So im going to start an aquaponic system because im losing time doing water changes. Have you guys heard about this?

Well basically there will be a pump in my tank sending water through a tube into a flowerpot and there is a hole in the bottom of the flower pot which will send the water back into the tank. Thus ridding my tank of nitrates because the plants will eat it.

Is this setup ok and safe?

1.The growbed aka"gravel for the plants" will be regular gravel from my tank because i dont want to use soil as it can kill my fish.

2. Im planning on using lettuce or tomatoes.

My big question is, wouldnt the plants die from to much water coming into the pot constantly or is it okay?

Monscar32528 wrote:


You could use plants that people have in ponds I guess...
If this works, I may look into it... haha

yes, too much water would kill your plants. plus a single pot would not work
even for a 20 gal tank.
here is the concept of aquaponics:

Ohh i see i just read up on a aquaponic site that says. My flood and drain method should work because the water coming in is always oxygenated so the roots cannot be water logged and wont root.

What do you think?

How come you think this setup wont work. Im doing what this guy is doing

that is a different plants, not lettuce and tomatoes as you stated.
ornamental palnts that thrives in water will do but need to check
the water quality form time to time. here is similar concept to what
you had posted...not mine but same principle

if i may add, ordinary rock is not good in potting media...you need to used
volcanic cinders and should not be flooded too much. i had done the design i
posted and have not change my water for 17 months and had harvested my fish
3 times for that duration.

for tomatoes, you will need to put a trellis to avoid the shrubs sagging.

Thanks so much.

Well basically im going to have a pot that is about alittle bit more then half the size of the pot the guy has in the video.

What plants do you think will do well in a simple flood and drain? You can read about my idea here www.backyardaquaponics.com/information/44-designs.html
Just scroll down abit.

You said that my pot is not big enough to substain my tank but. I only get 10 nitrates a week as in my nitrates go up by 10 in 7days on average.

Also will Hydroton work as a media bed for the plants?

that is a good articles...thanks... but that drum with plants, is had seen it
already.... i had a design for a standing rundown boxbed to maximize the area.
Hydroton? i am not familiar with it. in my case i used s processed cocohusk with
grounded volcanic rocks for good water retention and provide good roots absorption.
i was able to grow cabbage, lettuce, bell pepper, lemon grass etc etc... and had
some experience with decaying plants too.....

edited:
i just goggle hydroton...it is basically similar to volcanic cinders...hard
but porous for good water retention but won't cause root decay.

loads of stuff on youtube about it, but I am convinced its a wast of time cos you need to much lighting.

The problems you are going to have, are as marcus said, lots of lighting needed. the other problem is amount of plants needed. To remove the need for water changes you are going to have to have a similar ratio of plants to fish that you would get in the wild. This would mean having loads of plants which will take up loads of space (and then the cost of the lighting becomes prohibitive)

best solution is filter your tap water so it has less or no nitrates. its cheaper this way and a lot easier. if you do filter the tap water and water change at the times/amounts you can keep nitrates below 20pph.