Hedge bought on a whim-any advice?

[beviking]

What can I say. $1.50 for a cluster and it is good looking stuff. My preliminary search finds it's not an aquarium plant and will only live a short while in the tank. For some reason, wetmans' site is down and aqua botanica and thekrib didn't tell me much (though that may be in part b/c it's late and I'm tired).

Is it worth even putting it in my tank? I'm sure if I wanted to burn the gasoline and time I could take it back, but most likely it would go in the compost pile.
If it is worth putting in the tank, can I bleach it?
By the time this post is answered and/or I check it tomorrow, I'll have the info from skep-aquarist (is that irony?) but like I said, it's late and I'm tired so why not just ramble on...and on...and...

[djlen]

You know I've often wondered why my LFS carries Green Hedge all the time because, as you say, it is not a true aquarium plant, but it seems to sell out there all the time. Which means either people are buy it to feed to gold fish or some other veggie lovers, or someone is having some success with it. I think it's really a nice looking plant, but have never tried it myself.
Hope you will keep us posted on how it performs in your tank.
Len

[ChilDawg]

Originally posted by djlen
You know I've often wondered why my LFS carries Green Hedge all the time because, as you say, it is not a true aquarium plant, but it seems to sell out there all the time. Which means either people are buy it to feed to gold fish or some other veggie lovers, or someone is having some success with it. I think it's really a nice looking plant, but have never tried it myself.
Hope you will keep us posted on how it performs in your tank.
Len

I think the key is not necessarily the success that people have had with the plant, but the fact that it looks nice...I've seen that with several non-submersible plants...People buy what looks nice and keep replacing it because it looks nice...

[punch]

Personelly, I hate going to my LFS and seeing plants that are not
true aquarium plants and I know they will die eventually.
A while ago a bought a plant from smith and foster and when I got it it said it was a terrium plant, so I called up and was told
"no, it will do fine in your tank, in fact we grow it suburged with no problem" Then I found it on the web that told me it wasn't a true aqurium plant and would eventually die. and of course it did.
I was pretty ticked off. There are plenty of plant that are aquarium plants. why put something in your tank that would eventually die? It just makes a mess and you will have to replace.
I perfer the real deal in my tank, but again thats a personal prefrence. But why get something that you would have to replace? Frankly, when it comes to plants a lot of people who buy at a LFS do not know what there buying or that it wont survive. They just want something in there tank. and if it dies..
well, maybe it was something they did or didn't do. I think most
people are just not that well informed about aquarium plants.

[beviking]

Thanks! I personally don't want to put it in my tank if it's just going to die. But, if it's for a good cause, like experimenting for the good of AC, I'll do it!!! I'll call the lfs (the guy there didn't seem to know a whole lot about it either - that's weird :rolleyes: )and try to educate him. He didn't say it was not an aquarium plant and I can't fault a business for sticking with something that sells (as djlen said - though I've never seen it there b4), but if he knew it wasn't an aquarium plant and sold it to me anyway...that's just not right. I still can't get to wetman's site! That's the biggest tragedy of all!!

So punch, you didn't put it in your tank? Or did you and it died? Conflicting info always urges me to experiment.

[punch]

Well, I did put it in my tank as I did my reseach.
In fact this is the plant I got.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=26&pCatId=795
This plant is a bog plant. the roots like water but if the leaves are submerged it will die. As you see, the make it seem as if its a true aquarium plant.
So I put it in my tank and after about a week and 1/2 the leaves become lose and thread like and white in color and basicly just
disinagrated away. I wrote to foster smith telling them but of course heard nothing back. I wasted money buying 4 of those plants and even called them to make sure it would be fine in my tank. Why would I think customer service would tell the truth in such a thing? I'm more carefull now. Now if a plant dies in my tank I know its something that isn't the right peramaters in my tank and not the plant itself. Live and learn.

[punch]

Heres the sight I found about my plant that told the truth!
http://fishgeeks.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=288
As you see, If the leaves are submerged as in an aquarium, it dies.

[tricksterpup]

I am with Punch on this. It is a shame that there are plants out there sold as aquarium plants that actually are not. I too bought hedge a while back and it all died, i wasn't sure what the reason was. I had to do some research and found that it was a terrestrial plant. I picked up some really good plant books at the time and gave some really nice lists on aquatic plants and bog plants. SO find yourself some good books, start reading, most people rely on the net. There is information out there on boards like this but it is always best to build yourself a library and keep these books on hand. :D
jim

[ChilDawg]

If it grows well emersed in marshes, why does that seem to translate to these people as grows well submersed in much clearer conditions? For goodness sakes, they are out of their minds! I commented on the species for their benefit.

[beviking]

It doesn't look good. The more I research, the more certain I am that I got duped.
One interesting thing though, the leaves on the plant I have are somewhat curled and shaped like a mitten, sort-of. I haven't found a hedge that looks like it:confused:

[beviking]

O.k., it's been almost a month and this stuff has been in my 40g tank with some other plants and snails, no substrate except for the cup or so of potting soil I threw in originally. Been throwing some fish food and dog food to feed the snails and the hedge looks just as good as it did when I bought it. I saw the pic in Foster&Smiths and it looks like the same thing. So last night, I put it in my main tank. Didn't seem to have any roots, just the white strings along the stem.
So far so good...???? We'll see.

[Starry]

Did it grow at all?

[beviking]

I don't think so. After all the bad news I discovered, I really expected it to deteriorate so really didn't watch it closely.

[beviking]

It's done! The stuff deteriorated over the weekend. Just for "FYI sake" I wanted to conclude the thread. Thanks again for all the advice!