FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Would I be able to us the tray method in a fish tank, but instead of using a tray just fill the fish tank directly. Sense I still have the plants in their pots.
Note the tank has a clear seal all around the bottom edges would the seal leak out toxins in to the water? Fish do just fine in it but would this harm my Venus flytraps? I have them under lights.

if you dont have a filter the water will start to stink and its just better to use trays because you can replase the water easily.

by mitch » Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:14 am

if you dont have a filter the water will start to stink and its just better to use trays because you can replase the water easily.

ok im not worried about the smell i would just siphon it out once a week but would the seal creat a problem?

im not to sure about the seal but once i had a 3 foot tank in my parents home and i had frogs in it and the water in the bottom was about 3 inches deep and in a matter of hours the water stunk so bad my mum made me take it down.

got any pics of the tank?

tejan24 wrote:

by mitch » Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:14 am

if you dont have a filter the water will start to stink and its just better to use trays because you can replase the water easily.

ok im not worried about the smell i would just siphon it out once a week but would the seal creat a problem?

If you don't have fish or anything in it then it wont stink

I would say go for it!
You could always, like you mentioned, flood and flush the tank if needed. Siphoning out the waste water.
I have never had the silicone form my aquariums give off anything bad for the plants or fish. As long as it's cured properly and you give it a rinse with some fresh you'll be fine. Just make sure the algea is cleaned out of it really good. You don't want any left over organics dying down into the water later.
I think the 12" height should keep it humid enough around the plants to not have to use a glass lid or canopy. You may get problems from this anyways. Too stagnant is bad!
Have Fun! Good Luck!

You can also add Sphagnum to the tank floor to add humidity. This is my tank a few weeks ago, It is now filled with LL Neps and Drosera.

Good call on the sphagnum!
Looking good too Limeslide!

This is what I did before I decided to move it outside. It works great. You can water from the bottom, the water stays pure because the soil cant fall into it. You dont get like 3 inches of water in the bottom, and your plant gets plenty of water. And it looks alot better than just having a pot sit out on the soil in an aquarium. You still have a pot, but it is hidden, and you can still water from the bottom using the tray system.

Jarhead11 wrote:This is what I did before I decided to move it outside. It works great. You can water from the bottom, the water stays pure because the soil cant fall into it. You dont get like 3 inches of water in the bottom, and your plant gets plenty of water. And it looks alot better than just having a pot sit out on the soil in an aquarium. You still have a pot, but it is hidden, and you can still water from the bottom using the tray system.

You could water it through a straw

Jarhead11 wrote:This is what I did before I decided to move it outside. It works great. You can water from the bottom, the water stays pure because the soil cant fall into it. You dont get like 3 inches of water in the bottom, and your plant gets plenty of water. And it looks alot better than just having a pot sit out on the soil in an aquarium. You still have a pot, but it is hidden, and you can still water from the bottom using the tray system.

What an interesting plan!
Timmy, how would watering through a straw work? Wouldn't it be a bit hard to get the water into such a small opening?

I mean small PVC or something like that that leads to the holes in the pots, but his idea looks like its going in the soil right to the pot, which I don't understand, but if he has more plants the pvcs could lead to one or both of the holes and if he looks in the pvcs he can see if there is too much water and he can have a drainage system.

The purple thing is just a very long strong with a larger opening. About a cm in diameter. It worked for me, until i decided to grow mine outside.

I would just use trays because its easier all together, but its fine if you want to just put water in the tank. What I did was just flip my tank over because I could not find a lid and it works wonders.

by ReefPlant » Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:05 am

I would say go for it!
You could always, like you mentioned, flood and flush the tank if needed. Siphoning out the waste water.
I have never had the silicone form my aquariums give off anything bad for the plants or fish. As long as it's cured properly and you give it a rinse with some fresh you'll be fine. Just make sure the algea is cleaned out of it really good. You don't want any left over organics dying down into the water later.
I think the 12" height should keep it humid enough around the plants to not have to use a glass lid or canopy. You may get problems from this anyways. Too stagnant is bad!
Have Fun! Good Luck!

thanks reefplant i had to buy a bigger tank (30gal) and it works out ok because i water once every 4-6 days, i place 1/2gal of DH2O in the bottom of the tank in about 20min the water is gone and there good for about 4-6 days im always checking how moist the soil is. Everything is growing well.

by limeslide » Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:32 pm

You can also add Sphagnum to the tank floor to add humidity. This is my tank a few weeks ago, It is now filled with LL Neps and Drosera.

this is a good idea but i have a plexiglass as a lid. i had only 10% ventilation but it almost reached the 100 F mark so i cut more plexiglass about 30% more and know i have a total of 40% ventilation in the day with all four T-8 on it reaches about 85 F and there is still a high humidity.

by Jarhead11 » Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:01 am

This is what I did before I decided to move it outside. It works great. You can water from the bottom, the water stays pure because the soil cant fall into it. You dont get like 3 inches of water in the bottom, and your plant gets plenty of water. And it looks alot better than just having a pot sit out on the soil in an aquarium. You still have a pot, but it is hidden, and you can still water from the bottom using the tray system.

very nice... but the thing is i have over 30 pots in my 30 gal tank any where from 3-4.5 inches so this really wont help me but if i had a few plants this would be great. i should try it on one of my small 3 gal tank. thanks for the idea.

I would just use trays because its easier all together, but its fine if you want to just put water in the tank. What I did was just flip my tank over because I could not find a lid and it works wonders.

trays are very nice but in my case trays just take up way to much space i would ony be able to keep about 20 pots with out the trays i can fit a lot more. BTW very nice Neps good growing.