water spinach

[frogtoad]

Hi everyone,

I posted this in the general discussion forum already but didn't see this forum until now. Hopefully I'll have better luck here.

I have some water spinach seeds (Ipomoea aquatica ) that I'm thinking of putting in my 10 gallon aquarium. I've seen a lot of information on growing it in aquaponics but in all of those cases, only the roots are left in the water. Has anyone tried this? If I started the seeds in water and left them growing in water, I think that it would adapt to staying submerged in water. I'm not really interested in growing it tall enough to stick out of the tank, so I'd plan on cutting it down regularly. Also, I'm in the middle of a fishless cycling with the tank. I've just started getting nitrites and nitrates a few days ago. If I decided to add seeds now, would this affect my cycling? I know there is very little experience with this plant here in the US especially in a tank, so even inexperienced opinions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[Fishperson]

I have never heard of this plant so I can only speak generally but plants take up nitrogen and help with the cycling process. So yes it would be good.

 

[frogtoad]

Thanks Fishperson. I put in a few seeds and we'll see if they survive totally underwater. I figure since I still don't have fish yet, this might be a good time to try it. If it starts gunking the water, I'll pull them out.