Content
- Monstera and Aquarium - Tips for an ingenious partnership
- Air roots as a water filter, spawning place and retreat - That's how it works
- Modify water supply
- Tips
The roots of Monstera and other plants provide a retreat for fish
Monstera and Aquarium - Tips for an ingenious partnership
The window pane is more fashionable than ever to provide a revitalizing jungle atmosphere in living rooms and offices. Less well known is a hidden talent that smart aquarists know how to use with a penchant for Monstera. Read here what the aerial roots have to do with clean water and happy fish.
Air roots as a water filter, spawning place and retreat - That's how it works
The window leaf et their aerial roots to collect water and nutrients. In particular, the need for nitrate is pronounced, because this nutrient makes an important contribution to the growth of the mighty leaves. In the water of the aquarium, however, nitrate is undesirable because it is unhealthy to poisonous for many fish. How to reconcile these two characteristics, read here:
In this modified form of hydroponics, a dense network of fine roots develops. These filter the nitrate out of the water to use it as nitrogen. The fish in the aquarium are welcome as the spawning place and hiding place. In practice, nitrate levels in water dropped from 60 mg per liter to 5 mg per liter within 2 months. In the process, 12 aerial roots of a 3-meter-tall plant climbed into the water.
Modify water supply
The more air roots reach into aquarium water, the less likely you are to pour the window leaf. By contrast, the nitrate filtered out of the water does not cover the high nutritional requirements of a mighty monstera by far. The usual fertilizer intervals, please continue as usual.
Tips
Who limits the window leaf on its ornament and the function as a water filter, has not yet tasted of its fruit. Where a Monstera deliciosa feels good, sooner or later it will bloom and bear fruit. These are up to 20 cm long and provided with green platelets as a shell. When fully ripe, the peel can be peeled to release a cream-white pulp with the consistency of banana and the taste of pineapple.