Yambeezy
- 8
- 3
Can I use the water from my fish tank for my DWC 5 gallon plant?
PiffinOut
- 116
- 43
Depends on the fishtank setup. Not all fishtank ecosystems are created alike. You should consider Bubbling/Oxyginating DWC (forget the fancy name for it) if you go that route). You would not to use fish waste water without a bubbler as the nutrient profile cannot be controlled and can propogate bad bacteria. This is due to waste water being nutrient rich. Oxyginating waste water, like compost tea oxygination, is a preventive measure. By oxyginating nutrient rich water you are curbing bad water bacteria that could kill your hydroponic rootsystem and instead promoting good root building bacteria to take its place in decomposing the nutrients to a more stable form. Bad waterbased bacteria which hinders plant growth thrives in stagnant water with poor oxygenation (think algae blooms eating your root system), mean while most good waterbased bacteria come from well aerated water sources (hence why most compost teas utilize bubblers for a prolonged period of time before the tea is useable.) Believe it or not, your roots need oxygen, they do not like to drown in stangnant water.If they did your pots would not have holes in the bottom. Your roots need to breath, and hence oxygenated bacteria are better for them since they fit the roots beneficial profile/preffered setting.
Wet with periods of dryness/oxygentated, not stagnant water = Good for roots
Another trickything, about fishtanks are, due to poor fish food control on corporate levels (corpo greed), sometimes your tank water can get heavy metal buildups (like persay your common fish flake food which is made from fish that may be high in mercury content or other toxicities) that may seem fine for simple fish and perhaps in some doses even for you to ingest but arent fine for smoking longterm.
That being said, People who PROPERLY maintain control and source a planted organic based fish tank can see many benefits in using their fishtank waste water in their bubbling DWC for most types of hydroponic end product.
However, I regret to say that I do not believe the bulk of the fish tank hobbyists would fall in this category . I would roughly say only the top 5-10% of fishkeepers could fall into this category where their aquarium waste water can feed their edible and smokeable grows. Most fishkeepers do not care what their fish eat, do not know where their fish food might have came from or was processed, dont care what their substate is made up of, and dont care whats in their filtration system. So long as their fish dont all die one day most fishkeepers frankly could not be bothered to figure that all out. But if you want to actually eat or inhale something that came from your fishtank water, you should definitelly care. A fishtank may be a temple of peace and serenity with low cost, but your body is your temple of good health and longevity and the costs of messing your body up are very high.
The best hydro fertilizer from fishkeeping waste water would be water that came from a tank that used a water stabilizing bio filter as opposed to a carbon filter, where the tank was operated with zero additives besides water, plants, organic/yard soil with an organic cap to keep the dirt in place. and co2 and organic soil/water column ammendments (crafting clay pebbles for enriching soil iron, tea leaves etc) and where the fish were only fed quality organic meals, preferrably worms, shrimp, or other fish food you bred yourself from choice feed or form somwhere you can personally vouch for so you know what is in them.
Under no circumstances are you to use fishwaste water in a DWC for inhaling any end resulting product if those conditions not met. Eating may be safe, but inhaling is a risk not worth paying.
By organic soil cap I mean plain unpainted sand or hydroponic grade clay pebbles . I personally would not use the artificially colored gravel that i woul see used as substrate in say my nieces fishtank. Cant trust where that paint is coming from and how it will degrade over time in a fishtank that may need average temps above 80. You also cant trust aquarium additives, there are not many regulations on the aquarium market.
I for one can source all my fish food because I breed my brineshrimp, bloodworms, aquatic based feed, and I have my own earthworms and mealworms I can quickly get from my kitchen compost bin. I also use my own garden soil sources from the bottom of my yards dedicated grass composting heap which is conveniently located under sugar maple trees that provide an amazing mycellium bed (Ive lived on this soil for 20 years and have never used weedkillers or insecticides,very important), run my own biofilter, and I also cap my soil with pool sand and use no additives save the things I mentioned earlier.
