Cheap plants, less nitrate! POTHOS

[F1 VET]

Thought I might as well make a DIY thread, I know its been done before but not the way I did it. I don't use a hob or anything for added flow, the plants are simply submerged a few inches in my water and the roots suck up nitrates and the plant grows... Simple. Each plant consumes 5-10ppm per week and needs no added light!

First off go to your lhs, in the garden section they should have hydroponics baskets for about 4$:

Next, grab a GOLDEN IVY POTHOS PLANT (also known as devils ivy), usually cost 8-10$ per plant:

Next, take the plant out of the pot, clean away all dirt with a hose (DO NOT USE BATH TUB LIKE ME, GF IS STILL MAD LOL):

Make sure roots are clean and free of soil:

Snip about an inch off the end of the roots (this helps them establish quicker) and place in hydroponic basket, then carefully add pea gravel or aquarium gravel around them, making sure all the roots are NOT visible:

The most difficult step is finding a way to suspend the basket in the water, I just used a recip and cut my DIY metal shelf lid and placed it in:

Now your done, just place on top of tank and enjoy!

Lower N03, cool look, lasts forever, purifies water and the air!

Make sure house pets cannot get at the plant since it can be very toxic to pets! Thx guys!


Go S. Vettel #1 rb8

 

[chachaman50]

thanks! i might try this are there any other plants that work like this?

 

[chachaman50]

and how much light for the plant

 

[we4wieners]

Do regular marine plants work as well? Jave fern, anubias, swords?

 

[DIDYSIS]

Don't even need rocks just put the plant in. I have been keeping a light on one of my plants 24/7 and its growing really nice.

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[ShadowBass]

You can just stick them in with dangling roots too. That's what I did. I've seen pics with roots growing all over the tank, for people that like that look.
You want to cut the roots mostly off in that case, because they seem to establish new roots for in the water as opposed to the ones they were using in soil.

thanks! i might try this are there any other plants that work like this?

I used Arrowhead plant ( Syngonium podophyllum) from walmart the same way. I've had some in my pond all year too. I don't think they're as effective as nitrate removal as pothos though.

Elephant ear, other taro, and caldium all will grow in baskets to. And of course, lucky bamboo.

 

[F1 VET]

and how much light for the plant

The plant grows good with ambient lite, direct sunlight can harm it.

Do regular marine plants work as well? Jave fern, anubias, swords?

Regular tank plants at lfs don't consume nearly the amount of n03 that pothos do or golden ivy, especially for that price, how ever a heavily planted tank can easily keep up, the point is its cheap!

Don't even need rocks just put the plant in. I have been keeping a light on one of my plants 24/7 and its growing really nice.

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yea my crawfish destroys everything at night, I used to have swords/micro swords and javas...

You can just stick them in with dangling roots too. That's what I did. I've seen pics with roots growing all over the tank, for people that like that look.
You want to cut the roots mostly off in that case, because they seem to establish new roots for in the water as opposed to the ones they were using in soil.



I used Arrowhead plant ( Syngonium podophyllum) from walmart the same way. I've had some in my pond all year too. I don't think they're as effective as nitrate removal as pothos though.

Elephant ear, other taro, and caldium all will grow in baskets to. And of course, lucky bamboo.

Thanks for the added suggestion on plants, that was very helpful! The golden ivy is a hearty plant with broad thick leaves and it is easily grown in water, that's why its ideal for nitrate removal (pothos), however any deduction in n03 is great imo. Anything to save $$$ on water!



Go S. Vettel #1 rb8

 

[ShadowBass]

Someone mentioned to me awhile back there's a lot of orchids that can do water too. I haven't tried it yet though. Oddly enough I do have wild roses growing in the pot with my arrowhead plants in the pond....I didn't put them there, and they seem to be growing well. It's just a regular pot with sand, sitting on a 5g bucket.

Re: crawdads destroying plants - That's why my 90g has none of the mosses and plants I brought from the river. He got to 'em quick lol. He was carrying around a whole vallisneria at one point, like some kind of prize. :\

 

[Redbellypiranha]

Nice I like the idea


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[tomomothy]

subbed, really helpful, i like the hydroponics basket, thatll make putting it in the sump a breeze. Not my taste to have the plant on egg crate on the top of the tank, I like the closed in canopy look.. for now at least