vining plants for nitrate assist

[glenna]

I have been reading from several of you how you use house plants (golden pothos seems to be a fave) to help with nitrate control (plus they are pretty).
I am really trying to find a way to incorporate this into my 125 gallon loach tank.
I recall that my mother used to just break off a stem, put it in a glass of water, and it would eventually make new roots. Her plan, of course, was to make a new potted plant.
So, a few weeks ago, I drilled holes on the plastic flap at the back of the glass canopy, and popped in a few stems. They are living and slowly making roots, but at the rate this is going, I won't have any meaningful plants for about ten years!
The room is kind of dark, so I hung some T5HO fluorescents high above the tank, just to give some better ambient light. I know that these plants don't need a lot of light, but do need some. The tank sits between two tall bookcases, and now I have trellises on the inside surfaces of the bookshelves, so that the plants can trail up.
Can you just get a WHOLE plant and rinse off all the dirt from the rootball and put THAT is the tank rather than waiting a hundred years for roots to form? Should I encase the rootball in something to keep the fish from eating it (they have not been interesting in eating the stems down in the water).
Am I endangering them with some disease by doing the rootball in the water idea?

[Diana]

I buy small house plants (2" to 6" pots) and wash off the soil REALLY WELL.

Then stick the plant in the tank as you describe: roots in the water, stem and leaves out of the water.

I have a planted 'sump' that is actually above the tank. It is a plastic window box about 18" long x 6" x 6". I filled it with lava rock except at the outlet end. A bit of floss keeps the lava from going out the tube and into the tank.
A small pump in the tank pumps water up and into the box.
I have Heartleaf Philodendron in the box. Other plants that grew in the box include one of the really pretty Prayer Plants (Not the simple 'rabbit track, but one with colorful veins and mottling)and Dracaena marginata.

[glenna]

Thanks!
I will try the rinsing off the roots and putting the plants directly into the tank, and see how that works.

[Sharkscott2]

I use Pothos on my 125 gallon just like you said, drilling a hole in the plastic and hanging it in. I have several windows around the tank so it gets alot of indirect light so this works great for me.

I have also placed this plant completely under water and had it sprout new leaves and grow through the tank and eventually out of the tank. However after about a year all the leaves which were submerged died off.

I have a friend who had a large pothos on her desk growing climbing upwards on some wood. She uprooted it, cleaned it and placed it in her tank, some of the leaves are in the air most submerged though. It hasn't been a year but she's had success with it so far.

[Noto]

You can encourage rooting by first placing your cutting in a container of water with a commercial rooting hormone (available at most nurseries) or with a cutting of willow, which will naturally release rooting hormones. Once you have some decent root growth, rinse it and add to the tank.

If you are adding an established plant, you could use a slatted or mesh plant basket to keep fish from chewing on the roots. I don't know if Pothos is toxic to fish, but it is in a group of plants that often contain toxins and physical dangers such as oxalate crystals. I have found that slatted baskets are much cheaper when bought from a hydroponics supply store rather than a pond or aquarium shop.

[glenna]

thanks all,
I am planning on putting the plant roots right in the tank, but with a basket I am making myself out of plastic mesh left over from used up filter cartidges. They are black, so will hopefully blend in nicely.

[starsplitter7]

I thought about using the plastic slotted strawberry baskets for holding plants in the tank.

[glenna]

hey that IS a good idea!
I was wandering around the local nursery looking for ideas of how to contain the roots, but did not think to go to the produce dept at the grocery!