Attempt at nitrate reducing pothos filter

[bgmann12]

I have had a nitrate problem in my tank lately and went online and found out about pothos plants in a bob filter. It said that it can remove 5-10ppm of nitrate in a week, so I decided to give it a try.

Starting nitrate is about 35-40ppm

This is how it looks with the plants sticking out. If it works I will post how I did it. It only cost me 8 dollars because I already had the filter.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

Algae scrubber? More plants? Less fish?

I like the filanter

 

[Mebbid]

I've been wanting to add pothos to my tank for quite some time now. Not for nitrate removal, but just for looks. It looks quite neat hanging over the side of a tank and my 48" t5ho fixture is too long for my 36" tank so I figured.. Might as well put it to use

 

[bgmann12]

That is another reason I did it to. I am hoping when it grows it will cover up the hob filter too.

 

[54seaweed]

Water changes will help

 

[bgmann12]

I do them every week or very other week. I was just looking for a cool way to reduce them.

 

[bgmann12]

3 days: I would say it is working so far.

 

[bgmann12]

update as of last night

 

[Retired_AF]

Interesting, to say the least. My question would be, "Where are the nitrates coming from?" Has this tank been cycled?

 

[bgmann12]

Yes the tank has been cycled the nitrate has nothing to do with a tank not being cycled. It is actually a sign of a cycled tank because the bacteria that eats ammonia turns it into nitrite then nitrate then you have to do water changes or something like this to remove the nitrate in most cases because the nitrate eating bacteria that turns the nitrate into nitrogen gas is anaerobic and there is oxygen in the water so there are not many places in the tank where the anaerobic bacteria can live.

 

[lomeli562]

Can i ask your tank size and the fish you have im doing the same with two different tanks one is a 55 gal goldfish tank and the other a 40 gal tropical community tank and the pothos are growing like weeds! Im actually considering building some type of hydroponics setup to see how much of the nitrates i can get rid of.

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[BBradbury]

Nitrate Reducing Land Plants

Hello bg...

Start a more aggressive water change routine. That's the best way to reduce nitrates. Land plants will work, but the plant must have a large root ball with all the potting mixture removed. It also needs a constant source of oxygen to the roots. Pothos doesn't grow large enough to impact the nitrate levels in the water, it doesn't have a large enough root system.

Having a plant growing out of the filter is a nice conversation piece, but this plant isn't effective for nitrate control. If you want a land plant that's a real nitrate user, research Chinese evergreen.

B

 

[venymae]

This is a fun experiment. I have seen a fish store that kept pothos in the rear of their fish tanks (not just the filter) and had the roots growing down the back of the tank. Looks really cool once there are tons of established stems! I'm interested to see what you find in this fun endeavor!

 

[bgmann12]

Thanks everyone it is a 20 long and had 2 bosemani rainbows and a cory catfish. A lot of people told me It wouldn't work but the results say otherwise. The nitrate started at 30-40 ppm and now is 10ppm with no water changes just topping of.

 

[lomeli562]

How long since your last water change?

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[bgmann12]

In order to prove the concept I haven't done one since I put one the filter but still check nitrate once in a while

 

[lomeli562]

Im just asking from curiousity how many days have you been able to dodge the water changes lol

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[bgmann12]

It has been at least since the 23 of January because that is when I started the filter

 

[fishychick]

What did you do specifically? Did you just rest the plants in the filter? Or did you put something in for the roots to hold onto? Were the roots already established or did you use clippings? Sorry for all the questions. I'm sort of experimenting with the same thing.


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[bgmann12]

I went to lowes and got a small bag of river rock and a small pot of pothos. I took the cartridge out of the filter replaced it with the river rock and planted the pothos plants in the rock after rinsing the dirt of the roots. So,yes the plants already had roots.