# Pothos...emerged or submerged?



## sareena79

whats the best way to grow pothos in my tank? I currently have the roots only in the water, leaves above water and its growing at a decent rate i suppose and looks healthy. however I was wondering if it will do as well or better with the entire plant (or most of it) submerged. My boy currently likes to hide in the roots but he REALLY like to play in the leaves when I DID try it submerged (I chickened out and removed it after a day b/c I was afraid I would kill it)


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## ChoclateBetta

The leaves will die underwater I keep mine in the filter.


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## ao

sareena79 said:


> whats the best way to grow pothos in my tank? I currently have the roots only in the water, leaves above water and its growing at a decent rate i suppose and looks healthy. however I was wondering if it will do as well or better with the entire plant (or most of it) submerged. My boy currently likes to hide in the roots but he REALLY like to play in the leaves when I DID try it submerged (I chickened out and removed it after a day b/c I was afraid I would kill it)


you can probably do half half. some pothos dont fransitiob well. so if you ever feel the bottom submersed leaves are dying, simply pull it back up again


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## sareena79

yeah I thought about doing that, just wondered if anyone had any experience with it submerged. guess if it dies its easy enough to replace. as long as its not harmful to my fish


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## ao

tanseattle does his submersed 
easy to replace is not the problem. someplants when they die releases toxins. and rottening bits will definitely give your tank a large ammonia spike


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## sareena79

well I do 100% water changes weekly so it wont have a chance to rot thankfully z ima try the half in half out route and see how it goes


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## ao

ok  keepin it near the filter will also help.


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## sareena79

well his tank is only a 2g unfiltered, hence the use of the pothos as a natural filter


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## ChoclateBetta

That might be oky tank size would see if that is enough water changes but do not submerge it.


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## sareena79

OFL said my water changes were fine with my setup


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## ao

XD okies. the reason having a filter will help is because the levels of oxygen in the water will rise, hence helping to prevent rot.


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## ChoclateBetta

It I just wanted to say just because you do 100 percents it might not be enough I am sure you do enough water changes the main reason for a filter is giving a home for BB and activated charcoal I use a regular filter take the lid off add plants.


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## ao

filter works
no filter also works  
I had a jar with no filter with lots of plants
Almost never had to do a water change! the plants help with filtration, sometimes you dont need them. I like them because they make the tank look more alive with the waving plants


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## ChoclateBetta

You always need water changes.


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## ao

lolol yes 
I can agree with you because I know you, and know you don't mean any harm  
but you can say it this way: " you should always do water changes because it is good for the fish"  that will sound better 

I'll let you in on a secret of mine.
I had a highly planted 3gallon jar I was experimenting on. I never did a water change on this jar because I was testing out a sustainable system. And it worked!  it went through 6 months of no water change, housed 5 healthy feeder minnows( which I later returned to the petshop), 2 generations of H formosas, 5 cherry shrimps and many many snails.

Ofcourse this was simple an experiment and because I did something similar before, I knew what I was doing and that nothing will die. 
I will never ever recommend to someone to not do water changes. 

plants are pretty amazing right? 

I've always wanted to ask you, aren't CPDs schooling fish? why do you only have one lonely little guy?


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## ChoclateBetta

Oh sorry but what happened to debbree like food and waste?


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## sareena79

the plant uses the bacteria from the leftover food and poop as food. anything not used is removed during the 100% water changes (well in my situation, not sure about the 6mo scenario but thats an interesting experiment for sure!)


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## ChoclateBetta

Plants love there nitrate.


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## ao

plants do not use bacteria  they use nutrition such as ammonia, nitrite and nitrates.
bacterias are living organism, the same as fungi. plants, bacteria and fungi all feed on excess ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. 

So when you see cloudy water, it is a bacterial bloom, as the bacteria is feeding on the excess nutrients.


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## sareena79

thats what I meant (well I meant byproducts) lol sorry I was running late for work cuz I had played too much on here hahahah


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## ChoclateBetta

I thank the BB.


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## sareena79

oh and I chickened out and removed the pothos' leaves from the water, back to roots only. I kept reading conflicting reports on whether it was good or not so I figured better safe then sorry so Im just gonna go buy some aquatic plants to go IN the water and keep my pothos on top of the water. im curious to see if the vitachem I ordered for sushi will have any effect on the plants growth. it should be here either tomorrow or sometime next week


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## ChoclateBetta

Glad you saved the plants.


