plants in HOB

[JeninOK]

I started some of that lucky bamboo growing in the filter on my small 6 gallon and within a week or so it has dropped the nitrates down considerably and the ammonia has dropped back down to zero after I got a little heavy handed with root tabs. The bamboo is also growing like crazy.

Im thinking of hooking my big penguin filter on up on my 30 with the goldfish and filling it with plants as it would be attractive on the open top tank and help handle some of the goldies waste.

Is this a viable option long term for plant eating fish?
and what would the most nutrient sucking plants be for this application.

 

[Formula_JP]

pics? awesome idea, i wanted to do it myself and still plan on it in my hob. lucky bamboo was what stuck out in my mind as well because it loves growing in LOTS of water. i think you should stick with it on the 30 and let us know how it goes.

so they're really taking to it well? how many plants are in the box?

 

[rucus]

I like that idea. I was thinking about using pothos or philodendron plants. Let me know how it works on your 30.

 

[Fry]

I think this is a great idea as well. Care to post some nitrate numbers?

 

[Toby_H]

I first tried Lucky Bamboo in my tanks about 2 years ago… they seemed to thrive in my tanks provided the roots were submerged… and the leaves were not submerged…

I did a test using two 29 gal tanks, both mature tanks (cycled) and both with the exact same stock (adult pair of Apisto Cacs and an equal amount of Seprae Tetras, both pairs spawned regularly.

I put about half a dozen stalks in the back of one tank and left the other one without.

I haven’t been able to find my notes on the experiment but the simple result was that Lucky Bamboo does eat nitrates… it wasn’t to a shocking degree, but has been enough for me to start keeping it in most of my tanks…

I have some custom tanks in my fishroom that I bought used which have a filter box built into the back of them. They function with about the same concept as an HOB. Here is one of them with some bamboo in the filter box…

This is a shot of a full tier which has some bamboo in it. On the right I have bamboo stalks in fry tanks. The root clusters make great fry cover…

Here is a 10 gal fry tank. In the back left corner you can see some bamboo stalks. This is a very new set up. In about 6 weeks the ball of Java moss has double to triples in size and each stalk of Bamboo has a golf ball or larger sized root ball…

Here I have some on the end of a 125 gal grow out tank. The root balls make great cover for young fish…

 

[WyldFya]

This method has been used many times before, bamboo and ivy are the plants of choice, and AC110s are the filter of choice.

 

[JeninOK]

what sort of ivy is used and do you just stick some of the ivy down in the filter and let the rest go crazy...I would think some sort of lattice would be needed to control ivy growth alolng the top of the tank?

I got a piece of plastic gutter today and drilled some holes to stick those airline suction cups along the back side of it and then I am goin to fill it up with lucky bamboo and some kind of other bog/pond plant I got today that is more attractive than the lucky bamboo.
I plant to use a powerhead to move the water up and through the gutter and across the plant roots.


Ill post results as it goes....maybe I should start a blog about it

 

[WyldFya]

Any ivy will work.

 

[BushFishRox]

wouldnt the flow from the AC110 push the plants out? since I have a spare 110 I may try this...

 

[WyldFya]

Crank it down all the way, and add lead weights or substrate in the bottom. Or, I have modded a 110's box to a 50's pump and had great success as well. Not easy though.