
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