Good plants for a refugium?

[Im a Pisces]

I was thinking of using the sump area in my wet/dry as a plant refugium. The tank is a 125 fish only with messy eating preds. The sump holds around 14 gallons operating. What are some good plants that will absorb nitrates. I was thinking that floating plants would be best in this case. Can someone suggest a type of floating plant I could use? Would I have to worry about the growth of algae by using a plant fuge?

[plah831]

if you are meeting the needs of your plants, in terms of CO2 and nutrients, I don't think that you would see algae. However, sumps don't often get special CO2, so you may indeed get algae. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

The plants I'd recommend are anacharis, hornwort, water sprite (Ceratopteris cornuta), java moss, perhaps water wisteria. All of those are low maintenance, can be grown floating, and are great absorbers of nutrients. In fact, they are known to be "nutrient hogs" in the presence of other plant species.

good luck. p.s. I'm a Pisces, too ;)

[Im a Pisces]

i read somewhere that floating plants get their co2 from the air outside and not from the water. is that correct? I think i'll try anacharis it doesnt like it would make too much of a mess if it were to not make it.

pisces in the house :sim:

[plah831]

I've never thought of that. I guess that could work, since some of their leaves are exposed to the air.

Anacharis can be messy if it dies. The leaves are really tender and small, so will make kind of a mess. But I've never had anacharis die on me. Only time I've seen it suffer is when I used Excel (carbon supplement) because it tends to melt leaves of tender plants. I've got a bunch of anacharis, hornwort, and watersprite floating in my snail breeding buckets and they're all doing great! No heat, no ferts (besides snail waste) and no light fixture, just ambient from the window. In fact, I need to go trim my hornwort in the bigger snail bucket. They're starting to grow out of control, strands like a foot long!

There are a lot of Pisces on this site. Weird, huh? Maybe we're all just water babies with a connection to the fishies :)

[tai95]

Be careful with some of the smaller floating plants. If you get duckweed and a single piece makes it into the main tank, It will take over the entire tank. You could try some of the larger floaters like watter lettuce or frogbit.

[Aussie_hippie_2]

Watter lettuce sounds logical in this circumstance.

[Im a Pisces]

water lettuce huh. it will be in my sump which is heated. i dont mind buying an extra light for it if i have to. i'll look into all the suggestions above. i want something that wont be messy because although my magdrive has a sponge over the impellar area i don't want anything accidently getting caught in there and ruining my pump. thanks for the input everyone

[fishcatch22]

although I do not have much experience with fuges, I agree with the others. floating plants like duckweed or water lettuce would work well in there, and some other good floating plants you might consider include frogbit and common salvinia.

[Im a Pisces]

would i have to worry about lighting with water lettuce? would ambient lighting work well enough? also is 14 gallons enough space for this plant?

[fishcatch22]

would i have to worry about lighting with water lettuce? would ambient lighting work well enough?well, maybe not water lettuce, I think it is a pretty light-needy plant. however, duckweed will grow in any light, and is the perfect choice IMHO.

[Im a Pisces]

is 14 gallons enough space for duckweed or water lettuce?

[fishcatch22]

is 14 gallons enough space for duckweed or water lettuce?duckweed: yes. the leaves are only about 1/2 cm-1 cm across. water lettuce: can grow to a fair size of 7-8" around I think.

[plah831]

if you get duckweed, you probably won't be able to have any other plants. It is notorious for taking over the entire surface of the water, shading out any other plants. see tai95's post above.

[Im a Pisces]

^alright seems like i have some decisions to make. duckweed is small so would do better in a small space but i'm worried about it being tiny and somehow clogging my magdrive pump.

[fishcatch22]

^alright seems like i have some decisions to make. duckweed is small so would do better in a small space but i'm worried about it being tiny and somehow clogging my magdrive pump.or getting into your main tank, causing a plague.

[Im a Pisces]

if you get duckweed, you probably won't be able to have any other plants. It is notorious for taking over the entire surface of the water, shading out any other plants. see tai95's post above.

i'm not worried about not keeping being able to keep any other plants. i just want plants in the fuge to consume the nitrates caused by my messy eating predators in my tank.

