Thursday, November 10, 2016

Aquaponics Peace Lily in aquarium


Peace lilies grows beautifully in aquariums - making them suitable for aquaponics systems.


This peace lily plant has been living in my aquariums for over 15 years.

It helps to keep the water clean and reduce algae growth. 
Roots provide shelter for fish babies and serve as a home for hatching snails.
Peace lilies thrive in indirect sunlight away from windows.



Here you can see snail eggs on the roots.


Taking care of the plant is easy.
I remove dead roots when I see them. 
I reduce the size of the plant once every couple of years.
In this example, I am going to cut off the bottom part with 3 leaves and half of the roots.




I use this improvised wire housing to hold the plant on the top of a standard 10 gallon aquarium.





 The wire can be moved apart for easy access.

First, I hang the housing in a place on the rim of the aquarium.



Then, I put the plant inside of the housing. 




The smaller plant can be used for another aquarium without housing.

There are many different ways to fix the plant in proper position.





According to my observations, the peace lily responds with faster growth when there is an increased amount of fish poop in the water.
This plant has roots that are too long for this aquarium.



I can partially trim off roots or cut them completely.


It's going to be a fresh start for this plant.


Taking care of the peace lily includes cutting off dry flowers.
It promotes growth of new leaves and flowers.




Here you can see new leaves grow in about 1 - 2 weeks after I cut off the flower.


And the same goes with this plant. 

There is one leaf on a side.


Another leaf grows between old leaves.


Also, it is necessary to cut off old or sick leaves.



There is a new leaf growing :)

The plant takes nutrition (fish poop) and ammonia from the water. Fish nibble on roots for occasional snacks. 

That's why the older parts of the roots are so bold. 

Low maintenance and visual appeal make the peace lily an attractive plant for aquaponics system.
Have fun and happy aquaponics :)

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