in want of info on Dwarf Lily and dwarf-lily hybrid ulvaceus

psariandras

psariandras

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May 18, 2007
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It might have been a bad idea but I bought some bulbs at the LFS, b/c they were only a few bucks a piece.
One is a hybrid ulvaceus(Dwarf Lily) and the other is Nymphaea lily bulbs. Each is a small pack containing a few bulbs.
The instructions say that the plants will grow if they are dropped in the water, but the instructions do not say anything about lighting requirements or substrate requirements.
The instructions say that the plants will anchor themselves to the gravel.
I would like to have these plants in a tank with some african dwarf frogs or a tank with some platies.
I have a few questions about these plants:

1) what should the substrate be? I haven't added substrate or cycled my tank yet, I was going to go with gravel.The the life of plants be reduced if substrate is all gravel?
2) are these low light plants? Currently I have a T-12 24" ballast that holds two bulbs that I could set up if I had to, or I could use incandescents. Can light coming from a window provide light, or is that bad and will produce algae?
3)how much maintence will be required with these plants?
4) are these plants bad in any way? I am scared that a good deal from the LFS is not really a good deal.

thanks. :)
 
I have those types of plants in my tanks and nothing else. They are relatively easy to care for. Here's a link to my two tanks when they started and how they are now.
5g Before
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/br553/DSC00749.jpg
After
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/br553/busterhome-1.jpg

10g Before. This was just after I had set up my 10g and had transplanted the bulbs from a previous tank.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/br553/newtank-1.jpg
Midway through
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/br553/guppytank.jpg
After
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/br553/wideshot.jpg

Sorry for all of the pics, but it is to give you an idea of what is possible with those bulbs. I use 1.5-2 inches of fine gravel in both tanks. For lighting, I use 4watts per gallon on the 10g and about 2.5 WPG on the 5g. I am not certain, but I believe the apon bulbs are medium lighting which is around 2 WPG. The dwarf lilies I think require higher lighting. Perhaps another user could answer that part.

Gravel would not reduce the lifespan of the plants, as long as it has nutrients (see below) I've had some of my apon bulbs for over a year. The bulbs may go dormant after they flower, but may come back if they stored enough nutrients in the bulb while they were growing.
For the lighting that you have, it would depend on the size of your tank. Assuming that you have 24" T-12 bulbs, those should be 20watts each and would give you 2 WPG on a 20g tank for example. I would recommend using the fluorescent fixture since it is more efficient than the other and would not heat the water as much. Sunlight can cause algae, but if you plant thickly enough, the plants will out-compete the algae for nutrients.

Plant maintenance would be adding NPK ferts and micros to the water as needed, as well as root tabs in the substrate if you go with a gravel only substrate. Laterite and fluorite (I think) are a couple of substrate additives that can be used at set up in place of root tabs.
The only negatives I can think of on these bulbs is that it can be hit and miss as to whether or not they will grow. It could take up to 2 weeks for the hybrids to sprout and longer for the lilies. Just keep an eye on the bulbs, and remove any that start to get fuzzies (mold), smell rotten, or are soft when you pinch them. The hybrids do have a tendency to put out floating leaves.
 
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I like the look of those plants. I hope mine can look that good someday. what kind of light do you use?
I was thinking that one fluorscent with a planted aquarium bulb and maybe some extra light from an incandescent that I have.

What sort of maintence do you have to do to keep the plants alive?
 
On my 10g, it originaly had 2 screw in incadescents. I later upgraded those to two 20watt 6500k screw-in fluorescents because the other light bulbs were just not cutting it. It is the same situation with my 5g tank but I am limited to a 15 watt bulb because of the hood design.
The maintenance I do is: everyday, I add Fluorish Excel for carbon, since a co2 system is a bit cumbersome for me. Every other day, I dose with Nitrate and Potassium fertilizers. Twice a week, I dose micro nutrients and also additional iron if needed. I think the micro nutrients that I use is Fluorish Complete. I change the water once a week, and prune dead or damaged leaves as needed.
 
I change 25% once a week on my planted tanks. On my goldfish tanks, I change about 30-35%
 
I dropped some of the dwarf lifly bulbs in an uncycled tank two weeks ago just to see what would happen. I haven't added any ferts or co2 but the plants seem to be growing alright.
I leave the light on for about 9-11 hours a day. Maybe I will get around to adding some fertilizers. I don't know if the plants will make it though, the substrate is only normal aquarium gravel, I am worried that the plants will not be able to sustain themselves.

I put in some of the other lily bulbs but they developed a white semi-clear milky formation so I took them out. I left one of the bulbs in and a small red offshoot is growing - maybe the white fungus or whatever it is will not kill the plant.
 
can anyone tell me what the clear white substance is on the bulbs? sorry if this is a bad newbie question.
I am worried that it might have negative effects on the rest of my tank.
 
Is the bulb sprouting? From my relatively new experience, the bulbs with white mold-like fuzz only grow when the bulb is rotting. But if there's mold but it's still hard, it might still sprout.

If you're still worried how about taking it out and putting them somewhere else?
 
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