Pothos and Light
- Thread starter DN328
- Start date
Im going to target this size for my sump with approximately sized roots. If that doesn't help no plant will ever LOL.
I stuff all my phytos inbetween the sumps and the grow from there, while for the lighting since is a clamp-on , i blocked the parts of sump with black sponge and a small scrubber so minimal lights got to contact with surfaces.
Have not check whether nitrates took a dent since TDS always in range and fish looked happy.
Have not check whether nitrates took a dent since TDS always in range and fish looked happy.
esoxlucius said:
The pothos didn't make a noticeable difference. I believe it may have decresed weekly nitrate accumulation by 5 - 10% but it wasn't measurable on a test kit. In order to make a measureable difference with a large bioload like that (~30 ppm weekly nitrate acc.) you would need to have several dozen vines growing under high light which would take a lot of real estate.
I decided to cap the drains and disconnect the pump on this pothos filter/overhead sump and grow the pothos by adding fertilizers and use a powerhead with a venturi for circulation/oxygenation of the water/roots. It didn't grow much faster this way but it did look much healthier. The pothos leaves grown in tank water had a light green color. That could've been because of the very soft water.
I measured how much nitrate the pothos consumed within a given timeframe. I added 40 mg/L of nitrate (65 mg/L potassium nitrate) to the 7.5 gallon container. It took 20 days for the pothos to consume the nitrate. Let's say there are 5 gallons of water in the container (the roots take up a lot of space).
5 gallons x 3.786 = 18.93 liters (convert to liters)
40 mg x 18.93 liters = 757.2 mg (amount for 20 days)
757.2 mg x 1.5 = 1,136 mg monthly nitrate uptake
1,136 mg ÷ 4 = 284 mg weekly nitrate uptake
These results are surprisingly low. Pothos growth was fast during the 20 day period and I'd expect higher numbers by 3 or 4 times. I hope to test the nitrate uptake again or maybe someone else can try?
DN328 said:
There's not enough room in the sump to make any significant difference with pothos. But you might be like me and simply enjoy the look.
Edit: I'd use the kind of light
Chockful O Phail
has.
Last edited:
The pothos didn't make a noticeable difference. I believe it may have decresed weekly nitrate accumulation by 5 - 10% but it wasn't measurable on a test kit. In order to make a measureable difference with a large bioload like that (~30 ppm weekly nitrate acc.) you would need to have several dozen vines growing under high light which would take a lot of real estate.
I decided to cap the drains and disconnect the pump on this pothos filter/overhead sump and grow the pothos by adding fertilizers and use a powerhead with a venturi for circulation/oxygenation of the water/roots. It didn't grow much faster this way but it did look much healthier. The pothos leaves grown in tank water had a light green color. That could've been because of the very soft water.
I measured how much nitrate the pothos consumed within a given timeframe. I added 40 mg/L of nitrate (65 mg/L potassium nitrate) to the 7.5 gallon container. It took 20 days for the pothos to consume the nitrate. Let's say there are 5 gallons of water in the container (the roots take up a lot of space).
5 gallons x 3.786 = 18.93 liters (convert to liters)
40 mg x 18.93 liters = 757.2 mg (amount for 20 days)
757.2 mg x 1.5 = 1,136 mg monthly nitrate uptake
1,136 mg ÷ 4 = 284 mg weekly nitrate uptake
These results are surprisingly low. Pothos growth was fast during the 20 day period and I'd expect higher numbers by 3 or 4 times. I hope to test the nitrate uptake again or maybe someone else can try?
There's not enough room in the sump to make any significant difference with pothos. But you might be like me and simply enjoy the look.
Edit: I'd use the kind of light
Really, that low? I think your right, to make a real noticeable dent in your nitrate you'd have to have it taking over your entire house. You'd have that many roots dangling in your tank there'd be no room for any fish!!!! No fish, no bioload, no need for pothos in the first place. You could go round in circles with this, haha.
I you can't find a shower/soap/sponge basket, check your local dollar stores. I bought a package of these 10"x2"x2" slotted storage baskets from mine that I use for pothos in one of my tanks. I hung them on the inside/rear of the tank with some stretched out shower curtain hooks.
My massive pothos on my oscar tank is growing in a large marina breeder box hanging off that tank. This breeder box requires an air pump (and tubing) for it's siphon tube to circulate water through it. Best out of the box pothos grower I know of.
My massive pothos on my oscar tank is growing in a large marina breeder box hanging off that tank. This breeder box requires an air pump (and tubing) for it's siphon tube to circulate water through it. Best out of the box pothos grower I know of.
In reference to what Tarheal96 said about nitrate reduction(and those numbers make total sense to me), think in terms of the biomass pyramid on earth. In order to make a noticeable dent, you really need a multiple amount of plants and mass of bacteria compared to fish.
If you have a 1lb heterspilus, you will need probably 10 or more lbs of plants to make a measurable amount of nitrate reduction (and I'm probably making a serious understatement here, because math is not my strong suit).
This does not in any way poo poo the help a few plants do, every little bit helps.
Think herds of wildebeest compared to lions, something like 100,000 to one.
In my planted sumps, and tanks I'd put maybe 10 to 20 lbs of papyrus (along with Pothos and many other aquatic plants to get a noticeable reduction.
The papyrus above are in a 20 gal refugium, and are at least 4 ft tall.
besides the refugium, in line with the tanks is another aquatic plant sump with crypts, below is that sump, during a water change
another shot of the same sump running with water
If you have a 1lb heterspilus, you will need probably 10 or more lbs of plants to make a measurable amount of nitrate reduction (and I'm probably making a serious understatement here, because math is not my strong suit).
This does not in any way poo poo the help a few plants do, every little bit helps.
Think herds of wildebeest compared to lions, something like 100,000 to one.
In my planted sumps, and tanks I'd put maybe 10 to 20 lbs of papyrus (along with Pothos and many other aquatic plants to get a noticeable reduction.
The papyrus above are in a 20 gal refugium, and are at least 4 ft tall.
besides the refugium, in line with the tanks is another aquatic plant sump with crypts, below is that sump, during a water change
another shot of the same sump running with water
There's not enough room in the sump to make any significant difference with pothos. But you might be like me and simply enjoy the look.
Edit: I'd use the kind of light
This is my concern. But I can appreciate the look of some healthy pothos growing in my sump. I do realize some help is better than nothing, but I'd need to weigh the overall benefit whether functional or aesthetically pleasing is worth it for me.
This is all good education for me and hearing experiences from you all, nonetheless.