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## sareena79

ok I put the plant back in lol...my buddy has a pothos at his house thats been submerged for months with no ill effects so I decided to give it another go. I have about 95% of my plant in the water and the rest above. Sushi is loving swimming thru the leaves so for now I think I will leave it that way cuz it looks really pretty like that too. if I see it looking funky or if my fish acts like he doesnt like it then it will definitely come out but so far so good....I will take a pic after my next water change on monday


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## ChoclateBetta

Plants like Pothos survive months underwater but will eventually die or grow above the water.


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## sareena79

im ok with it growing above the water,as thats how its been for the last 4mo, in fact I have a few leaves about the water right now so the plant can still get the air it needs through the leaves. I actually like the look of haveing some submerged and some emerged and if the plant starts to look wierd I will just take it out, no biggie...


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## ChoclateBetta

Hopefully they survive wish you luck.


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## whatsupyall

I use pothos and hanged it around the tank semi floating. Pothos is a weird plant, I don't know if it actually helps with pollution, but it looks nice and my fish seem okay so far. The reason it doesn't seem to help with pollution in the tank is because pothos seem to grow in any type of temperature and sunlight, sometimes even with out water it still grows a bit before dying. Makes me think it just grows regardless of nutrients or whatnot. Again, it's a pretty plant and looks nice in the aquarium so no complaints here.


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## sareena79

whatsupyall said:


> I use pothos and hanged it around the tank semi floating. Pothos is a weird plant, I don't know if it actually helps with pollution, but it looks nice and my fish seem okay so far. The reason it doesn't seem to help with pollution in the tank is because pothos seem to grow in any type of temperature and sunlight, sometimes even with out water it still grows a bit before dying. Makes me think it just grows regardless of nutrients or whatnot. Again, it's a pretty plant and looks nice in the aquarium so no complaints here.


yeah I have had it with just the roots in the water for about 4mo now but I had been toying with putting it under water and did for about a day lol but ima leave it for a while this time and see how it does, it looks neat in there and Sushi seems to enjoy it so we'll see....


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## ChoclateBetta

I keep Pothos in my Filter I put one plant in then it split to two it really has grown it is next to a 75 watt light and gets light interesting fact look how wild type look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epipremnum_aureum


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## sareena79

here are some pix of Sushi and his house with the pothos in it....


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## sareena79

oh and that is a 2gal vase, which is alot bigger than it looks in the pix...its not one of those dinky little craft store vases that arent even 1g. his water is changed 100% a week. hes a happy little camper


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## ChoclateBetta

They work well emerged I keep them in my filter. Might want more water changes. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49160


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## sareena79

as u and I have previously discussed, his water changes are perfectly fine accoridn to OFL b/c he has an actively growing pothos


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## ChoclateBetta

The care sheet says 1 100 percents and a few partial water changes.


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## sareena79

but I spoke with her about my particular set up and she was fine with his amount of water changes b/c of his plant. like I said, u and I have covered this previously, perhaps u have forgotten....


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## ChoclateBetta

Housing your betta fish in a novelty 1 - 2 gallon "tank" or smaller will result in harmful substances accumulating in the water quickly and require you to perform partial water changes every other day and a 100% water change once a week. That's a far cry from simply leaving your betta fish alone in a tiny bowl like the setup in many stores might suggest you can get away with. Without regular water changes, a betta fish in such a tiny enclosure will unfortunately succumb to harmful substances in the water quickly. Copied from care sheet.


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## sareena79

oh lord, do we really have to have this converstaion again? my fish is well-cared for. I may not do it the way u do it but thats ok. I already got my water change schedule ok'd by OFL whos advice is always spot on. my tank is not a novelty tank just b/c its not your basic square 10g+. its 2g which is plenty for him since he has such a long heavy tail and prefers to rest in his plants most of the day. He has a light, a heater, a thermometer, a "natural filtration system" weekly 100& water changes, he gets high protien food as well as vitamin supplements. he not neglected in any way shape or form. if u feel the need to keep shoving your agenda down my throat then please either refrain from commenting on my posts or add me to your ignore list so u dont see my posts anymore. Im not neglecting my fish, he is quite a happy and well cared for little guy.....if u want people to treat u better in this forum then u need to be less judgemental, argumentative and accusatory towards people. Maybe thats not your intent but its the way it comes off.....


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## ChoclateBetta

I am just saying a 100 and one or two 25 percents will help I use plant filters too remember regular filters are natural too BB do the work.


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## sareena79

> Housing your betta fish in a novelty 1 - 2 gallon "tank" or smaller will result in harmful substances accumulating in the water quickly and require you to perform partial water changes every other day and a 100% water change once a week. That's a far cry from simply leaving your betta fish alone in a tiny bowl like the setup in many stores might suggest you can get away with. Without regular water changes, a betta fish in such a tiny enclosure will unfortunately succumb to harmful substances in the water quickly. Copied from care sheet.


