Question About Fishtank Water for plants

[VxLoNeRxV]

Hello everyone ive been an Aquarist for some time now and i have about 7 fish tanks in my house i want to start growing some indoor crop and was wondering could i use my fishtank water to water my crops with? in my head it sounds good for a few reasons A. the water is aged so no chlorine B. the ph is already adjusted to 6.8 and C. its got loads of Fish nutrients and wastes kinda like fertilizer? so what do you guys think could i save my water changes to water my crop with would it be benificial at all for nutrients and what not? or would i be better off using tap water and adjusting it to prime water one bad thing i can think of is possibly introduceing algae to the plant but i read somewhere you can stop algae by putting somthing over the soil such as foil so the Soil gets no light. anyways im probably rambleing so ill go now if anyones got some input it would be much appreciated

VxLoNeRxV Reviewed by VxLoNeRxV on 09-08-2009. Question About Fishtank Water for plants Hello everyone ive been an Aquarist for some time now and i have about 7 fish tanks in my house i want to start growing some indoor crop and was wondering could i use my fishtank water to water my crops with? in my head it sounds good for a few reasons A. the water is aged so no chlorine B. the ph is already adjusted to 6.8 and C. its got loads of Fish nutrients and wastes kinda like fertilizer? so what do you guys think could i save my water changes to water my crop with would it be benificial Rating: 5

[headshake]

it's called aquaponics. it can be done. you should read up on it. i'm sure something you want to keep in mind is what the fish eat and any additives and things of that nature. those things will all affect your plants.

-good growing!


-shake

[VxLoNeRxV]

Wow thats pretty neat lol. i dont want to do anything like that i just want to use the tank water to water soil plants with i dont think i wanna recycle the water back into my tank after the plants clean it lol that requires a hydro setup anyways. What do you meen about what the fish eats? would what type of foods fed to them make a huge differnce i mean it all comes out as the same types of waste in the end Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate right?? and as far as additives go do you mean like any medicines used for sick fish and such? what if i filtered the tank water through carbon on the way into the bucket for watering that would strip most unwanted additives out right?

[Skihigh]

Highya,VxLoNERxV....We have a 70 gal. fresh water tank and I'v been wondering the same thing for quite some time.
We do a 20% water change every other week and it just pains the hell out of me to just throw that water out onto the yard.
I've got a few seedlings started...Think I'm gonna save a gallon next change and just give it a try.
Might cut the tank water by about 1/3 to start and just see what happens....I'll keep Ya posted!........J

[Skihigh]

Oh BTW...Couldn't be any worse than cow shit or bat shit, could it?

[stinkyattic]

You'd never use non-composted or aged cow or bat shit, and fish crap is a lot of ammonia, which is really 'hot' for your plants, plus the amount of salt in the feed... it's a rough road from fish tank to useable plant food. Try dumping the fish water on your compost heap, and using the resulting humus afterwards?

[VxLoNeRxV]

You'd never use non-composted or aged cow or bat shit, and fish crap is a lot of ammonia, which is really 'hot' for your plants, plus the amount of salt in the feed... it's a rough road from fish tank to useable plant food. Try dumping the fish water on your compost heap, and using the resulting humus afterwards?

Thats true but a well astablished tank should not have high amonia if your Bio filters are doing what they should be the end result of the proccess should be high Nitrate wich is plant food if im not mistaken? you may have a point with salts though fish food generaly have alot of salt in it? not sure guess ill have to look. Another question i have is i use a product called Nuetral Regulator in my fishtank its basicaly what Declores and Sets my Ph to around 6.8-7.0 says on the back that it percipitates calcium and magnesium while removing any chlorine chloramine or ammonia would that be bad for plants you think?

Highya,VxLoNERxV....We have a 70 gal. fresh water tank and I'v been wondering the same thing for quite some time.
We do a 20% water change every other week and it just pains the hell out of me to just throw that water out onto the yard.
I've got a few seedlings started...Think I'm gonna save a gallon next change and just give it a try.
Might cut the tank water by about 1/3 to start and just see what happens....I'll keep Ya posted!........J

Sweet man let me know how it goes

[greeri]

Try the fish water on one plant only and see how it goes. If it works out that's great. If not you only lost one plant. Whenever I try something new I only subject one plant that way if things go bad I'm totallly screwed.

[greeri]

P.S. If it looks like it isn't working you can always flush the hell out of the plant and try to go back to your regular method.

[littlewon]

Hello
I've been growing for a little less than a year and the only fertilizer that I use is green nasty water that backwashes out of my koi pond filter. I've been doing this with my fruit trees for 15 years or more, so I figured I'd try it w/ my indoor plants. The plants are great!!!!! They have the sweetest taste and aroma. When I am done trimming them, my hands are so sticky, I feel like I have superglue on my fingertips.
I feed my fish basic koi food, and occasional greens, and I'm sure they eat a bunch of bugs. The sludge I get out of the filter, at cleaning time, is so rich in nutrients, that they really don't need anything else. I don't even flush at the time of harvest anymore because the buds are so sweet and tasty just the way they are. I hope this helps.
One more note, if I've treated the water with potassium permanganate or anything else, I backwash the filter for a week, just out in the yard, before I start using it again. I figure the water is too clean and sterile at that point so why bother. The chemicals you would use in your tank would dissapate or be inactivated by a day or two. Good luck. RECYCLING at it's best!!