# Do those plant bulbs actually work and grow?



## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

Hey everybody!

Getting my new tank AND betta tomorrow!

So excited!

i wanted to try my hand at live plants, but am worried i will bring home some hitchhikers.

The tank i am going to get has LED lights, not sure what wattage.
The tank will be bare-bottom, so i might not even be able to buy live plants.

Do those plant bulbs work? What matinence would i have to do?

*Also, what heater would work in a 3 gallon tank?*


Thanks everybody, i am super excited and will post pictures!:-D


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## laynisample (Sep 10, 2012)

In a bare bottom tank I would really go with some floaters, hornwart, wisteria, those types of things, and some moss on a piece of driftwood. All the instructions I've ever seen for the bulbs is that they need to be buried. 

http://www.petco.com/product/114078/Tetra-Submersible-Aquarium-Heaters.aspx This is the heater I use in my three gallon tank. It keeps the water at 78* perfectly and has been installed for a few months. In my qt tank (a medium kritter keeper) I use a Zoomed heater. It keeps my water at about 82*. Both are really good in my opinions for smaller tanks.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

bulbs will usually only sprout under certain conditions  so usually a hit or a miss thing.


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## ZergyMonster (Feb 20, 2012)

Bulbs are extremely hit and miss. I have purchased 2 sets of bulbs and in 1 set only the water lily bulb grew, and in the other set only the onion bulbs grew. On the back of each package there is usually an address where you can send the un-grown bulbs for a new bulb. I haven't done this but I'm sure it would work just fine if you got a "new" bulb from the distributor.


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## Onlyonagoodday (Jan 20, 2012)

For a bare bottom pick up some marimino moss balls.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I have had a 50/50 success/failure with the dry bulbs you get at walmart.

The lily bulbs did better than the apon bulbs. I have a couple of lily bulbs that are awesome-grow like mad that I have propagated from-I love the look of the leaves floating at the surface. Then a couple of lily bulbs that sprout and thats it....lol....no leaves, just a few sprouts out the top.

I don't bury mine-I drop them in the tank and allow them to send their roots into the substrate-they don't seem to have that many roots anyway.

I have placed bulbs in water and sat them in a sunny window and got them to sprout faster-this seems to work best with the apon bulbs-but they don't like being moved and when I move them to the tank-it causes them to melt....

I can't find the pic of the lily bulb under water-but here is one from the top
Under water the leaves are red and once at the surface the top side is green speckled with red.


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

Wow thats great OFL!

I think i will wait a while to put some bulbs in the new tank, *but i will definetely pick some up tomorrow and bury them in my 10 gal's gravel with Honeycomb. I already have 3 moss balls in there, and they grow like crazy. I never use the light in my ten becasue it is crud, but they get alot of natural sunlight from the window(i know, it was a bad choice to put the aquarium there. UPDATE: Getting new betta and tank FOR SURE tommorrow *


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

you shouldnt bury them, because you might accidentaly bury them in the wrong direction! haha


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

oh yah hah! I will place them on top then! i cant get any "hitchhikers" this way right? I hope Honeycomb enjoys them! He already has 3 moss balls lol


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I have 1 moss ball and wa t to get one for Joe.


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

yep, so tommorrow, gonna be buying some bulbs for honeycomb, and then i will buy the new tank and betta and new silk plants for him and some NLS, tommorrow is a big day!

@Dramaqueen, moss balls are great! Bought mine a month ago and it grew into 3!


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## MyRainbowBettaFish (May 9, 2012)

GOT MY NEW GUY!!!

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=117052


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