Bamboo in tank?

Nope... the bamboo they're selling is the very same bamboo that grows on land... that means it can't grow fully submerged! It's a good trick, and probably makes them a lot of money, but this bamboo never lasts for very long. If you had an open-top tank, and got bamboo that was tall enough to sit with its leaves and part of the stem out of the water, you'd probably be okay, but it won't grow completely underwater at all.

Lucky Bamboo (actually dracaena, not a bamboo) can be grown emersed in a tank, but can't be submerged. I have a 24" one sticking out of a tank.

Haha yes, like I said, it's a good trick! Almost as good as "Aquarium Salt!" There are so many other plants though... if you want to do low-light plants that don't care about substrate, how about Anubias or Java Fern attached to driftwood? I've got Anubias Nana in my Betta tank that's going crazy. It provides that good green-foliage look without any of the other stuff that usually goes with plants.

I used to plant them emersed in bowls.. definitely not a true aquatic. They do survive an amazing length of time submerged though.

my mom gave me this little pico tank for my birthday that has two african frogs, one pond snail, one ramshorn snail, a rock, some gravel and a stick of bamboo in it. i'm thinking about adding some cherry shrimp to it too. but the bamboo will grow as long as the top end of the main stalk remains out of the water. the side shoots will continue to grow. mines been there for a year and a half like that.

peanutbowl said:

my mom gave me this little pico tank for my birthday that has two african frogs, one pond snail, one ramshorn snail, a rock, some gravel and a stick of bamboo in it. i'm thinking about adding some cherry shrimp to it too. but the bamboo will grow as long as the top end of the main stalk remains out of the water. the side shoots will continue to grow. mines been there for a year and a half like that.

Click to expand...

Curious - one year later. Is the "bamboo" still alive?

i can say for sure it will grow well as long as it is getting some air. i started off with 4 16" peices of lucky bamboo i got at a florist. i stuck them in the back of my ten g. i kept them there for about a year. i took them out and planted them in large tall vase with a bit of soil and a lot of gravel. they were about 3' tall at that point. then i decided to trim the off-shoots right off and i planted those in my 50g which was only about half full because it had frogs in it. they have grown well enough in there that i ended up having to trim the tops off. the leaves died off those stem peices and they grew off-shoots like the original peices i had bought. the peices i trimmed from them are now growing well in a different tank. so, i started off with 4 and i now have 12 of various sizes. only the original 4 stems i bought are not in a tank, but in the vase with gravel and an inch or so of soil. they have all rooted well and continued to grow equally well regardless of how i have them planted, provided they have access to air and proper light.