Is fish tank water ok?

Hi all.. I was just wondering, would using water out of a fish tank be ok to use to feed plants? I haven't tried it yet but it seems like the water could be like an organic fertilizer. I don't use any chemicals in my fish tanks but I am just curious. Any ideas?

stevemonett said:

Hi all.. I was just wondering, would using water out of a fish tank be ok to use to feed plants? I haven't tried it yet but it seems like the water could be like an organic fertilizer. I don't use any chemicals in my fish tanks but I am just curious. Any ideas?

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I water exclusively out of my 75 gal Cichlid tank & have had very good results over the years.
And welcome to RIU.

Thanks for the input.. I kinda figured that using water out of a fish tank couldn't hurt.. cause hey it's fish poop.. poop + water = good fert.. no mixing needed.. lol

It sounds like a good idea to me.

stevemonett said:

Thanks for the input.. I kinda figured that using water out of a fish tank couldn't hurt.. cause hey it's fish poop.. poop + water = good fert.. no mixing needed.. lol

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That's actually a great idea and very enviro-friendly...Recycling and thus saving water!! Sounds like a master-plan to me!!! Keep us posted on the outcome!!

Freakin' sweet idea! I might have to be like "Hey dad, want me to come over and clean your big ass fish tank??" hahahah

Even better if you use a siphon to clean all the poop out of the gravel (don't do this if you have a planted tank.)

I haven't used it myself, but I keep hearing and reading people who say it works great. Here's a quote I found on Garden Web forums in a thread titled Using Aquarium Water for House Plants.

"My son's science experiment uses aquarium water on sweet peppers. Based the the gathered data, there is a better growth yield on the plants with 100% aquarium water compared to the set of peppers using 50% aquarium water and "pure tap" water. For the peppers with 100% aquarium water, their leaves are larger and grew taller compared to the rest. Also, they have more branches that makes them more roboust. At this time, buds are coming out and more matured flowers are seen 100% aquarium-peppers."

To read the entire thread go to: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/aquarium/msg0410485631938.html

You should look up something called Aquaponics. I'm no expert having just skimmed over stuff about it, but it seems like you can use the water as a great fertilizer, and the plants actually do a good job of acting as a filter for the fish. Now if only someone used lights and moved the whole system indoors.....