Dumb stuff I'm thinking about trying with Plants

[Mac Myers]

Lowering the water level in my 55 Gal and:
Getting some sort of floating lily pad plant.

Mounting "Lucky Bamboo" (Dracaena sanderiana) on a floating doo dad of some kind with the leaves out of the water.

Mounting some Pothos or Philodendron cuttings on a floating thing with the root system underwater.

While I'm at it. I have some Ghost Shrimp in the tank to help with the cycling. Do they need to come out before an Axolotl goes in (I don't care if the Axolotl eats them however I do care if they bother the Axolotl)?

 

[Bellabelloo]

No idea about the plants you mention, I am skilled at killing most. I have hornwort (Ceratophyllum )that floats and grows rapidly, at present I am having to take some out every week or so. I have an invasion of duckweed too.
The ghost shrimp will be fine left in with the axolotl, but will become a lovely snack.

 

[blueberlin]

I don't know of a single axolotl tank here in Germany that does NOT have pothos in it. Great nitrate consumers. I had philodendron in my tanks and they did ok but only grew slowly; the pothos goes insane. The leaves must be above water, though, in case that's worth noting. Someone had mentioned having "lucky bamboo" in their tank and if I recall, it did well (but I don't really recall).

Spider plants (Chlorophytum I think?) do well in water, too, but are more light-loving than pothos or philodendron. They are also somewhat more awkward to position. I used hooks on the side of the tank, whereas the two ivies can be draped anywhere. I suppose all could be mounted, like you suggest. Are you going to give us pictures, I hope?

-Eva

 

[Mac Myers]

I'll try some pictures as soon as I finish. I've got some Philodendron in there now just because I had it and I've got some Lucky Bamboo that I will add as soon at I figure out how to float it. I still need to drop the water level some (about 4" I think) as well. I've got some drift wood holding up the Philo's... but It'll sink sooner or later methinks. I'm told the "bamboo" will survive underwater... but that comes from the lady that wants to sell me some. Independent research seems to suggest otherwise. I also added a 4" Air stone "bar"...... but even with the pump turned down it bubbles too much and creates too much current. Seems to have dropped the temperature about .5° F.

 

[blueberlin]

So, I checked our German forum to see what all everyone wrote about Lucky Bamboo. Only one person wrote that she had no luck with it; everyone else wrote that it does great. It doesn't really have much decorative use underwater but is gorgeous topside. Some possibly useful tips:

One lady wrote that she let the bamboo sprout roots in a vase before adding it to the aquarium. Another wrote that she tied the stalk to a suction cup with a thread and stuck it on the glass so that it wouldn't be "lying run over in the tank". Another wrote that she stuck the stalk directly into her substrate (presumably a Mattenfilter), where it spread such roots that she will never get it out again.

Hope some of that helps.

-Eva

 

[Mac Myers]

Thanks for checking and getting that information Eva. For some reason the suction cup idea completely escaped me. That's a lot easier than trying to make a floating mount. The leaves on the stalks I have now were looking a bit yellow... so I have them in a glass with some aquarium water to see if they green up a bit.

 

[blueberlin]

The leaves may yellow from lack of light. Too much sunlight burns them, in which case they turn white.

Good luck - can't wait for pictures.

-Eva

 

[merk199]

I have lucky bamboo in a 2 1/2 gallon fully submerged doing well. It is in with one afcrican dwarf claw. Albiet it is growing very very very slow. But it seems to suck nitrates out of the water. I get little to no algae in that tank. I have it just planted straight into playsand.

 

[wildthing]

i have had really good luck with a plant called elodia. it can be rooted to the substrata or left floating. my salamanders love to float on it at the surface. i also think that it helps them to prey on fish and other snacks i keep in the tank for them. it does well in full or low light. good luck

 

[Mac Myers]

I'm planning on just letting the roots hang down. I've got the little dudes in a glass of aquarium water near a fluorescent light. I might try some underwater too as I have 8 stalks. :happy:

 

[electronfusion]

Lowering the water level in my 55 Gal and:
Getting some sort of floating lily pad plant.

Regarding the lilies, they seem to be tricky, at least to grow from bulbs. I have tried and failed several times to get lilies started in my koi tank (it's about 70 gallons). Best bet might be to start with small plants that have leaves and everything on them.

Or you could take the approach I've taken with my axolotl tanks, which is floating fake lily pads. They're pretty to look at (the silk flower is always in bloom), they don't require any special maintenance, they work well in very shallow tanks where space is at a premium, and just like live lily pads, they provide shady spots for the animals to hide under.

 

[blueberlin]

Don't these lilies require relatively deep earth for their root system? 50 cm or so?

-Eva

 

[Mac Myers]

I'm unsure that my definition of "Lilly" is the same (or even correct at all) as the rest of the world's (Yay Scientific names) so I need to figure what I'm actually talking about before I belch up any more nonsense.
I might have been thinking about a Water Hyacinth or something. I R still sleepy too.