Using fish water for your garden

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I water my veg patch and outdoor plants with my fishtank water. The tomatoes and courgettes have really flourished on it - and its nice to complete the cycle as my BN's are currently eating home grown courgettes which they have in a sense helped to grow.

We also run a couple of large composters - we have pet rabbits and ducks. A bucket of fishtank water put in with the composter helps to kick start the composting process as well. I also have to empty our duck pond twice a week - and this also goes on the veggies.

We've had 5 crops off our rhubarb this year which I'm sure is largely down to covering it with rabbit poo over winter and regular dousings from the fish tank.
 
MarkOrm;4289070; said:
I water my veg patch and outdoor plants with my fishtank water. The tomatoes and courgettes have really flourished on it - and its nice to complete the cycle as my BN's are currently eating home grown courgettes which they have in a sense helped to grow.

We also run a couple of large composters - we have pet rabbits and ducks. A bucket of fishtank water put in with the composter helps to kick start the composting process as well. I also have to empty our duck pond twice a week - and this also goes on the veggies.

We've had 5 crops off our rhubarb this year which I'm sure is largely down to covering it with rabbit poo over winter and regular dousings from the fish tank.
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MarkOrm:

What you do with all of this is just terrific. Just a few questions though.

Have you ever made rabbit tea?

Take a large coffee can or something of similar size fill it full of rabbit dung, empty the can of dung into a nylon or panty hose leg (creating a tea bag) and soak it in a 5 gallon bucket of barely warm water for about 1 hour. After about 1 hour, remove the tea bag and gently squeeze it to empty most of the water from the tea bag. Dilute the rabbit tea in the 5 gallon bucket 1:1. 1 gal. of tea to 1 gal of fresh water, then use the 2 gallons of rabbit tea and use for all plants. Compared to fish water, it like giving your plants a different flavor of beer. Plants love it too. Does well to enrich the variety of fertilizer from time to time. Maybe do this in between tank water changes. The contents of the teabag, you can then use as compost too. If you rinse out the nylon real good and save it, it can be reused many times.

My other question is, what are courgettes? The name does not ring a bell as far as sight recognition. Send a PM to me. Don't want to stray from the topic of discussion here. Thanks, and I look forward to recieving your PM.
~ David
 
TheFishJunky;4167176; said:
I agree-I've been doing this for years. Including any dead fish etc-bury them in the soil. It's nature at its best.
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I do they same thing. The more mulm in the water, the better. Plants watered with tank water will grow much faster than with regular tap water. I also used the water from my cat skeleton to water plants. The ammonia and remaining tissue doubled the plant growth behind the painting studio at school. Grounds was really confused.

Random fact. Native Americans used fish heads as fertilizer in the crop fields.

Hopefully I'll be able to experiment with aquarium water in ceramics. I want to see if it will promote mold growth, which helps newly mixed clay mature and makes it easier to work.

And on a side note, don't use tank water to water carnivorous plants, it'll burn their roots. Too many nutrients.
 
As an avid gardener, I can say that aquarium water is stellar when used on plants.

It doesn't burn roots or foliage. Like my Dieffenbachia, it is very sensitive to chlorine and fluoride. Using the fish water prevents leaf spots and feeds it as well.

Didn't realize this was an older thread. lol
 
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