plants for crazy new project?

20 years ago

Hi All,

Firstly, apologies if this is in the wrong section. My project covers about 8 of the available forums here, so I was really lost as to where to put it.

Here's the situation: I am a fishkeeper really, and into planted tanks. I have just set up a new tank which is roughly 180 US gallons, and filled it with fish (discus and tetras) and aquatic plants (mainly echinodorus and cryptocoryne species).

Now this tank is a little different from regular tanks, as it is surrounded on three sides by a 4"x4" trough, split into four sections. These have been designed as part of the filtration of the tank, and as such, tank water flows through these troughs before being fed into a sump tank benieth, and back to the tank via a return pump. The idea is, I grow plants in a hydroponic manner in these troughs.

At present, I have filled the troughs with Jongkind expanded clay pellets (4-10mm) as a growth medium. the tank water is happily flowing through this, but it does make a very wet environment for plants to grow in.

I am after some suggestions for groups of plants that may do well in these conditions, which i can research further. I am guessing bog plants, but which groups?

The tank water is soft and acidic. The whole setup is lit by 3x150W MH lights suspended (variable hieght) above the tank. I also use pressurised CO2 injection into the water, which will mostly be expelled from the water column in these troughs... which in turn may make a CO2 rich micro-environment under the plants I put there? (well... possibly)

Any recommendations are welcome, and appologies for the lengthy post.

KB :-)

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Comments (5)

lucy
20 years ago
Hi, have you posted this to the Aquatic plants forum here? Even bog plants might not love sitting in water all the time, though it's hard to know from here exactly how much (inches?) there is.
kingborris
Original Author
20 years ago
I havent tried the aquatic plants section yet, but I will do! I may try some traditionally aquatic plants, grown in an emersed state. will see what ideas i get from here first. :)

The attached link shows a pic of the troughs. as said they are 4x4' in cross section. water enters on the right, near the top. This end has water at about 3' depth.

As the water travels through the media, it decreases in depth down to about 1/2' on the left.

Here is a link that might be useful:
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iliketerrariums
20 years ago
I have grown Pothos in nothing but water for years at a time, Im sure it will do great in your set up, unless your looking for something a little more exotic/tropical, Ive friends who have grown spider plants in the same manner with very good results, but agian, dont know if you might want a more exotic/tropical plant. All you really have to do is go to your local "plant lady" (theres one in every community) shes either your, or someone elses granny, Im sure she will show you a managery of plants growing in water filled jars on her window sill! Theres also at least one in just about every office building =) Good luck.
mdahms1979
20 years ago
Water mint (Mentha aquatica) or other spreading plants might look nice as a green carpet to cover the troughs. Plants like aquatic arums or arrowheads would look great if you want a little bit of height as well. You could use a spreading plant to cover the media along with some taller more sculptural species for added interest and variation of foliage types.
garyfla_gw
20 years ago
hello
I'm working on a similar setup though my bog area is 8x72 located behind a 150 gallon tank. I'm using this as an area to collect water from the waterfall and channel it back into the tank. Haven't decided the media for this section though i think I'll use crushed black lava rock and maybe some shagnum.
Almost any type of aquarium plant will grow in this situation.Crypts and swords love it.Most of the creeping types and even the stem plants. Pond marginals as well as the Alocasias,Colocasias,Philos ,Nephritis ,Acorus and on and on. For trees there are Mangrove,Cypress,some types of palms.,Ficus,,Hibiscus and on and on. lol.
Since you have such good light you should be able to grow most anything except maybe temperates.lol
if you're keeping discus you must be maintaining warm temps so would stick with lowland tropicals.
Sounds like a fantastic setup!!
gary