Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I think its a wonderful idea to have an undergravel filter with aquatic plants planted in the fish tank.

These plants provide a place for the fry to hide, enabling you to grow different generations in the same tank. that way you could do a continuous cropping of fish instead of harvesting all the fish the same time to throw the system off balance

They provide and occasional snack for the fish when they are hungry eg. if you were to forget to feed for a while they would have the plants as a meal there waiting. Self serve . I see ome thing other than pellets to be a plus as well.

The plants are allso a buffer for nutrient up take meaning they will help brake down the solids in the fish tank and take up some nitros in the process this is a good thing as the only way this nitro can get out of the system is if the fish eat the plants. So you would be able ta feed more food because the water would be 'cleanse' faster.

They add oxygen at day time and take up at night so this even outs it self. This is assuming you got a omnivore fish like tilapia.

what do guys think about this?

A cut and paste off a little info i think is interesting

"Most rooted aquatic plants have been found to possess root hairs, and several different species have been found to develop mycorrhizal associations much the same as terrestrial plants do. Rooted aquatic plants are well adapted to growing in an anaerobic substrate. They are able to 'pump' enough oxygen to the roots so that in many cases the oxygen actually diffuses into the surrounding sediment. They can also respire anaerobically if necessary and produce lactic acid or ethanol instead of CO2 as a byproduct. The root meristems (growing tips) of some species are even inhibited in the presence of oxygen." - DH

I never had good luck with plants over a UGF in my aquariums no matter what I did. Straight in the gravel or with a plug of rock wool, it didn't matter. Everything died in my aquariums.

As far as the fish-plant interation, maybe if you tried Java Fern or something less palatable. Given how my tilapia devour leaves that I put in the tank, I wouldn't expect most aquatic plants to stand a chance.

I'm going to stagger fish production by raising batches of fry in a separate tank, and then introducing them as needed.

I do love aquatic plants in with the fish, but everytime I have put them in there, they get demolished... I've had water lillies, Taro, chinese water chestnuts, strapy underwater reed type plants, all sorts.. But everything has been eaten, up turned, demolished, taken bit by bit.... If your having a lot of large fish in a system, I think you need to try and find a way to keep them away from the plants to an extent.

I recently checked my floating foam raft as the cress that had been growing like crazy on the foam, was starting to die back. When I lifted the foam, most of the roots had been trimmed right back to nothing by the fish.. Next time I will try and use net pots, or similar so the fish can get some roots, but then the plant will always have some protected roots as well...

Hey EB have you got any of the stuff( unknown water weed) I gave you?
I have a small amount and have noticed it is starting to grow again.
Popped some in the aquarium, usually it sits for a while but this lot go gobbled up straight away.
Drove passed your place last week actually twice, had been to buno for a wedding, upto perth to finish another stage and back to MR in a day!!
No good for GHG's though I was able to combine a few things, made me feel a bit better.
sorry for hijack..oops
C1

I think I have a small amount of it left C1, the summer has hit it pretty hard and there's some azola in that same tank, so I assume that it's the one you gave me..

azola-- is that your suggestion?

Thanks, good to put a name to it! and know what I am growing.hehe
Cheers C1

Yep, pretty sure it's azola, but on steroids..... Did yours die back over summer as well then? If so, does it normaly do that?

Yes it did except under the brdge where some was trapped.
Heaps of what I think are seeds.

if it's Azolla, then that's a fern, won't be seeds, there's a pic of Azolla on the Plants Glossary Page

oh bugger now I am confused, thanks for that J.(not the confusion)
I am going to find a posted piccy of the stuff growing flat out.

this is it, yeh EB thinks its on steroids.
Judging by that pic I think so too.

there are lots of species of Azolla, maybe do a search for it, see if you can find another pic to show your one.

you were to quick J. Previous post 1 min before yours.

yeah, but have you found one that looks like yours and gives the name for it. It's possibly an Azolla species, but.... hang on, I've done some checking.

Does it go red sometimes? Are the roots hairy or smooth?

If they are hairy it is Pacific Azolla as opposed to Ferny Azolla.

I've just never seen it growing that thick before. As it thickens up it bunches together and looks lumpy like the second picture of yours C1.

something else of interest for APers...
"Species of azolla support the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria Anabaena azollae in their fronds. Being a fern there are no flowers."