RE: plant filter sort of...

["Thomas Barr" <tcbiii at earthlink_net>]

>Hi all,
>
>I'm thinking of setting up an experimental 10g tank with a peace lily
>(spathyphyllum?) growing emergent to serve as a nitrogen sink.  I'm
>thinking no-tech, room-lit, no co2, etc.  I'll probably use profile
>substrate. Ideally, I want a lot of the stems submerged (8-10 in) with
>leaves sticking out.
>
>What should I do to help the plant adapt to life with roots and some stem
>underwater?  I know people are using them for plant filters, where they
>are just roots in the substrate, but can they be grown emergent too?

Just start off at a nice low level in the tank and raise the level up
slowly. The plants will follow. Swords (E. cordifolius group) often do very
well for this and some Anubias/Bolbitis/Pennywort/floaters, water
sprite/wisteria(H. difformis), Gymnocornis, Lizard's tail, some Ludwigia
such as L. preuesis/granulosus etc. But these might not be as light tolerant
as Spath's though.
Spath's are good but you can use other plants also.

As far as a Nitrogen sink, well you can do emersed/submersed or both. All
will work depending on how you wish to balance things and what you want. You
may find later that your going to be adding jobes to the base of the lily to
keep it healthy so zero NO3 is not always a good thing as plants do need it
to be healthy. 5-10ppm seems to be a good range for most folks and plants.
Algae shouldn't be an issue for you at all. A few
guppies/SAE's/shrimps/snails should do nicely. Fed once a day is likely all
you'll need to do for the tank.
Good luck.
Regards, 
Tom Barr

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