Hydroponics

[scott]

A couple of days ago a friend of mine borrowed a 4 ft tank that i wasnt really doing anything in to grow some plants hydroponically, using the help of some fish to provide some waste for the plants to feed on. I was wondering if anyone has ever really tried this with a wholly aquatic caudate? Caudates produce lots of nitrrates and amonia as waste dont they? this might work pretty well for animals that like to root around alot since the roots of the plants would be at the top of the terrarium. Also since caudates dont really like bright light you could set the plants on large styrofoam cardboard to block the strong lights. since most styrofoam board is white it would reflect the light wich would be great for the plants(lettuce) and keep the water of the aquaria from heating up. You could also have a sponge filter to aerate the water and provide biofiltration. I was wondering what you guys thought about this. Would this be a good idea? Would this even work? any replies would be greatly appreciated, thanks
-Scott

 

[edward]

What you have to make sure happens here is that the caudates do not climb the plants and escape. Even pretty heavy bodied caudates can climb plants if the angles are right or growing so they can wedge themselves between the stems.
This may be more appliciable to something like axolotls as even other aquatic species like amphiumas and sirens will escape if the container is not well covered (this is less likely to occur with some species of fish). With caudates what you could do would be to do is use a second tank as the hydroponic tanks and grow the plants there and return the water to the main tank via a passive flow system (water is pumped to the main tank, perculates through the plants and via an overflow back to the caudate tank via a couple of piped in overflows). This way you could culture some of the freshwater shrimp and amphipods in that tank and some would be swept into the caudate tank as extra food (a refugia concept). I would just make sure that the lighting didn't cause the plant tank to get too warm.



Ed

 

[scott]

Yeah they have systems like that in some tilapia farms were the plants are hydroponically grown in a separate tank. I do agree with you about this being mainly for axolotls, though i have kept sirens in the past with an uncovered tank and never had them attempt to crawl out. Wouldint the shrimp begin to eat the plant roots? i know some shrimp can be pretty agressive to plants. I really like that idea you have though, refugia concept....Anyways this was something i was sitting around pondering about. I dont really have the time nor the space to have something like this. This would be something for the summer when i have lots of free time. Thanks Ed
-Scott

 

[edward]

It depends on the shrimp. I would simply choose a less agressive species.
The refugia idea has overlapped from my time as reef keeper.

Ed