Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Does anyone grow plants in the water for shade eg lilies. I was looking at puting shade cloth over the fish tank but a floating plant would look better.

Some of us grow watercress on pieces of foam - they spread across the water, and look quite nice. The fish like the roots aswell.

I will be growing Kangkong over my tanks in the near future... both edible and useful (keep the fish happy )

Must be tasty stuff, google images showed more of it on plates than in the ground.

once established it apparently grows like a weed... can grow in marsh, dryish soil and floating on water (if staked/tied to something)

It definately prefers WET ..... It's commonly found growing wild around the edges of lakes in Thailand ,, and yes tastes very nice ,, not particularly high in Vitamins but it's a usefull green.
The leaves are shapped somwhat like a gum leaf.

Also know here as water convolvus, I think ,, can't remember the Vietnamese name for it , but it's very popular there also.

If you get some seeds you only need a few as it self roots and spreads like mint. It can survive moderate winters ,, it lives through winter here in Sydney ,, stops growing / dies back a bit but once spring arrives it TAKES-OFF.
Enjoy.

Many people like to try floating rafts of plants on the fish tanks. Depending on the fish, they may tend to eat the roots so a basket or cage around the plants might be the only way they survive with certain types of fish.

Many water plant would require some gravel in the bottom of the pond and might cause some issues with solids build up in a heavily stocked system though it would be grand in a more ornamental type system.

Plants growing in the tank might also cause some challenges when trying to net dinner and in some situations, a cover over the tank can be a safety measure to keep fish from jumping out and children from getting in.

I would go so far as to say that ALL systems should have a cover over the water of some sort that can support the weight of a large child at least - dont have open water. One of the families of our school lost their toddler daughter to a toilet drowning - that is not a lot of water....

Sacred Lotus is edible, and can e placed in pots - easy to remove and then replace after harvesting fish

I'm trialing Water lily, nardoo, pennywort and water buttercup, in pots topped with gravel hanging from the safety mesh on the top (via wire), the pot will stay still despite any water fluctuations and is suspended at the right depth for the different varieties (>40cm lily, ranged 10-40cm deep for others) when the tank is full.

so far only goldfish and the plants haven't been devoured - day1

they do like the little green weedy spots that came with the plants though but seem to spit them back out. ?

anyone else have more experience with the water plants? advice?

Irises in the top pond, cause I like the flowers. Everything in the bottom pond got eaten by gilgies (like a yabbie) roots and all.
Let a Singapore daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata) put roots into the bottom pond because it gives the goldies somewhere to breed.

Salivina and duckweed are working out well. Can't keep the duckweed near the fish. The salivina makes a great mulch.

Anyone growing Water Chestnut ?

Yes we are and selling them as well.

yep, we've eaten the first lot

I finally found what lebanese watercress is:
http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/s ... erecta.htm
also know as lesser water parsnip, and of course it's a weed in most places...