[fishcatch22]

i'm not worried about not keeping being able to keep any other plants. i just want plants in the fuge to consume the nitrates caused by my messy eating predators in my tank.nothing better than duckweed to do that. just make sure you don't get it in your main tank.

[tai95]

nothing better than duckweed to do that. just make sure you don't get it in your main tank.

DO NOT USE DUCKWEED if it gets into your main tank (and it will) you will have a very difficult time getting rid of it. I have some in one of my tanks that came from a bag of fish I bought. A few pieces got on the net i used, and it completely took over the top of the tank (55gal) in less than a month. So Again DO NOT USE DUCKWEED. Water lettuce doesn't need much light at all. If you have a spare ficture to use that will be plenty. 14gal should be plenty enough space for some. I keep it in my 5gal shrimp tank and have no problems with it. when the plants get to big just pull them out and leave the smaller plants in to grow out. If you can't find water lettuce locally let me know I'll pull some out of my tank for you if you promise not to use duckweed.

[fishcatch22]

DO NOT USE DUCKWEED if it gets into your main tank (and it will) you will have a very difficult time getting rid of it. I have some in one of my tanks that came from a bag of fish I bought. A few pieces got on the net i used, and it completely took over the top of the tank (55gal) in less than a month. So Again DO NOT USE DUCKWEED. Water lettuce doesn't need much light at all. If you have a spare ficture to use that will be plenty. 14gal should be plenty enough space for some. I keep it in my 5gal shrimp tank and have no problems with it. when the plants get to big just pull them out and leave the smaller plants in to grow out. If you can't find water lettuce locally let me know I'll pull some out of my tank for you if you promise not to use duckweed.well IMO duckweed is not bad in your main tank unless you have lots of high light plants, (BTW I am speaking from personal experience here, tai, I have kept duckweed before.)but like tai95 said chances are you'll get it in your main tank, and if you don't want your main tank covered in duckweed or you have light-needy plants, i'd go with the water lettuce. it's up to you.

[tai95]

well IMO duckweed is not bad in your main tank unless you have lots of high light plants, (BTW I am speaking from personal experience here, tai, I have kept duckweed before.)but like tai95 said chances are you'll get it in your main tank, and if you don't want your main tank covered in duckweed or you have light-needy plants, i'd go with the water lettuce. it's up to you.

The original poster was talking about a sump. This means there is an overflow in the main tank. If there is a screen in the overflow to keep fish out it will get clogged with duckweed, even if there isn't a screen there is a chance of it getting plugged. What happens when an overflow gets plugged and the return pump keeps running? The tank overflows. If the overflow doesn't get plugged the sponge on the return pump will. So like I said DO NOT USE DUCKWEED.

[fishcatch22]

The original poster was talking about a sump. This means there is an overflow in the main tank. If there is a screen in the overflow to keep fish out it will get clogged with duckweed, even if there isn't a screen there is a chance of it getting plugged. What happens when an overflow gets plugged and the return pump keeps running? The tank overflows. If the overflow doesn't get plugged the sponge on the return pump will. So like I said DO NOT USE DUCKWEED.ahhh... you're right. like I said, i don't have much experience with fuges, sorry. you should go with water lettuce.

[drgold]

Plants use nitrate while they are photosynthesizing so adding a light will speed up the rate of any plant's nutrient use. I have water sprite on top of my planted tank and they are doing a wonderful job. Once the stems die, the plant reproduces other floating babies. They look great at this point. You probably don't care about looks, but they eat nitrate like crazy. I doubt they'd do well in ambient light, however.

Find a cheap fluorescent or CF and hope for the best. I think you'll need a lot of plants to kill all the nitrates in a 125 predator tank, however.

[Aussie_hippie_2]

Yes, I have a problem with duckweed clogging my intake. I love it, I think it's soo pretty but it will clog intakes.

