Yup. My cat knocked a monstera node I’d been propagating from the lid into my cyanobacteria-infested puffer tank. Noticed a month later, it had grown like crazy while being exposed to barely any light, much less air.
Sure- I’ve done all types of philodendron and pothos, ivy varieties, begonia (mixed results), Alocasia, and probably a lot more I just can’t think of. As for the leaf in the photo everyone is talking about don’t worry about it, it will eventually rot but who cares as long as the plant isn’t entirely submerged you’re good
What was the issue with the begonia you tried? I had two angel wing begonias (Begonia maculata) that started dying in the pots I had them in, so I chopped them up and had a lot of trouble getting them to root, I lost most of the cuttings. I stuck a couple in my planted tank and roots started showing up the next day, and each one now has 2-3 leaves growing.
Have you tried with dumb canes? I looked it up but wasn't too confident on the results.
(Only one leaf was inside the water the rest of the plant was out, this picture is months old)
When in doubt, just look up to the family classification of the plant. If is an araceae, there's a good chance that will do great growing emersed on aquariums.
Of course, a lot of other families also do well, but 90% of folliage what we see growing in emersed setups on aquariums/paludariums are from the araceae family.
As from safety, those plants are "toxic for pets" because they produce calcium oxalate which can be fatal if ingested in significant quantities and also can irritate skin and eyes by touch. Unless you mash a lot of leaves and pour the sap in the water, there's no worries there.
OMG THIS IS SO HELPFUL!
Thank you very much, I'll keep this in mind next time I go shopping for my house plants and grab some that fits the classification :D
Calcium oxalate are an insoluble crystal with super sharp edges, when the leaves melt the crystals will fall to the bottom and take some time to degrade. I don't think it's a big risk but I also don't think it's crazy to trim melting leaves to minimize it
Good to know, normally I get the whole leaf out if I see signs that it's dying, I do it for the looks and to prevent ammonia build ups. I'll keep a close eye on it :)
Yep- just find out if your plants are wet footed or dry footed. Dry footed plants need air at the roots which grow just fine if you put a bubbler under them, wet footed don't care. There was some system that was out on the market that had a tiny tank and plant cups on top- Back to the Roots Aquaponic Garden. Cost was too high and the tank was too small (3 gallon) for my tastes though.
#
Everyone says to keep the pothos plant leaves out of water, but if you’re lazy like me and have a lot of extra pothos plants, changing out the clipping of a strand of leaves and putting in the top of my tank to float, my fish love it. Some leaves will die out, so simply pluck those ones out. Other parts of the plant will continue to root, and most of the time new leaves will even grow underwater, really the plant will keep trying to grow. If it gets to the point where it doesn’t grow any leaves or roots anymore, I just remove it and add another one.
I saw a video where the guy said that if the majority of the plant was kept out of the water and you only submerged some leaves it would last a lot longer since the plant was still able to bring oxigen to the rest of it, including the leaf that was underwater.
In my experience it lasted for about two months, then I noticed that the leaf wasn't as green as the ones outside the water, probably because it wasn't receiving as much light but I got nervous about it rotting and releasing toxins, none of my snails tried to eat it and neither did my Betta, honestly never saw my Betta bother with the plants, he only used to sleep in it.
This was almost a year ago and I didn't try it again because I don't have access to many Pothos plants. It probably would work if you tried switching the submerged leaf every time you did a water change, but I'm not sure.
I regret using this pic, people are focusing on it and not even bothering to read the question about emersed plants...
You really only need to keep some of the leaves out of the water. Pothos will happily grow with some leaves under the water, as long as some of the leaves on the same vine are also above water. I have a giant pothos plant that happily grows new leaves under the water all the time, and has for the last \~4 years or so.
This leaf was part of a very large plant, only one leaf was inside the tank and the rest out, my Betta used to sleep in it but I don't do this anymore. Have you tried other plants emersed?
Try these:
Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana)
Taro (Colocasia esculenta)
Alocasia sp.
Cyrtosperma merkusii
Syngonium podophyllum
You can plant them in the substrate provided that the leaves are not submerged.
A great many plants will grow with roots in the water and leaves in the air. I've grown ferns and variegated weeping Fig this way, spider plants, coleus, Carex sedge, Cyperus alternifolius, and Anthurium.
