# best plants for natural filtration?



## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

i'm thinking of making a display piece featuring 3-6 3 gallon jars, fully NPT'ed with halfmoon and delta bettas. since the shape of jars makes them very difficult to filter mechanically, i want to do an all-natural filtration on them, and would like to know which plants are best for this. fast-growing stem plantable plants are a plus as well, since ideally i'd like to also set this up as a "farm" to sell clippings from. any ideas for where to start?

EDIT: forgot to mention, i would like to do a healthy mixture of both emerged and submerged plants.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

well... lighting is probably more important...

but you will need fast growing stem plants and rapidly multiplying ammonia sink (think duckweed)

a bettas bioload isnt very big. if you want to trim from these jars I suggest to scrap the NPT idea and resort to any stem plant that can be left free floating.

Watch out for those cookie jars, sone glass are too thin to handle the pressure of 3 gallons of water

I cant say I understand your inquiry about the emersed plants. are you looking to do an emersed set up? I have one going in a 2.5 gallon jar right now...


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

haha i think you misread me....i meant emerGed, not emerSed. i want to use fully submerged plants, as well as some surface plants that can root either in open water or all the way down into the soil. i've actually found the jar to use, and it's got several favorable reviews as far as it's usefulness as an aquatic environment.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

oh.... that's still the context of submersed and emmersed. lol. 

Either way you will need a humid environment for sucessful growth of any part that comes out of water... ofcourse unless you are talking about terrarium plants like... peace lilys and lucky bamboos. those do great emersed and will root in the substrate. only lucky bamboo is great at holding itself up however....


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

aokashi said:


> oh.... that's still the context of submersed and emmersed. lol.
> 
> Either way you will need a humid environment for sucessful growth of any part that comes out of water... ofcourse unless you are talking about terrarium plants like... peace lilys and lucky bamboos. those do great emersed and will root in the substrate. only lucky bamboo is great at holding itself up however....


i know my fiance wouldn't forgive me if i didn't include a stick of bamboo in each jar, but i was thinking of having a pothos as the centerpiece of each jar, in kind of a 50/50 placement, and then some hornwort and wisteria, but i wanted to know if there were any others that would be especially beneficial for water quality.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

hornwort and water wisteria are already great keepers of water quality, given their fast growth rate and low light requirement  I really do not believe you need any substrate XD unless you explicitly want to grow straight plants 

I would also invest in some moss, although slow grower, they are easy plants and their growth does creep upon you, plus there is always a demand for moss as they are not commonly sold in the LPS.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Pothos are great.


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

okay, so here's the setup i'm gonna use:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Anchor-Hocking-Heritage-Hill-2-Gal-Jar-with-Lid/16486707
start out with one, then three, then five or six of these jars
topsoil for substrate with a micro-pot buried in the soil, it's opening will create a hidey-cave for the betta
a large pothos rooted in the bottom, and extending to the surface
a lucky bamboo, planted high enough that the top section will prop the lid open just an inch to let air flow, but still prevent jumping (pretty AND functional!)
a garden of hornwort and wisteria all around the bottom of the jar
and last but not least, one male betta in each, either delta, halfmoon or veiltails, in as much of a color variety as i can find.

all this will be laid out on a long self, dresser or coffee table and secured in place with lines of silicone on the shelf surface to provide traction and prevent our son or her cat from pulling or knocking them over.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Remember you will have to use ferts and Pothos are great. What heater are you using?


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> Remember you will have to use ferts and Pothos are great. What heater are you using?


i haven't decided what kind of heater yet. i've been eying this one: http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Blue-Bettastik-Mini-Heater/dp/B005DGHG8U/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_3 but i'm wary of any product other than food that's specifically marketed for bettas (since that usually equates to "too small" or "inferior quality". if anyone has experience with these, please let me know if they'll work for my project.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

What brand of Ferts are you using? I agree on made for Bettas is usually trouble.


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## homegrown terror (Aug 6, 2012)

ChoclateBetta said:


> What brand of Ferts are you using? I agree on made for Bettas is usually trouble.


i honestly hadn't thought that one through....both of my planted tanks are very well stocked so there's always been enough fish poo to keep my plants growing like crazy. i hadn't considered that with just one little betta to make poo, i'll have to supplement the plants' nutrients


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

homegrown terror said:


> i haven't decided what kind of heater yet. i've been eying this one: http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Blue-Bettastik-Mini-Heater/dp/B005DGHG8U/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_3 but i'm wary of any product other than food that's specifically marketed for bettas (since that usually equates to "too small" or "inferior quality". if anyone has experience with these, please let me know if they'll work for my project.


I recommend the hagen elite 25ws, I've used them for half gallons. I would just ignore the suction cups and tie it to the lucky bamboo or something.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

The reason you will need ferts it sounds like the plants will take in more nutrients that the fish and water changes can make.


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