FYI: Good Plants to be Natural Filters

Hey all sorry for my inactivity I have been busy at school
Anyway, I wanted to share a tidbit of information that I hope some folks find helpful
I know there's an age old dilema with having to keep tank water clean and sometimes diligent and frequent water changes just aren't practical. Filters are a good option except they are expensive and when you have 4 tanks, it may not be feasible (or safe, plus my mother won't allow filters in my room) to use filters. Filters also disturb the water which axies don't like. Aquatic plants are also an issue for 2 reasons.1-they are expensive and 2-they require a lot of light and axolotls hate intense light and again, lighting multiple tanks is no easy task. fear not, for I have found a few plants that work. I have amazon sword, water wisteria, and hornswort in my aquatic setups (had others but they died due to low light and I use duckweed for the toads but axolotls eat the duckweed) and my toads also have java moss (my axolotls eat this too and get diarrhea from it) but i found 3 really good filter plants to use for axolotls:
pothos
dieffenbachia
spider plant

all 3 of these plants do very well in low light conditions. they have thick roots and can survive bare-rooted in a tank. they grow vigorously, are inexpensive, and super easy to propagate. pothos has the added benefit of providing a sturdy shelter for aquatic organisms and dieffenbachia is a known filtration species. it has a heavy nutrient requirement and axolotls produce ammonia that the plants thrive on. the plants look stunning in the tank and are low maintainence. my only caution about dieffenbachia is that its sap is poisonous and so if you start them from cuttings PLEASE give them a good week in a separate jug of water to scab over so the toxic sap doesn't lurch into the axie tank. I lick the cuttings first to test for the sap (it would turn the tongue numb if it is leaking) before adding to the axie tanks. hope this info is helpful and perhaps when my pothos/dieffenbachia overgrow I can offer sections to people. I also have several spider plants that I may be able to offer babies from soon

I use a submersible filter which you can adjust the flow from so there is only water movement on the surface(Fluval U2). Also, you can block water flow from pretty much any type of filter using easy DIY methods.

I use a T8 14w light system, using hides and various plants including Salvinia(floating), Vallisneria(planted but streams across the water surface creating more cover), Elodea(creating dense darker areas).

I'm not sure that just those 3 plants will greatly affect the Nitrogen cycle, though it depends how much of each you actually use in the tank I suppose. I wouldn't expect them to make such a dent in the NitrAte so that you rarely have to do water changes, again, this would depend on how heavily planted the tank is and the amount of Axolotls you keep.


I thought plants were quite cheap?, I got all mine for under £10

The dieffenbachia seems quite dangerous, even for humans, I would expect Axolotl to be greatly affected in comparison. I'm not sure I would risk using a poisonous plant.

AxolotlChris said:

I use a submersible filter which you can adjust the flow from so there is only water movement on the surface(Fluval U2). Also, you can block water flow from pretty much any type of filter using easy DIY methods.

I use a T8 14w light system, using hides and various plants including Salvinia(floating), Vallisneria(planted but streams across the water surface creating more cover), Elodea(creating dense darker areas).

I'm not sure that just those 3 plants will greatly affect the Nitrogen cycle, though it depends how much of each you actually use in the tank I suppose. I wouldn't expect them to make such a dent in the NitrAte so that you rarely have to do water changes, again, this would depend on how heavily planted the tank is and the amount of Axolotls you keep.


I thought plants were quite cheap?, I got all mine for under £10

The dieffenbachia seems quite dangerous, even for humans, I would expect Axolotl to be greatly affected in comparison. I'm not sure I would risk using a poisonous plant.

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there is a great deal of the pothos/dieffenbachia in the tanks- 2 of each plant per 5 gallons of water, or about 7 or 8 in each tank
each tank only has 1 axolotl and they arent overfed. the water is clean, clear, and otherwise fine. i do 30% water changes every few weeks and i make sure to remove any wastes or dead plant matter

20-30% water changes every few weeks is usually what is done on a filtered tank anyway, so I'm not sure if this method of planting is minimising water changes. Plants are definatly better for water quality though. But I wouldn't risk the poisonous plant!

Sorry in my last reply I totally missed that you had all the other plants in your tank which would also contribute to lowering nitrAte so with all these combined it should make a difference, I've never seen test results to prove how much nitrAte planted tanks reduce, it would be interesting. I'm planting my tank more and more to try help lower nitrAte since its in my tap water.

AxolotlChris said:

20-30% water changes every few weeks is usually what is done on a filtered tank anyway, so I'm not sure if this method of planting is minimising water changes. Plants are definatly better for water quality though. But I wouldn't risk the poisonous plant!

Sorry in my last reply I totally missed that you had all the other plants in your tank which would also contribute to lowering nitrAte so with all these combined it should make a difference, I've never seen test results to prove how much nitrAte planted tanks reduce, it would be interesting. I'm planting my tank more and more to try help lower nitrAte since its in my tap water.

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that's fine
i forgot to mention here that aquatic plants are EXPENSIVE- a 4 inch anubias is $5-15USD

i wasn't trying to suggest plants are better than a filter, just that they can work as well as one and in some cases (my own included) may be more practical