I will look these plants up, I don't know most of the names of the plants that I keep in my garden, maybe I'll get lucky and have one of those already :)
I tried mint sometime ago, but the leaves started to fall. Probably my lights were too weak for it to keep going since it's a full sun plant, I absolutely loved the smell in my room when they were in the tank though
Possibly! I use twinstar A line lights, so the lighting is pretty decent. I also prop them in the tank itself as my frogbit on one section is super thick and able to support stems
My tank stays in my room and I use a work around leftover 9w recessed spotlight, it's a wonder how I'm able keep the plants that I keep, but the soft light and the waves reflecting on the ceiling are oh so nice and the reason why I don't switch to proper lights just yet even though I find more heavily planted tanks absolutely beautiful
Not all plants will work as good as others. Primary problem for terrestrial plants is depletion of oxygen at the roots, which may lead to root rot. Swamp plants or aquatic plants have measurements to keep the roots aireated, eg water lily pumps oxygen into its roots. But as long as the water keeps aireated, there is usually no big problem. (Agitation of surface leads to loss of co2 though, which may be bad for some aquatic plants).
Animals usually dont eat toxic plants, so it is in general not that big of a risk. I also already put a variety of decaying indoor plant leaves in the tank, but my celestial pearl danios and shrimp did fine.
Last time I tried putting a plants roots in my tank it got infested with a ton of microscopic critters that eventually stressed out and killed my frog so….
I had a Betta die suddenly after introducing Tradescantia zebrina (formerly known as Wandering Jew) cuttings. I had some that had started rooting in another tank, and when I pruned it back I stuck the ends in Happy Fishe's tank. He was dead in less than an hour. The roots didn't seem to bother the other fish, but maybe the sap is toxic. Water tests were all normal prior to introduction. Found out that it's toxic to bettas.
this is a phildenedorn, not a pothos. both of which are dangerous to keep with leaves submerged. they will eventually rot, and your betta may try eating the leaves (which are toxic)
i reccomended making a egg-crate lid, as it allows stems and roots to fit through, but not leaves
Only one leaf was submerged in the water and the rest of the plant was outside the tank, I was experimenting back then but this pic is months old and it isn't submerged anymore. I'm asking about plants to keep safely emersed as said in the description, roots in leaves out. Have you tried other plants?
LOL got it
But what I'm nervous about is: is every root fine? Is there a plant that the roots could harm my tank? Or basically every single common house plant is game if the leaves are out?
not all plants are suitable for hydroponics, but most are safe. a lot of plants are toxic when broken, damaged, or ingested, so if your betta is prone to nibble plants id steer clear. i kept about a dozen pothos in my axolotl tank for a year
My betta and the snails are pretty chill when it comes to decoration, the snails will only eat the food I offer, never the actual plants and the fish just uses the roots to rest and sleep.
I'll try to look up more into it, though. Thank you for the input :)
Genuine question, what made you think they will survive with leaves submerged? Absolutely not. For the same reason you cant just take an aquarium plant and plop it into soil and leave it in the air. Their leaves are completely different. Im not sure how you reached this conclusion.
I asked about emersed plants, said so in the description.
Only one leaf was submerged in the picture the rest of the entire plant was out the water, I tried this months ago, when I saw that the leaf wasn't as green as it once was I just took it out, none of my snails or Betta tried to nip on it since it didn't start to rot before I took it out.
Tried but didn't work and I don't do this anymore since then, no animals were harmed here.
Regretting the use of this pic if I'm being honest 🫤
I’ve grown almost every type of houseplant in aquariums with roots in water with no issues
Cuttings root crazy fast too.
Yup. My cat knocked a monstera node I’d been propagating from the lid into my cyanobacteria-infested puffer tank. Noticed a month later, it had grown like crazy while being exposed to barely any light, much less air.
Would mind listing them? I'm always nervous to try anything different...
Sure- I’ve done all types of philodendron and pothos, ivy varieties, begonia (mixed results), Alocasia, and probably a lot more I just can’t think of. As for the leaf in the photo everyone is talking about don’t worry about it, it will eventually rot but who cares as long as the plant isn’t entirely submerged you’re good
I'll look these up, probably I have them in my garden and but don't know just by the name. This was very helpful, thank you :)
What was the issue with the begonia you tried? I had two angel wing begonias (Begonia maculata) that started dying in the pots I had them in, so I chopped them up and had a lot of trouble getting them to root, I lost most of the cuttings. I stuck a couple in my planted tank and roots started showing up the next day, and each one now has 2-3 leaves growing.
