Aquaponics To Polish Aquarium Water With Syngonium Sp.

[Stan510]

I've been at this for over 40 years now,and this summer was my first real try at using tropical Houseplants to help filter the water. It started this time with a few rooted cuttings of Syngonium sp. Silver something it was called. All that you see is what has grown since late summer in my 240 gallon kept by a large window as you can see. What has happened is that the larger it gets the clearer more polished the water gets and stays. I've seen a real drop off in water tint ( I feed the fish beefheart,a well known food that can tint water) that usually builds up over the week. In fact,it seems like I can feed my fish as much as I want without lowering the water quality. The roots are both rooted in the sand and dangling in the water column and is a great rest area for fish who want to be away from tankmates for awhile.
One more? There is NO ODOR to the tank..not musty,not fishy. You can put you nose over this and its clean air.
Now I have sunlight hitting this tank and to do the same with artificial light would take a strong LED or Metal Halide...but i know that these days the intense LED's are economical and long lasting. Consider those.
Syngonium also for a vine,grows compact. Unlike Pothos that wants to climb.
Give it a try.
What size filles is the max? I can only load one right now.
THANKS ALL FOR LOOKING.

 

[Stan510]

Since posting,I added some wood branches to look as if they grew from above into the roots. Looks much more jungly now..and fish love the "stilt" roots with the fine Syngonium roots. Couldn't be more pleased that something that looks good,is also an important part of the system

 

[Stan510]

A few more of late. I tried to lower the MBs to post.

 

[Stan510]

That Sword plant? In October,I had to cut off ALL the remaining leaves down to a bud. It never did very well but 4" leaves at most...then those would get algae. After the Sechem iron gluc? You see all new growth since late November. It's why I added the star grass,Bolbitis,more Ammania. The Syngonium ate up the nitrates and the Seachem really did a great job to give a huge push.
No tablets,no Co2,no 17 herbs and spices. Light and a balanced system with 35-40% water changes every week or two at most.

 

[Louis Walker]

I just recently tried to build an aquaponics system for a 10-gallon aquarium?
REALLY general suggestions here:
1. Have 11 liters of water per fish (assuming that these are fish to eat, not some $ 400 koi) more or less. would not have more than 5 fish per tank.
2. If not edible, then double the amount (feeder goldfish) although they may end up growing a bit too large over the years.
3.The grow bed needs to be rough 300mm deep-50mm will always be wet, 200 mm will be damp, and 500 at the top will be dry.
4. Use a bell-type siphon to build a simple ebb and flow system (YouTube)
5. You grow be should have AT LEAST the same size (volume) as your water tank. Almost EVERY system that I have ever seen is seriously undersized as far as the amount of real estate in the grow bed. If you are undersized you do not have the surface area that is sufficient to deal with the fish waste and you will have to use a solids filter of some sort.
6. Keep and use ammonia teste strips; if ammonia gets too high cut back on food.
7. Use a bacteria boost (available at pet supply) to start the nitrogen cycle faster.
8. Use foliar iron and mineral spray for plants. Make sure that it is for fruit and vegetable as opposed to ornamental.
9. Pack you grow bed with various heights of plants; I use .75 of recommended spacing and it works fine. (You can get away with tighter spacing due to water-based nutrient conveyor.
10. Have a fan to increase air circulation among the plants to help with mold and fungus issues.