Small tank with edible plants?
- Thread starter Joshuakahan
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Completely possible, it's similar to aquaponic.
Here is one setup I saw on YouTube
Here is my setup that has pothos (non edible) plant, I used a breeder box and a air pump.
I did add more pothos later on
Here is one setup I saw on YouTube
Here is my setup that has pothos (non edible) plant, I used a breeder box and a air pump.
I did add more pothos later on
Aquaponics is definitely a thing. Lots of plants grow well, it's not really ideal for the fish, or for the plants though. Tomatoes and lettuce seem to work well enough when I've tried it (In my greenhouse in a small tank filled with water from my fishtank)
Why isn't it ideal for fish? In our setup it will keep nitrates low.
Because if you have low nitrates(Or nutrients in general) for the fish, it's too low for the best health of the plants. If you have high nitrates for the plants, it's too high for the best health of the fish. It's a tradeoff.
I have a full blown aquaponics with fish and edible veggies. You just have to be careful about what chemicals you add to the tank if you intend to eat the plants. You also can’t use pesticides on the plants because it affects the fish.
I’m very careful about the chemicals that go into my aquaponics tank. All fish are quarantined before going into the system since I can’t medicate. I also don’t use dechlorinators but let chlorine dissipate in another vat before water being added into the system. I’ve now added auto top off and the small amount of chlorine doesn’t bother the fish.
For nutrients, I had to experiment until I found a balance so there’s enough fish waste for the plants and also add seaweed extract for iron, epsom salt for magnesium, and other natural sources of nutrients.
It’s easy…just be careful with chemicals or meds if you are going to actually eat the plants
I’m very careful about the chemicals that go into my aquaponics tank. All fish are quarantined before going into the system since I can’t medicate. I also don’t use dechlorinators but let chlorine dissipate in another vat before water being added into the system. I’ve now added auto top off and the small amount of chlorine doesn’t bother the fish.
For nutrients, I had to experiment until I found a balance so there’s enough fish waste for the plants and also add seaweed extract for iron, epsom salt for magnesium, and other natural sources of nutrients.
It’s easy…just be careful with chemicals or meds if you are going to actually eat the plants
Nitrates in my tank are pretty close to 0 with plants, so it's actually better than no plants. I would never add nitrates in tank for fish. Plants will get constant supply of nitrates, other nutrients can become bottleneck and can be maintained without affecting fish. There are test kit for phosphorus which might be only concerning plant nutrients beside nitrates. The key is to get right amount of plants.
Are you saying that the tank in the photo, with a large cichlid and a few other smaller ones and a small handful of pothos, has zero nitrates and that the plants have achieved this? Sorry, but I suspect that either your testing equipment or methods are faulty, or there is something else going on. That small amount of pothos could not begin to consume all the nitrate created by that much fish biomass.
If you are growing plants in zero-nitrate water, then by definition it is not ideal for the plants. They live in it and get what they can and need to survive, but they would flourish much more if the nitrates were higher.
The smaller fish are new addition and only flowerhorn used to be housed in that tank. I used to do 70% water changes weekly. Nitrates use to stay under 20 before pothos, then below 5ppm on test kit. The levels went down significantly.
In a hypothetical situation, where fish are making exact amount ammonia that eventually turn out to be exact needed nitrates by fish, wouldn't that be ideal? Or do plants have lower threshold for nitrates levels?
I broke my leg recently so haven't been able to change water regularly and I haven't been able to test as well. My data is based tests done few days ago.