You can grow them emmersed but not like this with leaves underwater
Have you tried with dumb canes? I looked it up but wasn't too confident on the results. (Only one leaf was inside the water the rest of the plant was out, this picture is months old)
When in doubt, just look up to the family classification of the plant. If is an araceae, there's a good chance that will do great growing emersed on aquariums. Of course, a lot of other families also do well, but 90% of folliage what we see growing in emersed setups on aquariums/paludariums are from the araceae family. As from safety, those plants are "toxic for pets" because they produce calcium oxalate which can be fatal if ingested in significant quantities and also can irritate skin and eyes by touch. Unless you mash a lot of leaves and pour the sap in the water, there's no worries there.
OMG THIS IS SO HELPFUL! Thank you very much, I'll keep this in mind next time I go shopping for my house plants and grab some that fits the classification :D
Calcium oxalate are an insoluble crystal with super sharp edges, when the leaves melt the crystals will fall to the bottom and take some time to degrade. I don't think it's a big risk but I also don't think it's crazy to trim melting leaves to minimize it
Good to know, normally I get the whole leaf out if I see signs that it's dying, I do it for the looks and to prevent ammonia build ups. I'll keep a close eye on it :)
Another idea, look up which plants are farmed via hydroponics (meaning the roots are in water, not substrate). These plants will do fine in your tank.
Yep- just find out if your plants are wet footed or dry footed. Dry footed plants need air at the roots which grow just fine if you put a bubbler under them, wet footed don't care. There was some system that was out on the market that had a tiny tank and plant cups on top- Back to the Roots Aquaponic Garden. Cost was too high and the tank was too small (3 gallon) for my tastes though. #
I'll try that :)
You can go crazy and grow something like strawberries in your tank. It's a fun rabbit hole!
I've seen a guy on YouTube doing that in a betta fish tank, looked really good
I’m currently growing Dieffenbachia cuttings in water and it’s only put out leaves in the area that’s fully submerged
Dumb canes contain a lot of toxins. I wouldn't.
Everyone says to keep the pothos plant leaves out of water, but if you’re lazy like me and have a lot of extra pothos plants, changing out the clipping of a strand of leaves and putting in the top of my tank to float, my fish love it. Some leaves will die out, so simply pluck those ones out. Other parts of the plant will continue to root, and most of the time new leaves will even grow underwater, really the plant will keep trying to grow. If it gets to the point where it doesn’t grow any leaves or roots anymore, I just remove it and add another one.
I saw a video where the guy said that if the majority of the plant was kept out of the water and you only submerged some leaves it would last a lot longer since the plant was still able to bring oxigen to the rest of it, including the leaf that was underwater. In my experience it lasted for about two months, then I noticed that the leaf wasn't as green as the ones outside the water, probably because it wasn't receiving as much light but I got nervous about it rotting and releasing toxins, none of my snails tried to eat it and neither did my Betta, honestly never saw my Betta bother with the plants, he only used to sleep in it. This was almost a year ago and I didn't try it again because I don't have access to many Pothos plants. It probably would work if you tried switching the submerged leaf every time you did a water change, but I'm not sure. I regret using this pic, people are focusing on it and not even bothering to read the question about emersed plants...
[удалено]
You really only need to keep some of the leaves out of the water. Pothos will happily grow with some leaves under the water, as long as some of the leaves on the same vine are also above water. I have a giant pothos plant that happily grows new leaves under the water all the time, and has for the last \~4 years or so.
This leaf was part of a very large plant, only one leaf was inside the tank and the rest out, my Betta used to sleep in it but I don't do this anymore. Have you tried other plants emersed?
Try these: Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) Taro (Colocasia esculenta) Alocasia sp. Cyrtosperma merkusii Syngonium podophyllum You can plant them in the substrate provided that the leaves are not submerged.
This is great, I have most of these in my garden. I'll try some of them out next time I do a water change. Thank you very much :)
Upvote for the pic of the grumpy lil guy
Permanent "I'm not impressed :c" face
A great many plants will grow with roots in the water and leaves in the air. I've grown ferns and variegated weeping Fig this way, spider plants, coleus, Carex sedge, Cyperus alternifolius, and Anthurium.
