What Plants should I put in a sump?

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Fishnthehood

Fishnthehood

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 21, 2010
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Chino, CA
Just wondering from those who use sumps what type of plants you are using and what the benefit of using these plants might have on your tank.

Long story short I'm in the process of setting up my fish tank room/ man cave and plant to have a sump made out of a 225 gallon water container. I'm hearing that plants offer up another stage of filtration but would like some feedback and maybe some pictures from those who have already done it.
 
Live plants are one of the only ways to reduce nitrates, look for anything fast growing, I hear the best is pothos but I've seen all kinda of stuff. I'd try java fern since it grows super fast, but keep in mind u don't wnt a ton of plant matter loose in your sump, that's why I like the idea of bamboo, but it isn't cheap
 
I put pothos in my filters a month ago and so far I have an average of a 75 percent reduction in my nitrates. I'll have to see if that teen continues but so far I'm amazed at it. I usually have 20-30 ppm and it's been reading at 5 or lower


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Are you looking for plants to be submerged, or just have the roots in the sump/tank. There is a great thread here <http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?404668-Plant-only-filtration-(why-not-popular-in-the-hobby-)/page52> but it is really long. Some of the more popular plants are pothos (as mentioned above), arrowhead plants, and lucky bamboo. From what I have read the first two I mentioned are the real nitrate users, while bamboo doesn't do a whole lot. Some also say that arrowhead is the best.

I recently read the entire thread I pasted for you and introduced some pothos to my 125g african cichlid tank. The plant is very healthy and I have seen some new root growth and a few new leaves. It has only been in the tank for about 4 or 5 days, but it is definitely already slowing my tank's build up of nitrates. I have also been told that misting the leaves on pothos plants helps, but I have not started doing this yet.

Also, please don't assume that you don't have to keep doing water changes since you add plants. My hope is to have enough plants to switch from a schedule of water changes every 4 or 5 days to about once every 8-10, but again you still need to do water changes. There are other minerals and nutrients in the water that get depleted that we can't measure (without very specialized equipment).

Good luck and let us know what you decide.
 
Right now I plan to do whatever is recommended to help reduce nitrates and extend periods in between water changes. I'll keep you posted.


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Plants need light, I hang a small fluorescent light above my tanks. And if it's going to be in a sump under the tank then yes you will need to provide light


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