Got Watercress?

[kendragon]

Good point kendragon . Rotting plants and clogged lines are a real issue that the keeper must maintain. Still my opinion that the pros outweigh the cons. Just keep up with maintenance.

Peace.
Like I said, would like to see if OP can make it work. I'm thinking the OP's intent is more aquaponics than filter.

 

[jaws7777]

The plants will certainly help. Plants use four main elements heavily to survive, grow, reproduce and that’s carbon and NPK. nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Fast growing plants use a ton of it. Fast growing Fully submerged plants will take from the water column and their roots. Emersed plants or partially emersed plants will take a lot of it from the air.

You’re always better off with plants than not for water quality. Now enough to make a tangible difference? Well that’s debatable. Personally, I use floaters and pothos whenever I can.

Oh yeah I'm not saying that plants are a bad thing but I like floating plants because they pull co2 from the atmosphere and other nutrients (waste) from the water column. I was under the impression that that was the best combo for nitrate reduction. But regardless OP loves a clean sump, decaying plant parts along with algae from lighting and the lack of nitrate reduction wouldn't be worth the mess.

I hate quoting other people's tests but even pothos seems iffy at best. tarheel96 proved it once.

I couldn't take the mess now if nitrates we're getting soaked up I would have delt with it but as far as the test kit was concerned there was no reduction. Also had almost half of my 150 gal surface covered with WL and again saw no reduction but I did like the appearance

 

[jaws7777]

To be fair to DN3528 Wailua Boy is a fan of water cress and should be able to assist

 

[mrrobxc]

Oh yeah I'm not saying that plants are a bad thing but I like floating plants because they pull co2 from the atmosphere and other nutrients (waste) from the water column. I was under the impression that that was the best combo for nitrate reduction. But regardless OP loves a clean sump, decaying plant parts along with algae from lighting and the lack of nitrate reduction wouldn't be worth the mess.

I hate quoting other people's tests but even pothos seems iffy at best. tarheel96 proved it once.

I couldn't take the mess now if nitrates we're getting soaked up I would have delt with it but as far as the test kit was concerned there was no reduction. Also had almost half of my 150 gal surface covered with WL and again saw no reduction but I did like the appearance

You can tell by the heavy root mass that pothos drops into the water over time that it’s getting a lot from the water. A test kit solves a lot of questions so I’m sure the experiment has some merit. Also, unless the pothos is planted paludarium style where old leaves fall into the tank, pothos is easy to keep clean.

I’m not testing my water regularly and use my eyes for a sense of water quality. I stock light usually and do large scale WC’s weekly so the point is generally moot Unless I find myself in a crisis with sick fish or excess algae. I do use bright lighting since plant growth is important for me. The way I see it, even if it’s a wash, plants add a lot of visual appeal and much needed cover for my tanks.

 

[jaws7777]

You can tell by the heavy root mass that pothos drops into the water over time that it’s getting a lot from the water. A test kit solves a lot of questions so I’m sure the experiment has some merit. Also, unless the pothos is planted paludarium style where old leaves fall into the tank, pothos is easy to keep clean.

I’m not testing my water regularly and use my eyes for a sense of water quality. I stock light usually and do large scale WC’s weekly so the point is generally moot Unless I find myself in a crisis with sick fish or excess algae. I do use bright lighting since plant growth is important for me. The way I see it, even if it’s a wash, plants add a lot of visual appeal and much needed cover for my tanks.

Yeah a few of us were on nitrate reduction binge for like 6 months lol trying all sorts of stuff. I gotta admit I had allot of fun.

 

[DN328]

I'm not trying to talk DN out of it I just know he's a neat freak

Hey Jaws, please stop talking to my family...they are exaggerating.

I may just need to try so that I dont wonder "what if" because watercress is edible it's appealling. Not that I would live off it or even eat it...just something sentimental about it...but thats a whole different story...

 

[jaws7777]

Hey Jaws, please stop talking to my family...they are exaggerating.

I may just need to try so that I dont wonder "what if" because watercress is edible it's appealling. Not that I would live off it or even eat it...just something sentimental about it...but thats a whole different story...

Well tbh stbh some of your cleanliness has rubbed off on me so its not exactly a bad thing. Do you plan on keeping it in the display or the sump ?

I was trying to find pics and failed but when I let the WL go nuts in a 150 (display) I used airline tubing and some suction cups to create a pen so the plants would get sucked into the overflow it worked great and was unnoticeable

 

[DN328]

Well tbh stbh some of your cleanliness has rubbed off on me so its not exactly a bad thing. Do you plan on keeping it in the display or the sump ?

I was trying to find pics and failed but when I let the WL go nuts in a 150 (display) I used airline tubing and some suction cups to create a pen so the plants would get sucked into the overflow it worked great and was unnoticeable

If I dont go watercress, I'll stick to the go to pothos for neatness appeal. I'm thinking of using one of those white plastic shower baskets attached with suction cups to my sump chamber. I wouldn't put plants in the tank.

Of course in the sump Id have to have a different lid cut else the chamber would be open and increasing evaporation. I fill my 5gallon auto top off every 10-12 days which is nice.

 

[jaws7777]

Cool post the results. I hope it works man if not it's always fun to tinker

 

[Eatsomekiwis]

10 months of growth, never had an issue with water quality since I started using pothos in sumps