# Plants in an HOB?



## thedood (May 30, 2015)

I have a few unused hob filters I am thinking of turning into planters. Ive been reading about the use of hob as planters for the last few days and am confused, maybe uncertain is a better word, about a few things. I am looking at pothos to put in them. I want to do two hob planters. 

First is the actual planting. I have read that the roots rot if put in water and the plant should be cut above the root below a nod and allowed to grow new roots. I have also read that the roots should be cleaned of soil and left as is. Which is better or correct?

If I buy one plant can it be split between two filters? Whats the best way to split if it is safe to do so?

I am going to fill the hob with boiled and sterilized red lava rock and wedge the plant down into the rock. I need no other filtration from the hob so from a filtration standpoint this is fine. Will this work fine for the plant? 

Will I need additional light? The one tank gets very little ambient light and would be considered mostly shaded and the other gets a shot from an east facing window in the morning and then diffuse light the rest of the time. Would this be sufficient?

What other plants make good nitrate sinks in an hob?

I live in ag country and our water seems very nitrate friendly, even when doing regular water changes. My goal is twofold. One is aesthetics, I like the look. Two is natural nitrate filtration, I think this would make a good nitrate sink coupled with regular water changes.


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## Wilderman204 (Mar 5, 2015)

Try looking in/posting in the riparium/terrarium/vivarium section and you'll get better response.


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## Markp80nj (Mar 1, 2014)

Thanks, by reading this thread, I just did a Google search and now have some mint (it grows in my back yard like a weed) in my hob. Let's see how it grows. 

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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

I've got Pothos wedged in between the sponges in mine. Make sure to take out any dying leaves ASAP as not to contaminate your tank.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

thedood said:


> I have a few unused hob filters I am thinking of turning into planters. Ive been reading about the use of hob as planters for the last few days and am confused, maybe uncertain is a better word, about a few things. I am looking at pothos to put in them. I want to do two hob planters.
> 
> First is the actual planting. I have read that the roots rot if put in water and the plant should be cut above the root below a nod and allowed to grow new roots. I have also read that the roots should be cleaned of soil and left as is. Which is better or correct?
> 
> ...


Keeping riparium style plants (roots in water with leaves in air) is a great way to add extra color and life to the tank as well as help with nitrates! Pothos is a nice beginner plant as its fairly undemanding with light and nutriments. I've had my monsterous pothos vines for over 18 months, its one of my first riparium plants.

You do not have to plant it in an HOB, if you don't need a/extra filter/filtration/flow on the tank you can use a plastic shower caddie with suction cups instead (or just stuff it against the side of the tank trim and balance roots in water and vine/leaves out of it). If you do choose to put it in an hob please be mindful of the roots, they will grow long and can clog an impeller. 

As for a planter media, lava rock, expanded clay, foam, even just free floating roots (stuffed roots in tank) works fine. Pothos does not need an enriched substrate or anything fancy. Be careful when using lava rock not to break the vine/roots when planting it.

When you buy a new pothos from the store its typically several plants/plant clippings that when you rinse soil off (a must before putting on a tank) they'll be very easy to separate. I'd personally not suggest cutting/splitting/trimming a vine until after its had a chance to establish on the tank.

I've not experiences issue with rot root but I believe its because I used longer vines (4"-10"+) to put on the tank not short clippings. The vine stores energy and I think this lets it get through the transition period getting use to having wet roots. I've found I can take a 4"+ vine that's bare (has several nodes but no roots or leaves) and in a few months its got 3-5 leaves and decent roots. Its slow growing at first/when small but once it kicks into gear.... I have a vine that's nearly 40 feet and its leaves are about as big as my entire hand (fingers and palm). My first photos I got as a longer more established plant (in soil) and it transitioned quickly. My marble queen which is new was tiny clippings that had been snipped and potted probably only 1-2 weeks before I bought it.. its still transitioning and very slow to put out new leaves...

As for lighting.. I've only kept mine on a window sill with a lot of ambient light or under lamps that have 10-13 watt 6500k cfl bulbs in them. 

As for other plants the limitation is your lighting (or lack of) and if you have height restraints (some plants that grow riparium style well can get over 24" tall). Some other easy low light riparium plants: purple waffle (Hemigraphis exotica), wandering jew (Tradescantia zebrine), Fittonia albivenis, lucky bamboo (Dracaena brauni). Some aquatic plants work well too: mosses and riccia can be placed on top of the media to grow, they just need to be damp at their base (top of media) and will wick moisture through the rest of the plant, but not a good idea if you plan to shift/remove the media often though (better on top of a large piece of foam as you can remove as a whole). With medium light (you'd need more light for this) ou can grow creeping jenny and ludwigias very easily as they don't need much humidity-they're stem plants often found in the aquatic trade (creeping jenny can also be found in the garden). I have a riparium plant list thread linked in my signature if you want to check out some other plants. First post gets updated semi-regularly but you can read through the thread for more info on plants other members have posted about.


*TLDR*: The longer the vine the better is does transitioning to riparium life/start growing on the riparium. Planting media is not important. Can use shower cadies or just let pothos grow loose (roots in, leaves out of water) on tank if you don't want/need a filter on those tanks. Also rinse roots thoroughly of soil.


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

@AquaAurora I appreciate the response, thanks! I bought a pothos today. Going to take your advice here and get it ready to plant. The one I bought is like you said, several in a pot. I'm not going to cut anything. I am going to hang it from the tank until I get the shower caddies.
@Chrisinator Good advice. I read the leaves are poisonous. @Markp80nj I hope it grows well .Let us know. I was wondering about growing herbs like this.


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

@thedood I heard that too but I've had dying leaves in my tank without any ill effects other than possible spikes in ammonia.


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## Markp80nj (Mar 1, 2014)

@thedood, I will keep you posted, but from a quick Google search, it seems it has been tried with success. 

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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

Well I planted a pothos vine in an hob. The hob is a Hagen Elite Hush 55. I get this used in a tank deal and it was missing the media baskets. Its almost cheaper to replace the filter as opposed to buying the baskets. It works well and has an adjustable flow. I filled it with uncrushed lava rock and put the vine in with the rock holding it in place. I have the filters flow on the lowest setting. I attached a clamp on lamp with a 13 watt cfl and pointed it at the plant. The lamp is plugged into the same timer as my tanks main light and should come on with it. 

I found a 20 page thread on using hob as a planter and am going to utilize that thread to add some plants. I have a couple of Marineland Emperor filters that are old and the bio wheels are kaput. I am going to do the same thing with it and put it on my 55 that is housing Calvus. It has some moss in it but that's it. I think this is a great way to re-purpose an old hob.


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## Markp80nj (Mar 1, 2014)

Well, I've been taking pictures for a few days straight, and I can confirm that mint grows in the hob without any special requirements. All I did was stick them in the back, one with a few roots still on it, the other completely clean of any root. The last pic I took, you can see a vine plant in one of the hobs (is that pothos?). I put it there last night, as a new experiment. 
So, instead of uploading every photo l took, I am only uploading the first and last days.


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## thedood (May 30, 2015)

@Markp80nj Glad to hear the mint is a success thus far. That does indeed look like Pothos, also called Philodendron. I planted mine a week ago with four different vines. All four have rooted into lava rock. I did a water change Saturday and am going to check nitrates tonight. I am hoping these vines are putting a dip into the nitrate levels.


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