THIS is what I was talking about....u frequently come across as arrogant and judgemental. as I said it amy not be your intent but u do and the funny thing is u contradict yourself alot as well. I have a few threads going with u right now that can attest to that. in fact in one us say u "Love betta bowls" yet look at your avatar??? anyway not trying to start a fight just suggesting u work on your delivery a bit and recognize that everyone on here cares for thier fish or they wouldnt be here and that there is more than one way to do things and u dont have to bash people b/c they dont do it your way


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## ChoclateBetta

I said I love them not for fish you can keep live plants in them like land moss but no offens ethe water does lokk a little murky I jist want your beatiful loving companion to live a long life.


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## sareena79

and he will, b/c I take GREAT care of him...thanks for your concern


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## sareena79

oh and his water is crystal clear, im using my phone to take pix


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## ChoclateBetta

Everyone says they take great care if you take great care what does that make my care?


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## sareena79

PLEASE for the love of god, stop stirring the pot. GOODNIGHT!


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## ChoclateBetta

I am really wondering if yours is great what is mine that is an honest question sorry didi not mean to offend.


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## sareena79

im sure yours is great too, just different. as long as the outcome is the same (a healthy happy fish) thats really all that matters


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## ChoclateBetta

Thanks I love your Betta too.


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## sareena79

thank u


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## ChoclateBetta

Your welcome and Pothos can live a few months underwater.


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## sjones

FYI I have been floating pothos in my tanks. I take cuttings and just let them float, I take them out and rinse them during 100% waterchanges. I replace them when the leaves begin to degrade. I now have a million pothos plants! Arg! My fish love the leaves for bubble nests.. I do watch out for the roots though as I have heard the fish can become entangled in them. I think they are a great alternative to silk plants.


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## ChoclateBetta

So do the leaves start to grow above the water and what do you mean you get more plants you cut them when you see the opprotunity to grow more?


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## sareena79

yeah i had his floating with roots in and leaves out for about 4-5mo and one day I decided to see how he liked it submerged. I read that it can and it cant live submerged but so far so good. Sushi loves it, it looks nice and the plant seems just fine. If it starts looking funky i will take it out immediately and replace it with a new cutting with only the roots in the water. I rinse my plant at every water change too and trim the roots periodically as well so no danger of tangling. in fact right now the roots are under his gems and fake plant so they are covered


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## ChoclateBetta

They will survive a few months by then leaves might be above the surface,


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## Kytkattin

I too did a 2 gallon experiment where I didn't do a change for a few months (though still testing the water) while being moderately planted. It worked until the female betta grew so darn big (you can see her before and after pics in my siggy). She is now in a 5.5 that is completely overstocked, and a male lives in the 2 gal with one 25-50% water change a week or so. With enough plants you don't have to change much. Actually, with a lot of plants frequent water changes do more harm than good since dechlorinator removes some of the nutrients they need.


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## ChoclateBetta

In my heavily planted tanks I do regular water changes.


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## Kytkattin

It is fine to do water changes frequently and on a regular schedule, but for the purposes of my experiment the water levels were monitored and the lack of water changes resulted in no fish death or disease in any way. What it proves? There is no one right way to keep a fish tank and there never will be.


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## ao

Kytkattin said:


> It is fine to do water changes frequently and on a regular schedule, but for the purposes of my experiment the water levels were monitored and the lack of water changes resulted in no fish death or disease in any way. What it proves? There is no one right way to keep a fish tank and there never will be.


Lol I did something similar. That thread got bashed so badly. But it was expected.

I was very into self sustaining aquariums when I got into the hobby, and the circumstances at the time allowed me to experiment... how many fish can I add to a 1 gallon non filtered heavily planted tank whilst keeping parameters at zero?

So in a 1 gallon I ended up with... 
2 corydoras, 2 otos, 3 endlers, a million ramshorns and mts, 1 nerite, 6 cherry shrimps and 3 ghost shrimps. I always overfed the tank... however, I never found out how many I can add because I realized that even with params at 0, CO2 levels at night with such a crowd had the fish gasping at the surface, so I added an airstone and left it at that. after a few months, I could get bigger tanks for bettas and re-homed everyone to much larger tanks  

lol the poor fishies, but like your female, the endlers started so small and ended up being so full grown and colorful XD.


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## ChoclateBetta

Kytkattin said:


> It is fine to do water changes frequently and on a regular schedule, but for the purposes of my experiment the water levels were monitored and the lack of water changes resulted in no fish death or disease in any way. What it proves? There is no one right way to keep a fish tank and there never will be.


 Actually there is fish keeping is an exact science aquaculture.