If you meet all the requirements, and can also afford to test your aquarium water consistently to maintain good nutrient, ph, base levels then you may proceed to use your waste water to grow hydroponics, but be ware, sometimes it may cause bacterial/microbial/fungal buildups. It is recommended to use a bubbler to oxyginate the water for that reason.
I personally have hydrogrown not only edible but good tasting tomatos peppers lettuce and herbs utilizing my homes showcase planted tanks aquarium waste water mixed with organic "kitchenscrap" fed compost tea from my worm farm (which also provides my non-hydro vegetable grows with nutrientcompost and free EWC). I have done bubble hydroponics simply by using leftover protein jugs with a bottom side drilled for a aquatic oxygen/co2 line to fit through snuggly to connect to large aquatic bubbler disc I have secured to the bottom within the jug. Only would run you 20 bucks minimum (minus a netipot and clay pebble potting medium ) to McRig one up so long as you are already capable of accurately testing your aquarium water parameters. If you already have a spare air bubbler and co2 line from say your tankbuild leftovers, itll cost you nothing.
Perhaps I will post the build one day both here and on the plantedtank.com or barrreport, but for today, its still my little niche low cost hydro setup only given to the the hydro McGuyvers in the aquazotica community who PM me to tell me from the Hydro/Horticulture subsections
Wet with periods of dryness/oxygentated, not stagnant water = Good for roots
Another trickything, about fishtanks are, due to poor fish food control on corporate levels (corpo greed), sometimes your tank water can get heavy metal buildups (like persay your common fish flake food which is made from fish that may be high in mercury content or other toxicities) that may seem fine for simple fish and perhaps in some doses even for you to ingest but arent fine for smoking longterm.
That being said, People who PROPERLY maintain control and source a planted organic based fish tank can see many benefits in using their fishtank waste water in their bubbling DWC for most types of hydroponic end product.
However, I regret to say that I do not believe the bulk of the fish tank hobbyists would fall in this category . I would roughly say only the top 5-10% of fishkeepers could fall into this category where their aquarium waste water can feed their edible and smokeable grows. Most fishkeepers do not care what their fish eat, do not know where their fish food might have came from or was processed, dont care what their substate is made up of, and dont care whats in their filtration system. So long as their fish dont all die one day most fishkeepers frankly could not be bothered to figure that all out. But if you want to actually eat or inhale something that came from your fishtank water, you should definitelly care. A fishtank may be a temple of peace and serenity with low cost, but your body is your temple of good health and longevity and the costs of messing your body up are very high.
The best hydro fertilizer from fishkeeping waste water would be water that came from a tank that used a water stabilizing bio filter as opposed to a carbon filter, where the tank was operated with zero additives besides water, plants, organic/yard soil with an organic cap to keep the dirt in place. and co2 and organic soil/water column ammendments (crafting clay pebbles for enriching soil iron, tea leaves etc) and where the fish were only fed quality organic meals, preferrably worms, shrimp, or other fish food you bred yourself from choice feed or form somwhere you can personally vouch for so you know what is in them.
Under no circumstances are you to use fishwaste water in a DWC for inhaling any end resulting product if those conditions not met. Eating may be safe, but inhaling is a risk not worth paying.
By organic soil cap I mean plain unpainted sand or hydroponic grade clay pebbles . I personally would not use the artificially colored gravel that i woul see used as substrate in say my nieces fishtank. Cant trust where that paint is coming from and how it will degrade over time in a fishtank that may need average temps above 80. You also cant trust aquarium additives, there are not many regulations on the aquarium market.
I for one can source all my fish food because I breed my brineshrimp, bloodworms, aquatic based feed, and I have my own earthworms and mealworms I can quickly get from my kitchen compost bin. I also use my own garden soil sources from the bottom of my yards dedicated grass composting heap which is conveniently located under sugar maple trees that provide an amazing mycellium bed (Ive lived on this soil for 20 years and have never used weedkillers or insecticides,very important), run my own biofilter, and I also cap my soil with pool sand and use no additives save the things I mentioned earlier.
