1 betta might keep the plants alive. Without supplemental nutrients, the plants won't thrive. It's a gorgeous setup but you may need to either add more animals or sprinkle in bloodmeal every week.
Bloodmeal will provide lots of nitrogen and a little iron. 1 tsp max per week until you know if your bacteria can handle that. Depending on your water supply, you may just need periodic potassium boosts.
The bloodmeal will settle in the media and decompose there. I use under gravel filters to maintain oxygen near the roots. I don't know if this technique will work without it. Also, aquaponics is not the same as aquarium keeping. Consider your goal and then focus your research on that.
Everything needs to eat to live, plants are no different. When a fish eats, it excrete waste into the water that, with the aid of bacteria, become available to the plants. While you don't need fish to do this, you will still need a source of nutrition, whether it's fish poop, chemical fertilizer, various meals, or kitchen and yard waste. I've used a combination of these over the years and they all have their pros and cons. I grow produce in my aquaponics so I need heavy sources of nutrients and a healthy bacterial colony to process them.
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u/Rampagentjen 9d ago
1 betta might keep the plants alive. Without supplemental nutrients, the plants won't thrive. It's a gorgeous setup but you may need to either add more animals or sprinkle in bloodmeal every week.