LEB
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I was reading a comment or two about the value of pothos as a means to remove nitrogen wastes from acquariums. To give one an idea of how effective pothos is in removing wastes consider the following: over 18 months ago, I set up an aquarium with a little green slider and two dozen or so guppies - I filled it 1/ 2 to 2/3s of the way up and cut up a bunch of pothos which I placed in the take rooting them in the rocks and gravel. I NEVER ONCE CHANGED THE WATER the whole time (18 months) - just replenished it and fed the turtles/fish with Repotmin and fish flakes. I sort of abandoned the whole thing except to feed the animals - the guppies multiplied constantly, the turtle grew 3X his size and the pothos flourished albeit the water got rather murky-looking after a while
It finally got too cloudy and murky for even me to tolerate so yesterday I siphoned it out and replaced the water. The turtle was 2-3 times the size and there were more guppies than I could ever count. Dozens upon dozens of them. Even With this kind of neglect, everything flourished so I would have to credit the pathos. Even the pump I set up stopped working last month yet fish, turtles and plants all thrived. Imagine what pathos would do for a "responsible" fish tank owner (unlike me!).
I have done this for 20 or so years now - periodically I set up tanks, dump a bunch of pothos and fish in them and then effectively abandon them. When I finally get around to siphoning them often a year or two later, there are literally dozens upon dozens of fish swiming around doing apparently quite well. I think they even eat the pothos roots because there are never many roots on the plants and the vines trail all over and out of the tank. They actually look nice save for the murky water - talk about "au natural" Food for thought for those having nitrogen problems
LEB
It finally got too cloudy and murky for even me to tolerate so yesterday I siphoned it out and replaced the water. The turtle was 2-3 times the size and there were more guppies than I could ever count. Dozens upon dozens of them. Even With this kind of neglect, everything flourished so I would have to credit the pathos. Even the pump I set up stopped working last month yet fish, turtles and plants all thrived. Imagine what pathos would do for a "responsible" fish tank owner (unlike me!).
I have done this for 20 or so years now - periodically I set up tanks, dump a bunch of pothos and fish in them and then effectively abandon them. When I finally get around to siphoning them often a year or two later, there are literally dozens upon dozens of fish swiming around doing apparently quite well. I think they even eat the pothos roots because there are never many roots on the plants and the vines trail all over and out of the tank. They actually look nice save for the murky water - talk about "au natural" Food for thought for those having nitrogen problems
LEB
