HEALTHIER HOUSEPLANTS, NATURAL FISH TANK FILTRATION

EXPERIMENT WITH INDOOR GARDENING OPTIONS, WRITES NANCY HAIGH GORDON

Over the last few years, circumstances beyond my control led me to experiment with indoor gardening options and danderfree companion pets. I tried bonsai but found it a little too highbrow and costly for my taste and budget, and my traditional houseplants and tropicals occasionally suffered from water and nutrient complications.

Then, over this past winter, I stumbled into a new option that seemed to solve a number of these previous complications. I invested in a 7.5-gallon fish tank for my Betta fish, In(d)igo (Indi) Montoya, gifted to me by my granddaughter. And being a plant person, I decided to attempt a heavily planted fish tank rather than stocking it with plastic tank decor as I'd done previously.

I've learned that fish-keeping is not for the faint of heart. There is some cost involved in startup and maintenance of substrate and water quality. There's also an educational curve in learning about the intricate tank cycling, lighting parameters, filtration options and, of course, plant and inhabitant choices.

Watching YouTube videos, I learned that roots of certain houseplants, grown immersed

in a fish tank, aid submerged aquatic plants in eliminating toxic elements from the fish water; equally symbiotic, fish water removed during occasional water replenishing provides beneficial nutrients when used to water houseplants.

Consequently, my remaining houseplants have never looked healthier, and my fish tank is flourishing with the assistance of natural filtration from a snake plant and stems of pothos rooting in the water. And, with Indi thriving in his heavily planted underwater rainforest scape and proving to be a relaxing hypoallergenic flatmate with whom I happily share time and space, it's a win-win-win!

Growing Green is a regular feature prepared by the Mount Hamilton Horticultural Society, a.k.a. Garden Hamilton (online, blog or Facebook). Nancy Haigh Gordon, the author of this article, oversees Growing Green, the newsletter and blog, as MHHS's media chair.