Changed water as garden fertilizer?

[Knew tooth is]

I'm thinking that, instead of simply disposing the aquarium water resulting from water changes, the aquarium water would make good garden fertilizer. The aquarium water contains nitrates, biodegradables and some nutrients, which the garden plants could utilize. Have you had experience with using the aquarium water as fertilizer or have some thoughts on whether this is a reasonable idea?  Thanks. 

[RockMongler]

I use the water from my fish tanks to water my patio plants.  It's definitely a great idea.

[KBOzzie59]

And house plants.  Yep many of us do this.

[Patrick_G]

My wife swears by it, we save enough for her to hydrate her Tillandsia plants and then she uses it to water the other plants. 

[lefty o]

i do my big tank with a python hooked to a sink, but my smaller tank gets done with buckets, that water greens up grass nicely.

[Alexa]

Yes! Gardens love tank water. 🙂 

If I use it to grow vegetables or other edible things, I will use regular water for a week before harvesting, to “flush out” anything potentially harmful.

[Isaac M]

I use it for houseplants and a flower garden. I often just walk up to my aquarium and take a cup of water out to water any houseplants that may need it! 😂

[Solidus1833]

Birds must have dropped some wild blackberries in the bushes out front of my home. ITs also Where I dump any fish waste I accumulate whenever I use buckets for cleaning my canister. These wild berries are taking over my bushes and I couldn't be happier. I also noticed when I told my wife to grab some fish water for her houseplant that was doing poorly, it ended up growing more in 4 months than in 1 year. 

[MAC]

Best tomatoes I've ever grown came fueled from aquarium water. We try to use most water change water on the garden/lawn/houseplants etc  

[Schwack]

I dump all my aquarium water into the yard. Typically it goes into the garden, or raised beds, but the lawn works if I don't feel like swamping smaller plants. I've been at it since I started fishkeeping, but that scare with zebra mussels a few months back has made me much more cautious about what I put down the drain. Plus, water is scarce, I'd hate to waste it if I can help it!

[ChefConfit]

I use it to water my house and patio plants. I heard about a guy once who plumbed his auto change system to drain into a rain barrel which his sprinkler system pulled from. Apparently he never had to fertilize his lawn again. Not sure where I heard about it/if it's true but it sounds plausible. 

[tonyjuliano]

I have a 2’ X 3’ raised bed in my apartment, in it I grow lots of cherry tomatoes along with jalapeños and scotch bonnet peppers.

Has an internal reservoir that holds about 3 gallons or so, and gets nothing but aquarium water.

Grows so much stuff, I have to give most of it away.

[Tanked]

I have been using aquarium water for all of my indoor/outdoor plants for years.  Sometimes the need for plant water prompts the water change.

Where I live, every 1$ of water from the faucet costs 3$ to pour down the drain, or water the plants.  Anytime you can use the same water twice, you are ahead. 

[Trish]

My house plants sure thrive on tank water.

[Betsy]

Using aquarium water actually helps me remember to water my plants...so it's a win win for everyone!! 😂👍

[Hobbit]

Yep, as everyone has said, the plants love it! Our snake plant flowered when we started watering it with aquarium water. For outdoor plants, I use aquarium water our pots as well as any plant that’s struggling. I also use aquarium water in vases of cut flowers. (Or I add a half pump of Easy Green to the vase. 😁)

[Jeff]

I want to start doing this. 

Is this water bad for any kind of plants? I don't want to kill anything by using it. 

[firstname-lastname]

I use a 100 litre wheelie bin to do my water changes into now, as otherwise I'd drown plants on water change days and they didn't get watered again all week, which wasnt great for peace lillies. Now it all goes into the bin and I just stir up the filth whenever I want to water things throughout the week