Marriage of aquaponics and hydroponics in enclosed aquarium

I have a 40 gallon aquarium with a large back pack filter, underwater heater, 20 white cloud minnows, and an airstone. I also have a 36 inch light fixture with four T5 HO Floursecent tubes; two of the tubes are 10,000k daylight, and the other two are actinic (blue). All four tubes are rated at 39 Watts...

Would I be successfull growing a small plant if I were to remove the filter media from the back pack filter of my aquarium , lower the water level 4-5 inches, cover the outer walls with tinfoil, and place a floating foam 'medium' on the water with a hole cut out for a small plastic aerated container containing a small clone...?

My thought was that as the plant grows I siphone more and more water out of the aquarium slowly lowering it from the light. So far I have not thought of why this would not work... I would change the 2 actinic lights to 2 T5 HO 65000K flourescent tubes to get a red spectrum. I am worried that because an aquarium is sealed by glass walls that the plants will not get enough "fresh air", is this a problem? I would very much appreciate any flaws you see with this idea, or suggestions that you think may help me with this experiment. Thanks for reading my post.

i think it would need to have some air (small fan)on the top of the plant and an airstone right under the roots but i bet if you did that it would work . try it and keep us posted..

Hi redwoodtrees, welcome and hope this helps you look in the right section... good luck! Sounds like it will be fun.

Your question reminds me of this thread...http://boards.cannabis.com/advanced-...-aquarium.html :rasta: pr

Lowering a high water level to reduce plant height isn't a bad idea. If the roots are dependent on that water, meaning that they are growing in it, and you have mixed fert in the water, you have to be careful because usually as a plant grows you use more fert and perhaps more water due to uptake and evaporation. I'm guessing that some light will get in the aquarium, which will cause algae to grow but it might not be too bad. Just never heard of growing like this. You want your water to be completely hidden from light to avoid algae, but you might be able to make it work. Frankly, I think it might be better to spend a few bucks on a DWC bucket. Are you planning on using fert poop as fert? Why not just grow in soil?

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Originally Posted by redwoodtrees

I have a 40 gallon aquarium with a large back pack filter, underwater heater, 20 white cloud minnows, and an airstone. I also have a 36 inch light fixture with four T5 HO Floursecent tubes; two of the tubes are 10,000k daylight, and the other two are actinic (blue). All four tubes are rated at 39 Watts...

Would I be successfull growing a small plant if I were to remove the filter media from the back pack filter of my aquarium , lower the water level 4-5 inches, cover the outer walls with tinfoil, and place a floating foam 'medium' on the water with a hole cut out for a small plastic aerated container containing a small clone...?

My thought was that as the plant grows I siphone more and more water out of the aquarium slowly lowering it from the light. So far I have not thought of why this would not work... I would change the 2 actinic lights to 2 T5 HO 65000K flourescent tubes to get a red spectrum. I am worried that because an aquarium is sealed by glass walls that the plants will not get enough "fresh air", is this a problem? I would very much appreciate any flaws you see with this idea, or suggestions that you think may help me with this experiment. Thanks for reading my post.

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Sounds like unhappy fish, and unhappy plants.
Now, using the fish waste as part of an organic feeding schedule with soil based plants.... Now we are talking.

Take a look at Aquaponics Herb post. I think it will help.

Talapia is really the fish to use for this. Aquaponics, it's called.