If you meet all the requirements, and can also afford to test your aquarium water consistently to maintain good nutrient, ph, base levels then you may proceed to use your waste water to grow hydroponics, but be ware, sometimes it may cause bacterial/microbial/fungal buildups. It is recommended to use a bubbler to oxyginate the water for that reason.
I personally have hydrogrown not only edible but good tasting tomatos peppers lettuce and herbs utilizing my homes showcase planted tanks aquarium waste water mixed with organic "kitchenscrap" fed compost tea from my worm farm (which also provides my non-hydro vegetable grows with nutrientcompost and free EWC). I have done bubble hydroponics simply by using leftover protein jugs with a bottom side drilled for a aquatic oxygen/co2 line to fit through snuggly to connect to large aquatic bubbler disc I have secured to the bottom within the jug. Only would run you 20 bucks minimum (minus a netipot and clay pebble potting medium ) to McRig one up so long as you are already capable of accurately testing your aquarium water parameters. If you already have a spare air bubbler and co2 line from say your tankbuild leftovers, itll cost you nothing.
Perhaps I will post the build one day both here and on the plantedtank.com or barrreport, but for today, its still my little niche low cost hydro setup only given to the the hydro McGuyvers in the aquazotica community who PM me to tell me from the Hydro/Horticulture subsections
Last edited:
budgie
- 118
- 43
My brother uses the water from his mates koi pond and some
Kind of shitty tomato feed and he grows lush plants he don’t even own a ph meter,he grows outdoors in flower pots
Kind of shitty tomato feed and he grows lush plants he don’t even own a ph meter,he grows outdoors in flower pots
PiffinOut
- 116
- 43
To each their own. If your brother enjoys it and doesnt mind any longterm effects who am I to judge, But personally I myself am against jumping into unknowns without verification. But thats my opinion, and Im not a scientist, Im just a guy wh holds my edible/inhalable horticulture to a higher standard.
My opinion is, If anyone is
A) growing vegies to eat and or inhale with Koi waste water and
B) the Koi farm feeds/supplements their Koi/fish with food or medicine Id personally want to know
1. what was in it
2. where it was sourced and possibly
3. get the water tested by a water treatment center for harmful toxins/carcinogens etc to save myself from worry.
I come from a lineage of sustainable dairy and potato farmers, and I also have a family history of lung cancer unfortunately. I try to take as much precaution as possible in how and what I grow with, especially true if the end product will be something that is inhaled/vaped. I wont use most of the gro mediums or fertilizers listed in the forums here. Nothings better than le ole natural as far as Im concerned. My native soil is rich and pure and organic and so is everything around me from fish food to human food to soap and even scent free baking soda laundry detergent. Tend to nature, make it pure, and the heavens will provide with purity and prosperity in return.
I regard negligence of ones health and the environment to be a sin worse than death and I approach life accordingly. But I am not your brother or the gen pop, and I may seem crazy to most people like your brother and most largescale farmers and even most pot growers and smokers , but I rest assured that most cancer patients and le ole time boostrapping mom and pop farmers of pre-monsanto generations would be firmly on my side.
Lifes a garden, you get what you put in.
Tiling and planting bears you fruit, but at the end of the day, the fruit is only as healthy as what you put into your garden in the first place.
Last edited:
budgie
- 118
- 43
this is true I’m not knocking your growing style,each to their own
If lung cancer runs in your family you probably end up getting it since it’s in your family genetics
like people who have strokes that run in the family ,life is like a bowl of fruit enjoy it while you can
If lung cancer runs in your family you probably end up getting it since it’s in your family genetics
like people who have strokes that run in the family ,life is like a bowl of fruit enjoy it while you can
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