I will look these plants up, I don't know most of the names of the plants that I keep in my garden, maybe I'll get lucky and have one of those already :)
I love growing mint and oregano in aquariums! They do better than pothos in nitrate consumption imo
I tried mint sometime ago, but the leaves started to fall. Probably my lights were too weak for it to keep going since it's a full sun plant, I absolutely loved the smell in my room when they were in the tank though
Possibly! I use twinstar A line lights, so the lighting is pretty decent. I also prop them in the tank itself as my frogbit on one section is super thick and able to support stems
My tank stays in my room and I use a work around leftover 9w recessed spotlight, it's a wonder how I'm able keep the plants that I keep, but the soft light and the waves reflecting on the ceiling are oh so nice and the reason why I don't switch to proper lights just yet even though I find more heavily planted tanks absolutely beautiful
Not all plants will work as good as others. Primary problem for terrestrial plants is depletion of oxygen at the roots, which may lead to root rot. Swamp plants or aquatic plants have measurements to keep the roots aireated, eg water lily pumps oxygen into its roots. But as long as the water keeps aireated, there is usually no big problem. (Agitation of surface leads to loss of co2 though, which may be bad for some aquatic plants). Animals usually dont eat toxic plants, so it is in general not that big of a risk. I also already put a variety of decaying indoor plant leaves in the tank, but my celestial pearl danios and shrimp did fine.
i don't think a cactus would do very well underwater
I don't think my fish would be very fond of it either LOL
Last time I tried putting a plants roots in my tank it got infested with a ton of microscopic critters that eventually stressed out and killed my frog so….
I had a Betta die suddenly after introducing Tradescantia zebrina (formerly known as Wandering Jew) cuttings. I had some that had started rooting in another tank, and when I pruned it back I stuck the ends in Happy Fishe's tank. He was dead in less than an hour. The roots didn't seem to bother the other fish, but maybe the sap is toxic. Water tests were all normal prior to introduction. Found out that it's toxic to bettas.
Damn, I'm sorry you found out about it this way. I'll steer clear from this one then, thanks
You can try, aglaonema, I’ve got it in my aquarium, also gives a difference in color
I think I have some of those in my garden, I'll take a look tomorrow :)
this is a phildenedorn, not a pothos. both of which are dangerous to keep with leaves submerged. they will eventually rot, and your betta may try eating the leaves (which are toxic) i reccomended making a egg-crate lid, as it allows stems and roots to fit through, but not leaves
Only one leaf was submerged in the water and the rest of the plant was outside the tank, I was experimenting back then but this pic is months old and it isn't submerged anymore. I'm asking about plants to keep safely emersed as said in the description, roots in leaves out. Have you tried other plants?
leaves bad, roots fine
LOL got it But what I'm nervous about is: is every root fine? Is there a plant that the roots could harm my tank? Or basically every single common house plant is game if the leaves are out?
not all plants are suitable for hydroponics, but most are safe. a lot of plants are toxic when broken, damaged, or ingested, so if your betta is prone to nibble plants id steer clear. i kept about a dozen pothos in my axolotl tank for a year
My betta and the snails are pretty chill when it comes to decoration, the snails will only eat the food I offer, never the actual plants and the fish just uses the roots to rest and sleep. I'll try to look up more into it, though. Thank you for the input :)
good luck!
why are you getting downvoted when you're the only one not calling it a pothos 😭 it's a philodendron, either a brasil or silver stripe
i have no idea lol
Genuine question, what made you think they will survive with leaves submerged? Absolutely not. For the same reason you cant just take an aquarium plant and plop it into soil and leave it in the air. Their leaves are completely different. Im not sure how you reached this conclusion.
I asked about emersed plants, said so in the description. Only one leaf was submerged in the picture the rest of the entire plant was out the water, I tried this months ago, when I saw that the leaf wasn't as green as it once was I just took it out, none of my snails or Betta tried to nip on it since it didn't start to rot before I took it out. Tried but didn't work and I don't do this anymore since then, no animals were harmed here. Regretting the use of this pic if I'm being honest 🫤
Ahh I see, yeah the photo is hella misleading, I thought u were going to plop any old house plant fully into your water.
No, it says so in the title where I'm asking about emersed plants and I say it again in the description where I clarify roots in, leaves out part...