As this tank was also supposed to run without technical equipment, I had to find plants suitable for removing pollutants from the water.
Firstly, again inspired by www.tuncalik.com, I bought a branch of Dracaena sanderiana, generally called 'lucky bamboo' although being unrelated to bamboo. Considering that there used to be some sort of lucky bamboo boom several years ago, getting hold of one of these plants turned out to be quite a challenge. I eventually discovered it at a local Woolworth's.
In contrast to the umbrella papyrus, literature about lucky bamboo regarding the nutrient uptake from water and water purification is scarce. I could find out that lucky bamboo has the potential to purify water from pollutants, but is not the ideal choice [1]. Due to this, I introduced two little offshoots of umbrella papyrus in the tank. They can be produced easily by cutting of a branch and dipping it upside down into water. Roots are formed quickly at the tip of the branch, followed by two or more offshoots. This effect also occurs naturally and contributes to the fast propagation of the umbrella papyrus.
I've also added minor amounts of some local water plants I found at a nearby pond (Myriophyllum spicatum, Potamogeton acutifolius, Potamogeton lucens, Elodea nuttallii, Ceratophyllum demersum). I just put in one of each in order to see which of them is able to proliferate in the tank. The temperature should not be a problem, but I don't know whether the sunlight will be strong enough. Additionally, I've equipped both tanks with a handful of java moss (Vesicularia dubyana).
- Zhu et al., 2011: Biomass accumulations and nutrient uptake of plants cultivated on artificial floating beds in China's rural area. Ecological Engineering, Vol. 37, p. 1460–1466.
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