Hello all,
I remember reading somewhere about certain plants whose roots help clean the water of any waste matter the frogs leave behind. Can any one shed some light on what plants help to create a clean and toxin free environment? What species? What do the look like? etc?
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Any plant which grows uses 'wastes'. All plants will "clean" the tank. The faster the plant grows, the 'cleaner' the tank will be. Balance this against less pruning and better aesthetic control of slower growing plants.
specifically I am curious about those plants whos roots grow down into the substrate and leach impurities from the water cycling towards the pump. I am trying to plan out my plants purchase from black jungle and would like to order everything I'll need in one fell swoop.
I was thinking of incorporating a mini sump-like tank (water reservoir) addition and fill it with java moss to act as a natural nitrogen filter since it is such an aggressive grower. Basically have it in the sump area and hack it in half once it gets too big. :wink:
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How bout bamboo? I know it's from a different area, but I see it all the time in those little betta tanks growing right in the water.
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Pothos is pretty hungry and grows quickly.
If you got a pond in the tank duckweed.
I think pothos can quickly outgrow a viv, and they're very strong, so they can crowd out other plants and push up on the lid of your viv, possibly letting frogs out one day. A good alternative is philodendron.
As far as the bamboo---it is very porous, and bleach only goes inert after it dries completely, so bleach would not be such a good idea in my opinion.
Maybe vinegar and water---that's not really hard on the frogs, and as long as you rinse the bamboo off afterwards, it would not hurt the frogs to touch the solution that remained in the bamboo---so maybe an organic soap and water mix followed by a vinegar and water rinse would be all you can do. I haven't tried it, so attempt at your own risk----plus, it wouldn't kill chytrid or TB mycobacteria, so be sure your bamboo supplier isn't a newbie with frogs only a few weeks old in case of disease.
Plus, the water used at the home improvement stores is NOT TREATED as city water is, so it is very nasty----use extra measures to sanitize plants from here, and remove all soil that came with your purchase when choosing to put them in the viv.
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I've recently added a small clump of mondo grass into my viv. It's in a clear plastic detergent cap (about 2" dia) which has been filled with blue glass beads. I used a nail (heated until red hot) to melt several holes in the cap, so that water can circulate better. I also wanted to be able to remove it easily for cleaning & maintenance.
The main point here is ALL plants will absorb the nitrates in the frogs waste & any run-off from lightly applied liquid fertilizers (1/2 -1/4 strength).
I would also suggest you check your local aquarium supply stores for live aquarium plants. Last week at my local Petsmart, I noticed lucky bamboo (dracena) for sale.
other possibilities:
floating water clover (Marsiliea mutica) needs bright light
water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
giant duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza) needs very bright light