No Nitrates.. No Water Change.. No?

[Vin Swords]

If you have zero Nitrates in your tank... U dont have to the water change do you?
Just playing with the idea of using an 20 tomato plants on hydroponics system powerd by fish tank water. Would it work for small tank? Any thoughts?

 

[Randi]

I've seen this done on a large scale at a fish farm. The nitrates are good for the plants, but I'm not sure how it would work with one 20 gallon.

 

[fluttermoth]

We don't change water just to get rid of nitrates. There are all sorts of trace elements and minerals that our fish and plants need and that get used up, so you'd still have to do some water changes.

 

[Vin Swords]

I've seen this done on a large scale at a fish farm. The nitrates are good for the plants, but I'm not sure how it would work with one 20 gallon.

With fertilisers.. ?

 

[Tizer]

sounds like a lot of fannying around for a 20 gal tank, i wouldnt do it, i hate tomatos

 

[Vin Swords]

We don't change water just to get rid of nitrates. There are all sorts of trace elements and minerals that our fish and plants need and that get used up, so you'd still have to do some water changes.

How about if you add the usedup stuff.

 

[Mikaila31]

I've seen this done on a large scale at a fish farm. The nitrates are good for the plants, but I'm not sure how it would work with one 20 gallon.

With fertilisers.. ?

It would eat nitrates. I run a soil tank that just eats away nitrates. With no nitrates though your plants will not do very well. You will also loose buffering capacity and other micro nutrients. You could avoid this with use of fertilizers. But it would be more expensive then just doing water changes. I do water changes on my soil tank every week so nitrate doesn't hit zero.

 

[Caprichoso]

You should always do water changes, no matter what. Water changes are what keep the tank healthy and disease/condition free.

 

[Randi]

At the fish farm they use fish waste as fertilizers for the plants and as a way to filter the water. There are hydroponic systems on a platform above the fish tanks and they pump the water up from the tank to the plants, which use the nitrates. The remaining water is then returned to the tank using a drip system. The place is organic, so they don't use chemical fertilizers.