Anyone have any luck with...

[BcBerri]

Those bulbs you can buy in the fish dept. at wal-mart? I picked up a pack of them this weekend. It says just drop them in the water and they will grow in 15 days. Is this a crock? Do they really grow? It can't be that easy... can it? Let me know what you guys think...

 

[Patricia]

Those bulbs you can buy in the fish dept. at wal-mart? I picked up a pack of them this weekend. It says just drop them in the water and they will grow in 15 days. Is this a crock? Do they really grow? It can't be that easy... can it? Let me know what you guys think...

It really *is* that easy, depending on the type of bulbs. I had only 2 of 7 Aponogetons sprout, and the second one took a month; the third is sitting in the corner of the tank, doing nothing, but staying hard ... the rest softened and rotted. But of the Nymphaea, all three bulbs grew very well. The largest bulb, in my 55 gallon tank, has grown into a plant 10" wide and 14" high, has red leaves up to 2.5" wide, 4.5" long, and has also sprouted baby side plants (no bulbs on them yet). The next largest is in a dimmer light tank with the Angelfish; it has red leaves 1.5" wide, 2.5" long. The smallest bulb split off two baby plants when I was trying to anchor it to the gravel: they are now growing in a tank I use only for rootlings (small rooted plants I want to grow taller & stronger before I place them).

The trick with the Nymphaea is to prune off the leaves that shoot straight up, as this keeps the submersed plant bushier and doesn't shadow the lower leaves and baby plants, so they stay nice and colorful.

Patricia

 

[BcBerri]

Cool! I bought the Aponogetons. I hope they work. I might go back and get the other kind if these work. I want a very natural look to my five gal. for my betta.

 

[willy:-)]

I had one of those aponogenton bulbs and it grew and all, but after I came home to find a broken off leaf strangling? my guppy I got rid of it. The guppy died. :-( The "lily" bulbs I bought though are really pretty and their leaves are to broad to "strangle" a fish.

 

[Captain Hook]

Cool! I bought the Aponogetons. I hope they work. I might go back and get the other kind if these work. I want a very natural look to my five gal. for my betta.

Haha, this is a funny post! Aponogetons, if you can get them to grow, are huge! One of the biggest genus of plants you will see in aquariums. If you don't believe me, here's a couple pics of an aponogeton ulvaceus that I had to remove because it was taking over my 72 gallon tank.

plant only
whole tank for comparison