Aquaponics! What have people done?

[Ellie Potts]

I'm a big fan of growing plants out of aquariums, it really upgrades a set up. I've grown lots of plants in just water, but only pothos and basil out of inhabited fish tanks.
What have you all done? Any easy recommendations? Favorite/least favorite plants to grow aquaponically?

 

[GamerGoldfish2]

I just to pothos

 

[GamerGoldfish2]

I've seen people do sweet potato before though

 

[Waterbabe]

Hi, I've had a bit of fun with a potato and got real good root system which the fighter absolutely loves. I've also had a lot of water cress from experiments and messing about. I don't eat it I may add! Haha... haven't tried plants just veg.

 

[Wills]

I have a monsterra and some pothos in both my tanks - want to get some lucky bamboo soon too also thinking about experimenting with some marginal pond plants soon too.

 

[Acorno]

I'm a big fan of growing plants out of aquariums, it really upgrades a set up. I've grown lots of plants in just water, but only pothos and basil out of inhabited fish tanks.
What have you all done? Any easy recommendations? Favorite/least favorite plants to grow aquaponically?

Soul philodendron does really well for me.

 

[Naughts]

Pothos, monstera, spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) , peace lily (Spathiphyllum). I was able to grow the peace lily submerged by allowing one leaf at a time to be under water until all new leaves were growing submerged, it stayed small though.

 

[sharkweek178]

I have a question about this. Can you do this with fast growing column feeders? From what I understand, aquatic plants absorb ammonia while terrestrial plants absorb nitrate. So if you have a lot of fast growing column feeders, wouldn't they absorb the ammonia before it could become a sufficient amount of nitrate to sustain the terrestrial plants?

 

[Alice B]

On a pond tray on my big pond: Blueberries lived a year, never got many berries, tomatoes in pots with potting mix over a permeable barrier over expanded shale did very well one year, probably 10 pounds of cherokee purple, strawberry plants all died of rot, regardless of potting technique and never mind those youtubes of strawberry plants in pvc pipe. Tomatoes without dirt would have to have a significant iron supplement added to the water, swiss chard produced all year, and one 4" pot of peppermint produced a 6 ft by 8 ft mat of blooming peppermint the next year. Results from Fort Worth, TX, zone 8b

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I've had great success with lucky bamboo. My new build has dwarf scouring rushes, which to be doing great, various terrestrial and aquatic mosses, and most recently some tea plants. It will be interesting to see how those do.

 

[GaryE]

I tend to have low light aquatic plants, and roots in terrestrials, with a few different pothos spp, monstera, calla lilies, peace lilies, 'polka dot plants', boston ferns, ferns I found in a clearance bin unidentified, basil and spider plants.

 

[Ellie Potts]

Pothos, monstera, spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) , peace lily (Spathiphyllum). I was able to grow the peace lily submerged by allowing one leaf at a time to be under water until all new leaves were growing submerged, it stayed small though.

Would love to try spider plant or monstera

I tend to have low light aquatic plants, and roots in terrestrials, with a few different pothos spp, monstera, calla lilies, peace lilies, 'polka dot plants', boston ferns, ferns I found in a clearance bin unidentified, basil and spider plants.

Polka dot plants must have been cool

 

[Acorno]

Would love to try spider plant or monstera

Polka dot plants must have been cool

I’ve tried spider plants and they didn’t do well.

 

[GaryE]

The problem is tank placement. You need a bright enough room for the plants to thrive, and how many windows do we have? I need to win a lottery and build a glass solarium. It's a bit cold here for that to be simple to do.

 

[Ellie Potts]

The problem is tank placement. You need a bright enough room for the plants to thrive, and how many windows do we have? I need to win a lottery and build a glass solarium. It's a bit cold here for that to be simple to do.

As a houseplant lover, I have grow lights to spare and use them. Otherwise you have to stick to low-medium light plants. I think that's why pothos is so popular, it's not picky.