Do you have a pond or aquarium at home? I don’t know about you, but the only pets I was allowed to have as a kid were fish and the occasional frog. These aquatic critters were pretty low maintenance, but I did have to clean algae out of their tanks from time to time. What I didn’t know back then was that algae are compostable! Due to their high nitrogen content, algae are a perfect addition to the “green” layer of your compost bin.
So, to all of you with fishy friends, you can compost your
excess algae and old aquarium plants. For the pond-owners out there, feel free
to skim the top of your pond, drain the excess water, and put the scum in your
compost pile.
Right now you might be thinking, “hold on, I put chemicals
in my fish tank and pond. Surely that can’t be safe to compost!” Well, if
you’re like most fish owners, the only chemical you add is a water conditioner,
which is simply used to remove chlorine and heavy metals from the water. If
this is the case, algae and plants from your tank/pond are totally safe to
compost. However, it would be best to check what water chemicals you’re using,
just to be sure.
Make sure to balance the wet, high-nitrogen algae with a dry,
carbon rich material like leaves so the pile doesn’t start to smell.
Happy composting, my fair fishy friends!
Comments
Post a Comment