# Aquatic plants??



## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

So I went to my LFS today (learned a lot of the truth that Petsmart has lied about). They have these plants in a tube with green tape at the bottom of it. It is aquatic plants with the roots in gel that you rinse off when getting ready to plant in your aquarium. I bought two, but now I am starting to think I need to return them. I got one called _Trichomanes Javanicum_ (aquatic fern). and the other is a 4" white ribbon (that turns out is just like Lucky bamboo - which I had no idea). It's name was _Dracaena Sanderiana_. I came home did some research and found out that they aren't "true aquatic plants"... has anyone bought these before? I read that the fern will die within a few weeks and decompose in the water. But it's kind of half and half on what I have seen. And the white ribbon plant I have seen people say will do ok in the water, but it isn't a true aquatic plant either.

I am really considering taking these back when I go to there tomorrow for my otos.... but I'd love to hear thoughts and opinions first.

I am trying to get a picture up for you guys, but I am using this public wifi at the hospital ... and quite frankly it sucks!! So when I get the pic uploaded I'll put it on ...


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)




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## Angelmonster (May 27, 2009)

The White ribbon, or Lucky Bamboo, will grow NOT fully submerged in the water! If you ar elooking for a fully submerged plant return both of them(they are as bad as petsmart).

The Lucky Bamboo will last a few weeks but they are not meant to draw co2 from water and will die if fully submerged in the water. They do make excellent hous eplants though! Stick them in a small vase, throw ONLY gravel in top of their roots and fill it up with your tank water(when you do cleanings!). They can live with jus tlight from a lamp shade and their stems(that grow from the main "trunk") can get as high as four feet if you water it with non-salt water tank water! I have thse all over my desk at work and in my house 

these "plants in gel", youc an always tell if they are aquatis or not. If they are truly aquatic thewhole thing will be in gel, not just the roots. If they are sustaining themselves in gel then these plants can grow in water but their leaves must be out of it to have access to co2.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

That is what I was thinking. I feel "had" ugh. I am going to return them and go find some true live aquatic plants to keep in there. 

They were such beautiful looking plants to. Like their leaves looked so healthy and all. Oh well, I will just find something I like better.


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## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

Yeah, the same thing happened to me....dumb people at petco. Anyways, yeah I purchased the _Dracaena Sanderiana_ as well_,_ but to my surprise it is doing really good. Since I bought it about a month ago, it has some new shoots and its really green, it is only in a 1.5 gallon tank, but I have been supplementing it with FloraPride drops from Tetra. Yeah, I read that it is semiaquatic, but mine for some odd reason, is doing well, lol.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

Well I went back and the girl said "you looked like you really like them, so we didn't have the heart to tell you. you ready to go see some real aquatic plants?" So I ended up getting two different ones, one was the amazon sword plant and the other was wendith or something .... and again learned a ton of info I didn't know before. She told me they never sold them before but the manager wanted to bring them in. But they always tell people to not buy them so they will get rid of them. I should have known when I saw all of them there still. I just had this gut feeling not to buy them and I didn't follow it. Next time I will, but they were all so nice and showed me what I could choose from.


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## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

Oh, well that was still kind of dumb. I mean if they know something that you don't, obviously they should tell you, that's what there job is for. Anyways, at least you got some nice plants now. I got an amazon sword as well yesterday, and I love it.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

They were so happy I returned it lol. I guess it proves to their manager they don't want it there. 
I got my dwarf hairgrass at Petsmart and these two new ones at the fish store...it is a total night and day difference in roots, plant quality, color, etc


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## Scienceluvr8 (May 17, 2009)

Wow, your plants seem nice. You should post some pictures, I would like to see how your tank came out.


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## sweetviolets (Jul 14, 2009)

The white ribbon is a plant that I have here in my home. Not in my fishtank. It's familiar name is "mother-in-law tongue." This plant thrives in dry conditions. I only water mine every 3-4 weeks. Definitely not a plant for a fish tank.


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## Angelmonster (May 27, 2009)

Scienceluvr8 said:


> Yeah, the same thing happened to me....dumb people at petco. Anyways, yeah I purchased the _Dracaena Sanderiana_ as well_,_ but to my surprise it is doing really good. Since I bought it about a month ago, it has some new shoots and its really green, it is only in a 1.5 gallon tank, but I have been supplementing it with FloraPride drops from Tetra. Yeah, I read that it is semiaquatic, but mine for some odd reason, is doing well, lol.


 It will do ok for a month or two. Lucky Bamboo grows in almost stagnant water in the jungles. The leafs, though, must be out of the water. It simply can not pull enough co2 from the water and the plant will begin to die. I suggest you get it out of there and just put it in a cup of water near a window(I have be growing Lucky Bamboo for about 7 years now).




dr2b said:


> Well I went back and the girl said "you looked like you really like them, so we didn't have the heart to tell you. you ready to go see some real aquatic plants?" So I ended up getting two different ones, one was the amazon sword plant and the other was wendith or something .... and again learned a ton of info I didn't know before. She told me they never sold them before but the manager wanted to bring them in. But they always tell people to not buy them so they will get rid of them. I should have known when I saw all of them there still. I just had this gut feeling not to buy them and I didn't follow it. Next time I will, but they were all so nice and showed me what I could choose from.


 I don't know how I would react to them saying that. "I wanted aquatic plants the FIRST time I was in here!" Oh and how much did you pay for the bamboo? You can but that stuff 14 inches high online for about $1.40 lol.


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## dr2b (May 31, 2009)

> I don't know how I would react to them saying that. "I wanted aquatic plants the FIRST time I was in here!" Oh and how much did you pay for the bamboo? You can but that stuff 14 inches high online for about $1.40 lol.


The plant label didn't say "Lucky Bamboo". It said "4" White Ribbon." When I came home and googled the scientific name, it simply began popping up with "Lucky Bamboo." Like even the plant it self didn't look like lucky bamboo. It had just the leaves, not the stem of lucky bamboo. But those little rip of tubes are $4.99 a piece. It looks like when I went to the store this weekend they had 1 or 2 missing .... but not to many. They even had bulbs you could plant in your tank and would grow...called "betta bulbs." Lol but my new plants are doing good, and I think my fish are a lot happier with the ones I did buy. I'm just glad I googled them before I took them home that night to plant them. I just had this gut feeling that day in the store "something is wrong."


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