Many
terrestrial plants metabolize at a faster rate than common aquarium
plants. It is also easier for us to create a suitable environment
within our homes for the terrestrial plants than for aquatics.
Several houseplants are capable of forming aquatic roots that can
be submerged in water and can grow this way continually, so long
as the leaves are emerged (in air). This is because they originate
from many of the same places that our fish do! Plants from the rainforest
and other places that have a distinct flooded, rainy season must
be able to adapt to these conditions. So how can this apply to our
aquariums?
When several cuttings are inserted just a few inches below the water
and the leaves allowed to face bright light (such as form a window)
the plants will suck up vast quantities of ammonia, nitrite and
nitrate. You could employ this permanently as a natural part of
your filtration, or just use it during the cycling period of unplanted
aquaria. I have used houseplants this way in tanks containing fish
that would otherwise destroy plants. I simply place the ends of
the cuttings inside the filter that hung off the back of the tank
and allowed the branches to trail across the canopy of the tank.
I did however have to be very careful not to damage the roots when
cleaning the filter out. You could adapt this to include a small
area of the tank that the fish cannot access and slip the cuttings
in there. One word of caution, when the temperature of the water
is too high, the end of the cuttings will rot. I wouldn’t
recommend going above 75 degrees F.
Houseplants that can grow aquatic roots:
Pothos (Epipremnum)
Philodendron spp.
Spider plant (Chlorophytum)
Arrowhead vine / Goosefoot (Syngonium)
Coleus spp.
Bacopa spp.
Creeping Charlie
Swedish Ivies
Alternanthera spp.
Make sure that you take the cuttings from a non-woody part of the
plant and that they are at least 6-inches long. You could try any
trailing type of tropical. I have never tried and would not recommend
trying any plant that you know to be poisonous (i.e., Poinsettia).
Plants that grow from canes such as dumb cane (Dieffenbachia)
and Drecaenas will not grow this way nor will a tree-form
plant. When using Spider plants (Chlorophytum) place a
lamp beside the plant at night to encourage it to produce plantlets.
Once plantlets are produced, only the tips where the rosettes begin
must be suspended in the water. Spider plants grow very well this
way but will not tolerate the extra hard water of an African cichlid
tank.
Unfortunately, this is not a quick fix. The cuttings won’t
take out too much nitrogen until the roots have initiated (1-2 weeks).
Also, remember to consider the light requirements of the plants
in question. Good luck and happy gardening.
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