Philodendrons????

[Jason]

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this is the right section, but I did a search and came up with nothing.

All the racks in my new fishroom have built-in lights, so I'd like to grow some of those philodendron plants that sit on top of the tanks and let their roots dangle in the water.

Can anyone tell me how to do it? ie: where to buy, how to plant, how to prepare, how to take care of etc.,etc.

any help or a link would be great thanks!

[ChloroPhil]

It's really easy....go to the garden store and get a few plants. Go home and wash them really really well then place them wherever you want. If you've got external filters you can take the tops off them and put your plants in there too.

Another option, if you've got decent space between the water surface and the lighting would be Salvinia or Ceratopteris.

[Jason]

Thanks,

I was thinking of using some eggcrate on top of the tanks and placing them on there.

Is there different kinds of philodendrons? what am I asking or looking for?

can you describe the other types too?

thanks

[Ralph]

Hi Jason,
Like Phil said, it is usually easy.
There is a lot of room for creativity though.
Aroids are members of a large family of plants which include philodendrons and pothos, the most commonly used for this. Almost all these plants have aerial roots which is what makes this process possible. The surest method is to buy one of these plants (every plant seller has pothos, a nearly indestructible houseplant), put the potted plant near the tank and drape a "branch" of it over the tank so that a portion of the stem (with a leaf node) hangs down into the water. Within days, a root will begin to form. You can cut that section of the stem away from the parent plant eventually if you want.
You can do the same thing with a cut off piece of stem but it may take longer.
Potential problems: keeping the plant at the same level at the top of the water, heat from the tank lights will burn the leaves if they are touching, and providing light to the philodendron (most are low light users).
The egg crates should work great, I've never thought lf it. I just gently wedge the plants between the tank cover and the tank rim.
The plants remove Nitrogen from the tank (in the form of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates), give the fish some cover, look really cool (I think), and most of them are from the Amazon.
Some aroids:
Philodendrons
Pothos
Antheriums
Syngoniums (real common, arrowhead shaped leaves)
Marantas (prayer plant)
Monsteras (cheese plant)
Spider plants (lily plant)
I haven't used all of them but they should work.
Floating plants do a similar service, stay away from duckweed though.

[Jason]

great info, thanks

I just used cuttings rather than dealing with the pot....in less than a month i had a LARGE root system in the tank...the roots were literally growing daily!! i've also founf that you can use the small off-shoots(babies) from spider plants...I use both plants in my fry tanks

[jules]

Anyone have a "guestamate" as to how many nitrates the plant would absorb?

[ChloroPhil]

If the main stock of the plant is emersed then the roots can potentially take up a LOT of Nitrogen and Phosphorous. Big plants, and Philodendrons tend to get big, can take up more nitrogen almost faster than you can put it in.

[jules]

Thanks Phil...BTW what is the Discus in your avatar. It is very nice.

[ari_wh]

Cuttings probably better... They are very fast growing... if anything, they are like weeds in my garden... I keep on pulling them out and they keep on growing back.. the bugger!! It is just hard to clean all the soil out... and you will be surprised how fast they grow roots....

and some philodendrons can also stay small.... Sorry, I don't really know the latin names, though. Just have to ask around at a nursery... or even get cuttings from your neighbours.....lol.

Regards, Ari :)

[ChloroPhil]

Jules,

That's a pic of one of a wild RSG that came from Paulio.

Best,
Phil

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Jason, here's a pic for you to reinforce just how well they will grow from root immersion and feeding off the processed waste nutrients. This is ONE LEAF of one of my Pothos vines with my hand in front as a reference to it's size. I have them ALL OVER my tank hood, canopy and furniture around my showtank. It looks really cool. I just trimmed a huge amount of them from the tank, as I had literally cubic foot masses of tangled dead/live roots dangling in my water.

Steve

[ReMY]

Wow Steve, that leaf sure is nice, big and shiny! The plant must look great on the tank. Actually, could you post a picture of the plants sitting on the tank? ::)
Based on the posts in this thread, my understanding is that these plants can grow without soil and that they are fed only with the tank water (and everything they find in that water). If that assumption is correct, I think I'm gonna work on my canopy to try this out!

Thanks again for sharing.

[Chaz]

I only wish I could get the growth Steve get's on his Philodendron. Maybe the Vegas phosphates are key. My growth has been better from pothos than philodendron (ended up removing it). I've heard the opposite is true in most cases. I've never measured for nitrates and can't tell you what effect the plants are having on my tank but they sit there none the less. Here's some pictures. I've got lots of submerged leaf growth but little root growth.

Chaz

Pothos
http://images.snapfish.com/339%3B63%3A%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D9%3B4%3D% 3A77%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B36876%3B%3Aot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/339%3B63%3A%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D9%3B4%3D% 3A77%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B368%3A945ot1lsi
Philodendron
http://images.snapfish.com/339%3B63%3A%3B23232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E2329%3D9%3B4%3D% 3A77%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B368%3A946ot1lsi

[Jason]

Steve you got it all man! awesome vette and gigantic green plants!

great pics guys!

since this thread started, I got some of these plants, and made sort of a vegetative filter on one of my 180's and they were doing really well and growing, until this clown(pictured below) decided he needed more salad in his diet and destroyed everything. >:(
http://images.snapfish.com/339%3B655523232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E232%3B%3D925%3D545%3 DXROQDF%3E23234%3B377%3A%3A%3C2ot1lsi

[jules]

A face too cute not to forgive :-X .... maybe he was feeling irregular.

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
I will try to get some time later today to post a whole bunch of up-to-date params about the tank, including D.O, Phosphate levels, Iron and the usual others.

Chaz, I try NOT to use my tap for the tank, as it IS high in Phos. so I don't know what it could be contributing to the growth. Both my Philos and Pothos do very well in the tank.

ReMY, I have some other posts on here with pics of the tank(where I can't remember), but I'll take a pic of it today and post later. I trimmed back ALOT last weekend and chucked it out.


Steve