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using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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Posted by
west9491 6 (
My Page) on
Sun, Apr 6, 08 at 9:57
| i got to thinking, and anyone that knows stuff about aquariums might be able to shed their light on this:
An 'established' aquarium is one that has all the bacteria necesary for turning ammonia, from fish n food waste, into nitrites, another microbe then turns nitrites into nitrates, which is still toxic to fish like ammonia and nitrites, but not as concentrated. this establishment is known to take about a month to achieve. and this is why fish tank water is good for plants. what i was wondering was:
could you use this as a foliar spray? i mean it's almost like compost, broken down wastes and beneficial bacteria??? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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- Posted by aulani 6 E. Kansas (My Page) on
Sun, Apr 6, 08 at 11:22
| What a great question! I wish I had an equally great answer. This isn't the same thing, but all I have is how I have always stored my fish pond water in a barrel near my garden when I clean out the pond in the spring. Like using a fish emulsion, I use it for watering until it runs out. Also, whenever I clean the filter, I rinse it out in the barrel. Messy work, but somebody has to do it. The barrel doesn't stink because I just float a couple of water hyacinths on the top. |
RE: using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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| yeah, the hyacinths will probably use some the nutrients from the pond i just feed my seedlings w/ it, and also put some in a spray bottle and foliar fed them so we'll see.... |
RE: using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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| It depends. If you have used any aquarium dechlorinator with sodium thiosulfate, then the water is antifungal and should not be used for tea. |
RE: using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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| how long would you wait before it would be safe to use for tea? cuz i do my water changes about once every 2 or 3 wks. and would it matter if you use different kinds of dechlors?
because theres kinds that turn cloramine into ammonia, and theres kinds that eliminate both chloramine and ammonia. are they made of two different materials? |
RE: using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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| There was a great deal of discussion about this in the 1970's and the general consensus back then was yes this would be a great addition to a compost pile. Since little has changed in aquarium maintenance since then there is no reason why it could not be used and I know people that did just that back then. |
RE: using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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- Posted by whip1 z5 ne Ohio (My Page) on
Mon, Apr 7, 08 at 9:41
| I use my aquarium water on my plants. When I lived in the city, I did smaller weekly water changes, and I never used dechlorinaters. I've never had a problem. |
RE: using aquarium water (is it compost tea?)
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| Some anecdotal evidence from my friends who have a large aquarium: They siphon out about 2/3 of the water from their 125 gallon aquarium through a hose, out the window, and on to their lawn. I think they do this about once a month. The area of the yard where the aquarium water goes, is much greener than the rest of the yard. FWIW. |
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