# How easy is Water Lettuce?



## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

8I 

someone on an auction site i'm part of is selling some real cheap(the site uses Credits, rather than money, so....), and i'd LOVE to get some....

but i know NOTHING about it. :I and the plant guide on here doesn't have it, so.....

how easy is it to care for? they claim it's super easy. can grow it in a fish bowl, they say. but... i want opinions. 

was thinking about getting it for my 10 gallon(which i still haven't cleaned, nor set up..... but plan on it!)... i'm sure the female i plan on getting, and maybe some neon tetras.... and i'm sure they'd LOVE some live plants. :U


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

It grows huge dwarf grows smaller though.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

this is exactly what the auction says.


> It is almost fall and my plants have made babies. If anyone is interested I can send a baby to you. They are not hardy in Michigan so maybe someone can use them, they will just die here over the winter. They grow very fast and make babies similar to hens and chicks. I like to grow them in bowls and pots around the garden and in vases inside the house. Very pretty in a tall clear vase with colored rocks or crystals in the bottom. They are also useful in aquariums for fish to eat but be aware they will eat all of the plant!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

you will want the smalled variety.... water lettuce gets quite big. well. if you have a big tank... I guess you wouldnt mind.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I found my water lettuce (I had the standard size) would eventually rot and die off. I believe it was either due to a lack of nitrates or not a bright enough light, although it did get 8 hours of solid T5HO lighting. 

I am not sure how the dwarf variety goes in an aquarium as it is not available over here from my knowledge.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> I found my water lettuce (I had the standard size) would eventually rot and die off. I believe it was either due to a lack of nitrates or not a bright enough light, although it did get 8 hours of solid T5HO lighting.
> 
> I am not sure how the dwarf variety goes in an aquarium as it is not available over here from my knowledge.


probably nutritional problems since they do get to 12in +


the smaller ones grow to about 2inches I believe


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

I use to have the dwarf variety, but it is really fussy. I had so much of it and it melted away. I would say you need good light with it, whether direct sunlight or T5s. I had dwarf btw.


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

I came across 50 cupcake sized specimens of w lettuce in the park & brought them home.
 
Town considers them aquatic invaders, so they don't care. 



 Every single one of them withered away in about a month due to lack of EVERYTHING.
I think they require quite a bit of light & FILTH to grow.
 I gave the W Lettuce none of that.
 
The coralife fixture I was using eventually overheated bad to a horrible design so it only lights the tank for about 15-30 minutes before it overheats and shuts off.


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

kfryman said:


> I use to have the dwarf variety, but it is really fussy. I had so much of it and it melted away. I would say you need good light with it, whether direct sunlight or T5s. I had dwarf btw.


I want some! Imm guessing that the duckweed hasnt arrived yet? sigh Usps.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

well, it was suggested by Mr. V that i use a fertilizer, so i figured i'd give that a shot. :B no harm in getting it and trying. ain't gonna cost me nothing. the 10 is beside the window, so i could just scoot it in front of the window and just fight the algae. 8U maybe get a snail to help. :I would a snail, a school of neons, and a betta be too much? 8I


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

Water Lettuce can survive soooo much.
I had a baby pike (an inch long) for a month, so I scooped up some filthy pond water with TONS of tiny organisms, tossed in a giant ball of algae, a big scoop of water lettuce, and used the organisms to feed the pike.
I didn't even keep the bucket in the light, it just stayed in the shade on the back deck for maybe 4 months after I gave the pike back to my friend (don't ask lol) and I totally forgot about it...
A few weeks ago I decided to dump the bucket, and I found that the water lettuce was a brilliant green and it had completely overtaken the 5 gallon bucket. I threw it out anyway because there were so many possibly fish-dangerous organisms in there.

So yeah, water lettuce is easy to care for.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

Thanks. :3 i think i'll get it. 8U i've wanted to try live plants for a while, but i've been hesitant, because i killed Marimo and Java moss. . _. i didn't wanna buy some plants, only to kill them, so.... :B


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

aokashi said:


> I want some! Imm guessing that the duckweed hasnt arrived yet? sigh Usps.


Keyword had. I think I have one little thing that hasn't done anything. Go on TFK I believe there is someone selling some. I like the look of frogbit better, and they have the same type of root structures so yeah. I need to get frogbit... Oh and no, no package yet...

Make sure you have a plant light though! Or else it isn't going to do anything.


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

I received RAOK dwarf water lettuce from 2 different sources and it definitely likes light!

It does very well in my fluval spec 2 with a photoperiod of 6 hours using the stock LED light.

Not so well in my 5 g tank which shares a cfl hood made by with my 2.5 snail tank.

So I need to buy a dedicated light for the 5 g at either home depot or Walmart today. Bc I recent also received salvinia and one frogbit.


There is a great discussion about the kinds of light necessary for good plants at another forum I joined specifically about planted tanks.

I can PM you a link.


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