Question on bamboo plants

[finlessgal]

One of my coworkers and their neighbor lost all their freshwater fish after buying bamboo plants from petsmart.

The fish and tank were at least 6 months old and cycled. Both had red tetras and zebra danios in their tanks.

Any reason why all the fish would die after adding a bamboo plant?

 

[finlessgal]

forgot to ask

what type of light is needed for live plants in a freshwater tank? I was told live plants only live 3-4 months without a special type of light. Is this true?

 

[mattmartindrift]

possible chemical treatment of the bamboo? Bamboo is not a true aquatic plant. Could be that the bamboo died and started to rot creating a hazardous environment to them.


Aquarium lighting varies greatly depending on the plants trying to be kept. (true) Aquatic plants should NOT die after 3-4 months, they should grow and thrive and need to be trimmed.


plant lighting usually needs to range from 5000K to 10000K on the Kelvin Color-Temperature scale.

you can find these lights in a variety of forms from high-intensity Metal Halide to small, spiral compact fluourescents.

There is a lighting FAQ in the planted-tank forum.

 

[KarlTh]

what type of light is needed for live plants in a freshwater tank? I was told live plants only live 3-4 months without a special type of light. Is this true?

Nope. They do better with some lights than others, but there's no magic lighting type.

Bamboo is not however an aquatic plant and won't last all that long.

 

[jm1212]

it sounds to me like the bamboo died and began to rot, creating an ammoina spike in the water.

 

[Blueiz]

Id go with either chemical contamination on the plant, or as others have said, it began to rot and spiked your parameters. Thing is, it takes a long time for the bamboo to actually die and start to rot if it was health to begin with. How long had you had the bamboo in the tank before the fish died?

 

[finlessgal]

live plants/lighting

I just have the basic lighting that comes with the tank. Is there any reason why my plants wont thrive? My plants did seem to die off when I treated the tank for ich. I put new live plants in. Is there anything special I need to do for the new plants?

Ammonia and Nitrites are both 0

 

[cam191919]

iv used bamboo before, it never lasted long but i got it out before it did any damage. stuff smells horrible rotten, cant imagine it bieng good for fish

 

[mavisky]

My bamboo sat and did nothing in my tank for almost a year so I'd hedge it on something other than them rotting away. Got mine from petsmart as well.

As for why your plants won't grow we need alot more information. Size of tank? wattage and type of bulbs? co2 injection? root tabs? any fertilization? types of plants?

 

[Eupterus]

I have lucky bamboo growing in two of my tanks. So far, I don't think it has killed any fish off. I got mine from the local grocery store.
I did hear about possible chemical treatments AFTER I already put mine in my tanks.
Dunno why they'd treat them with someone deadly to fish if they are being sold a pet shop though.