Peppermint?

[Tanked]

In May I purchased and immediately misplaced some peppermint.  I found the presumably dead plant and threw pot and all into my pond.  I now have a heavy peppermint carpet In the pond it grows immersed, sending out long runners everywhere.

Has anyone attempted to grow it in the aquarium?  Is it fish safe? I have been considering Pothos for the nitrate consumption, but if this will grow indoors with room and aquarium light, it is also a harvestable crop.

Thoughts?

[Guppy Guy]

I’m sure it will grow in an aquarium with the proper lighting, but my concern is if the peppermint oils will harm the fish? Maybe @Streetwise or @Patrick_G will know. If it dosn’t work, I’m sure you can use little aquaponic pots and grow them there as the leaves won’t be touching the water.

[Patrick_G]

I’m not sure, but the ADA Wabi Kusa spray has peppermint oil in it and I haven’t heard anyone reporting any problems. 

[Odd Duck]

The mint family in general does best with more sun, but will tolerate partial shade outdoors which is roughly equivalent to very, very high light indoors.  I’ve never been able to grow mint very well indoors, even in a south facing window with supplemental lights.  It gets very leggy with weak stems.  If mint is kept moist enough, it likes full sun, even in the Texas heat.

Plus . . . . cats.  I used to have one that liked any kind of mint, not just catnip.  Nothing was safe from her alternating between chewing on it and trying to roll on it.

[Guppysnail]

I grow spearmint, peppermint and catmint as companion plants in my garden as well as for tea.  Even in my super intense full spectrum grow light hydroponics seed starter it sprout and grows but does not thrive the way it does outdoors. 

[Tanked]

Mint tea this winter was the original goal.  Spearmint occurs naturally in my yard, but I prefer the Peppermint.  I really did not expect the mint to grow in the shallow streambed above the pond..  The 3" pot is now 6 sq. ft.  Hopefully winter will fix this problem.  I grew Catmint that was falsely labeled Catnip.  The cats would occasionally flatten the clump, but generally ignored it.

I don't know if fish are smart enough to avoid plants that are bad for them. My 65 community tank may have adequate light to grow mint.  The Silver Dollars have a penchant for live plants, and I am concerned that the  runners may be a problem.  It was the runners that gave me the idea of putting it in the aquarium

Alternatively, I have a DIY light setup in the basement for my outdoor plants, and an empty 55,  so maybe I can grow mint alongside the Water Hyacinth that I mentioned in another topic.

[Odd Duck]

As far as I’ve ever read, catmint and catnip are 2 names for the same plant.  I would not try to grow any mint in a tank with fish since the oils could potentially be harmful if there was even slight damage to a leaf or root.  In a plant only tank it would likely be fine. Bear in mind that the stems get a bit gangly even in bright shade outdoors.  They look best in bright light to full sun.  The brighter the light the more tolerant they are of wetter roots.  In full shade they get sadder and sadder if the roots are too wet.  I don’t know if they would die out, it is mint after all, but they are not their best.

Unless you have a full, hydroponic “grow” (if you know what I mean) set up, mint will likely struggle with wet roots.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Odd Duck

[Randall from Texas]

I've been growing sweet mint in my patio pond. I built a bog filter and it grows crazy. It pulls out so many nutrients that it's choking the wisteria even with half day sun.

I don't let the leaves grow down into the tank. Mutt endler guppies is the stock.

[CalmedByFish]

On 10/4/2021 at 10:22 AM, Tanked said:

 it grows immersed... it is also a harvestable crop.

I might be misunderstanding your plan. If it's immersed instead of emersed, it might not be safe to harvest for human consumption.

[Tanked]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:12 PM, CalmedByFish said:

I might be misunderstanding your plan. If it's immersed instead of emersed, it might not be safe to harvest for human consumption.

The confusion is my fault. The plan/experiment is:  to possibly grow mint in place of Pothos or some other Nitrate hog in the community aquarium. The photo above shows new runners and leaves growing underwater in the outdoor pond.  The new plants will eventually become (emersed?) growing above the water.  

The concern is: 

I have a fish fence in the aquarium.  If not carefully controlled, the roots, runners and leaves will quickly grow through the fence giving the omnivores access.  The internet says I can do this as long as the leaves are kept out of the water, but I found nothing on them eating runners and roots.

[Tanked]

On 10/10/2021 at 10:22 AM, Randall from Texas said:

I've been growing sweet mint in my patio pond. I built a bog filter and it grows crazy. It pulls out so many nutrients that it's choking the wisteria even with half day sun.

I don't let the leaves grow down into the tank. Mutt endler guppies is the stock.

My pond is fishless, so Keeping the mint out of the landscape and keeping the Elodea out of the pumps are the only problems there.  In the aquarium, the Silver Dollars will eat any and all plants they can get.  I'm assuming they will also do this with the mint.

[Odd Duck]

On 10/10/2021 at 2:02 PM, Tanked said:

The confusion is my fault. The plan/experiment is:  to possibly grow mint in place of Pothos or some other Nitrate hog in the community aquarium. The photo above shows new runners and leaves growing underwater in the outdoor pond.  The new plants will eventually become (emersed?) growing above the water.  

The concern is: 

I have a fish fence in the aquarium.  If not carefully controlled, the roots, runners and leaves will quickly grow through the fence giving the omnivores access.  The internet says I can do this as long as the leaves are kept out of the water, but I found nothing on them eating runners and roots.

I first learned to remember Immersed is In the water, Emmersed has Erupted from the water (or is fully out of the water), that’s just how I learned to remember it.  Submersed has always been more obvious to me and is the same as Immersed.

I would also have concerns with a fish chewing on roots and then leaking some sap/juices into the water with omnivores.  But I think the bigger issue is that it just isn’t going to do well indoors.  I’ve tried it indoors and never had it grow well - just very lanky and poor growth compared to outdoors.  If you have poor lighting (compared to outdoors) AND wet roots, that’s usually a recipe for disaster for the plant.