Re: plant filtration

[Erik Olson <eriko@wrq.com>]

On Tue, 17 Feb 1998, Frauley/Elson wrote:

> Hi all,
> The idea of experimenting with plant-root filtration has appealed to me
> for some time. Can anyone tell me how the plant is held on top of the
> tank? By this, I mean what rooting medium, if any, is used between the
> stalk of the plant and the roots in the aquarium water?

Hooray for retro tech!  Hydroponic plant filters rule!!! :)

Two succesful methods:  I've kept plants growing in aquaclear-300 filters
(with the lid off).  I keep them in either rockwool like aquatic plant
wholesalers do, bare-root, or in small pots of large gravel (the pot is
not solid;  it's similar to the aquatic plant pots).  I keep one sponge in
the filter, no carbon.  The plants sit right on top of the sponge. 

Dave Soares keeps raingutters on top of some of his tanks, and has an
airlift tube to lift the water up to the gutter.  There is an overflow on
the other end where it flows back to the tank.  If the airlift method
doesn't work, I suppose the outlet of a small powerhead would do the
trick.  Gutters are very nice because you can hold more plants than other
methods.

Theoretical methods: floating foam blocks with holes for the plants to
poke through, a shelf behind the tank, etc. 

Plants that have worked well for me in the past: spatiphyllum, syngonium,
philadendron, pothos, spider plant.

Interestingly, for Apisto tanks, we seem to have good luck by simply
growing *floating* plants with higher light (2 wpg?).

  - Erik

- ---
Erik Olson				
eriko at wrq.com