[Star_Rider]

I'm curious why a refugium?
the concpet you are using makes sense..but a refugium is saltwater works differently.
some sw tanks use deep sandbeds a refugium utilizes plants .refugium mud etc..the idea is to promote anaerobic bacteria in essence complting the nitrogen cycle..but excess proteins are removed via the skimmer(which doesn't work well in fw(specific gravity etc)

most of the fw tanks handle nitrates via wc and /or plants.
the refugium , water dumps out of the main tank via overflow, drops into a filter sock then hits a baffle overflow to the refugium portion of the tank..water exists via baffles to the sump section where a large pump moves the water up to the main tank.''btw, I reasd some sw refugiums use algae.

the concept may work but you may see some issues with flow.

it could work with a large refugium..you would need lights for plants(also used in sw set up)

you may also be promotng algae n the main tank unless you get it balanced. are you using live plants in the main tank?

CO2,
are considering only floating plants? anacharis is a nitrate hog and there are others that fit that bill.

just thinking outloud

[tai95]

I'm curious why a refugium?
the concpet you are using makes sense..but a refugium is saltwater works differently.
some sw tanks use deep sandbeds a refugium utilizes plants .refugium mud etc..the idea is to promote anaerobic bacteria in essence complting the nitrogen cycle..but excess proteins are removed via the skimmer(which doesn't work well in fw(specific gravity etc)

most of the fw tanks handle nitrates via wc and /or plants.
the refugium , water dumps out of the main tank via overflow, drops into a filter sock then hits a baffle overflow to the refugium portion of the tank..water exists via baffles to the sump section where a large pump moves the water up to the main tank.''btw, I reasd some sw refugiums use algae.

the concept may work but you may see some issues with flow.

it could work with a large refugium..you would need lights for plants(also used in sw set up)

you may also be promotng algae n the main tank unless you get it balanced. are you using live plants in the main tank?

CO2,
are considering only floating plants? anacharis is a nitrate hog and there are others that fit that bill.

just thinking outloud

I think Im a Pisces is just looking for another means of nitrate removal. Big messy predators can make the nitrates skyrocket if water changes are not done enough. The sump is already there why not add another means of pulling out nitrates? True it's not gonna function the way a SW refuge does, but it will still help. It won't let you stop doing water changes, but if something happens and you go an extra day or two before the change it should give you a little buffer zone.

[Im a Pisces]

I think Im a Pisces is just looking for another means of nitrate removal. Big messy predators can make the nitrates skyrocket if water changes are not done enough. The sump is already there why not add another means of pulling out nitrates? True it's not gonna function the way a SW refuge does, but it will still help. It won't let you stop doing water changes, but if something happens and you go an extra day or two before the change it should give you a little buffer zone.

^you hit it right on the money. i do large water changes once a week. i have been really busy lately (with school/work/my son) so knowing i can go an extra day or two will give me better peace of mind. i am not trying to kill all the nitrates with the fuge. i am simply trying to keep them as low as i possibly can. so with water changes and a fuge i think i will be doing as much as i can for the health of my fish.

i thank you all for your valuable input and have decided not to go with duckweed it seems too messy. i have no plants in the main tank and do not plan on keeping any in there. i think i will go with water lettuce in the sump. how much wattage for a light do you guys recomend for the water lettuce?

[Im a Pisces]

DO NOT USE DUCKWEED if it gets into your main tank (and it will) you will have a very difficult time getting rid of it. I have some in one of my tanks that came from a bag of fish I bought. A few pieces got on the net i used, and it completely took over the top of the tank (55gal) in less than a month. So Again DO NOT USE DUCKWEED. Water lettuce doesn't need much light at all. If you have a spare ficture to use that will be plenty. 14gal should be plenty enough space for some. I keep it in my 5gal shrimp tank and have no problems with it. when the plants get to big just pull them out and leave the smaller plants in to grow out. If you can't find water lettuce locally let me know I'll pull some out of my tank for you if you promise not to use duckweed.

that is a very generous offer tai. i will look for water lettuce locally and if i can't find it just may take you up on that offer. and yes i promise i won't use duckweed :). the last thing i want is my tank overflowing and flooding the floor.