Bamboo

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Sep 25, 2005
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Houston, Texas
My mom just bought a bamboo plant from a chineese resturaunt and i was wondering if clipings from the plant would be able to grow in a an aquarium. The ladie said that they dont require much light just water and also is it safe for the fish??? any help is appreciated. thanks :p: :dance2: :hang:
 
bamboo are not true aquatic plants and the upper portion needs to be exposed to air, submerging the entire plant will eventually kill it.
 
Sounds like the perfect plant for my tank!

Thanks for the idea
 
I have successfully grown lucky bamboo in my office 10 gallon tank for a year and they are doing very well. They are not aquatic plant but can be grown as swamp plant with the leaves above the water and the stems partially or completely submerged. Any leaves submerged will eventually die off and peeling off the dead leaves will reveal the bamboo like stem. Roots will also develope at any submerged joint between the leaves and stem. Submerged stems remain green and attractive, retaining the bamboo look. Maintenance is limiting to prunning excessive growth on top and unwanted roots growth at intermediate stem joints. Maintenance is minimal because the plant grows very slowly. Since the growth point is at top and the lower leaves will eventually wilt, I guess as some point I will have to top the plant to start all over and that will be one way to propagate new plants.

One mistake to avoid is never give this plant strong or direct sun light which will kill it. The plant will thrive in dim light, so it is ideal for aquarium except that you can't place a tank cover and jumpy fish are off limit.
 
I have seen this plant being grown submerged at two different lfs within the past week. It always drives me nuts to see terrestrial plants in tanks like that, especially at a lfs where they should know better. I like what you are all describing with them growing as emergents though. Would someone post a pic please?
 
Here is a picture of my bamboo planted tank.

http://server3.uploadit.org/files/tiger15-bamboo.jpg

I have 7 bamboo stems tied in with fish line to the ornaments. There is one angel fish, one dwarf gurami, one brush nose pleco, a dozen small tetra/guppy and a couple cory. Maintenance is far less than aquatic planted tank because there is no debris generation or prunning needed underwater. The only significant maintenance task is to add a couple gallons of water a week to replace the evapotranspired water.

The set up is working and the plants and fish are thriving. But without control comparison, I don't know how good it is in removing nitrate. The last time I checked, the nitrate was up there. The plants don't grow very fast and I have a high fish/plant ratio.
 
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