Not sure if this is strictly hydroponics but my fishtank loves the plants and the plants love the tank.

I have quite a lot of filtration but the plants absorb the nitrate that I otherwise would have to do more waterchanges to remove.

In the tank I have fancy goldfish who really do produce a lot of ammonia

Also a short video

  • Günther Unlustig 🍄@slrpnk.netM
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    3 months ago

    That’s absolutely brilliant! I doubt that the pothos would have gotten quite as big if it didn’t work :)

    The term for it is aquaponics. People often keep tilapia or other fish with veggies in combination for example. Just like your setup, the poop gets aerated and turned into nutrients by bacteria and the circle closes.

    I have quite a lot of filtration but the plants absorb the nitrate that I otherwise would have to do more waterchanges to remove.

    Just be aware that the fish might still swim in their own piss and might suffocate over time. Plants don’t eat as much as one might think. Do regular measurements.

    Feel free to post more updates about that, it’s so cool! 🤗

    • cosmicrookie@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 months ago

      Thanks!

      I’ve had goldfish for some years now, and found that plants are great for absorbing a lot of the nitrate (although not all). I still do quite a lot of water changes, to remove it, but the plants seem to take some too.

      I have a few more tanks, for the smaller goldfish, and they too have fast growing plants on the surface. The reason why I can’t have many plants bellow the waterline is, that goldfish will eat them. They will even nip on the roots, so many of the plants are placed in plastic baskets to prevent the fish from eating too much of the roots

  • Aljhaqu@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Many already pointed out that this is an alternative to common Hydroponics called Aquaponics. In which the Mani source of nitrogen are the fish and animal droppings.

    Making it a (mostly) closed system in which the plants clean the water, while injecting some oxygen (trace amounts, I am only speaking from memory, thus might be wrong), and the creatures eat the plants debris (micro roots, and avoiding the formation of plagues).

    Also, what fishes, crustaceans and molluscs do you have in your tank?