Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,

is it okay to keep plants in the fishtank?
Its probably not good, but i want it to look nice, and the fish should be happy too so i am wondering how bad it is to keep water plants in the fishtank.

It may decrease your nitrates somewhat since they will use them to grow but most water plants I have dealt with grow pretty slow. There might be some issues with oxygen consumption but as long as you are supplementing with aeration I think it's probably not an issue. Depending on the type fish, some might consume the plants.

Yeah, main problem is them eating the plant, if your growing omnivorous fish, otherwise they can tend to make a mess of plants as the fish get bigger. In a low stocked goldfish system no worries, but if you have a fair few big active fish they tend to knock plants over.

I have tilapia that eliminate any and all roots that they can reach. The plants do fine if they can live without roots...like cilantro, but any other plant might have issues