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## sareena79

> Lol I did something similar. That thread got bashed so badly. But it was expected.





> There is no one right way to keep a fish tank and there never will be.


I saw that thread and I actually thought it was neat how u did that and u are right, there is more than one right way to do things, its just getting others (^^^^^) to realize that and BACK OFF that can be interesting lol


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## ChoclateBetta

There are more than one way yes but there are still many incorrect ways fish keeping is an exact science.


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## DiiQue

ChoclateBetta said:


> There are more than one way yes but there are still many incorrect ways fish keeping is an exact science.


I have to disagree.. anything dealing with living creatures is never an exact science.. science, yes, exact -- no. Each creature - same species or not - is different and will react differently to any given situation. This why some things work well for some people while not for others.

My kids are a prime example.. just when I thought we had them down... they come and throw a curve-ball. Ask any parent and they will tell you the same thing. hehehe


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## sareena79

lol @ DiiQue...very awesome example


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## ChoclateBetta

5 Albino Cories and only one is different.


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## ao

ChoclateBetta said:


> There are more than one way yes but there are still many incorrect ways fish keeping is an exact science.


I think it's an approximate science with a large margin of flexibility within the range of what is correct  but there is a right and wrong


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## ChoclateBetta

I agree there are more wrong ways but there are still many right ways.


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## ChoclateBetta

Pothos in filters are great Nitrate filters.


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## LittleBlueFishlets

I had a pothos rooting in water. After reading this thread, I moved it to my tank. Roots are submerged, leaves are above the water. 

Within hours, there was a bubble nest all around it, and my Betta was perched on top of a big root, napping. Guess he likes it.


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## ChoclateBetta

Many Bettas like having something to build there nest around.


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## sareena79

LittleBlueFishlets said:


> I had a pothos rooting in water. After reading this thread, I moved it to my tank. Roots are submerged, leaves are above the water.
> 
> Within hours, there was a bubble nest all around it, and my Betta was perched on top of a big root, napping. Guess he likes it.


Dont know why I just saw this but YAY Im glad your fishies are loving the pothos. mine does too. Its been 85% submerged now for right at a month and is actually growing better than it did with only the roots submerged. Im watching it like a hawk just in case but I see new leaves every week. I credit alot of that to the vitachem I started to add to the water about the same time I submerged it(its tissue soluble liquid vitamin supplement) its been great for Sushi AND his plant. But Im sure the plant would do fine w/o it as well. If I notice any rot I will update but so far after 30 days its still going strong and looking good!


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## Nothingness

Thanks for the update....I just trimmed off some pothos and put just the stems into the tank. If your experiment continues with success I may try the submersion method


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## sareena79

good luck with your cuttings, they will probably sprout roots QUICK! I will definitely keep this updated if I notice changes, good or bad  Sushi LOVES to lounge on the leaves, who needs a betta hammock lol


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## ChoclateBetta

I just created 2 new plants for my filters.


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## ChoclateBetta

My Pothos are thriving.


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## carbonxxkidd

Thanks for this thread! I have pothos in my tank, a few small cuttings just floating on the top. They have been in there for almost a month now and the fish just love swimming around them! I was worried that they would just die because they are mostly submerged, but so far so good. The plants still look healthy but I have not noticed any new growth, but I think it is because my tank isn't fully cycled yet. I have a huge pothos in my living room that I am always cutting down, so if I can put it in my tank that is just wonderful.


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## sareena79

Just got a new cutting from my buddy last night, its in a cup by the tank right now but when I do my next water change Im thinking of adding it to my tank...or I might just pot it up, who knows...atleast I have a backup if the one thats submerged dies but as of now its doing great under water and my boy loves it


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## ChoclateBetta

It takes a few months for submerged plants to die.


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## sareena79

well at 30 days I have not seen any signs of decline in fact its sprouted 3 new leaves since its been under
but I will keep an eye on it...


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## ChoclateBetta

Like I said they are terrestrial to semi-aquatic plants.


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## carbonxxkidd

ChoclateBetta said:


> It takes a few months for submerged plants to die.



Do you know if submerged pothos still benefit the tank at all? I really don't mind replacing mine every couple months if needed because like I said my big plant just goes crazy and I am constantly cutting off pieces. If it's benefiting the tank too though, that's a plus.


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## ChoclateBetta

It is more benefical and removes more waste semi-submerged.


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## sareena79

Im no expert but IMO Id say that the roots are still in there doing thier job and im sure the leaves probably soak up some stuff too, plus I leave a few leaves emerged as well to grab stuff from the air. as I said Im no expert by any means but it seems logical to me that having it mostly submerged would be just as beneficial if not more so than roots only....but hopefully someone with better plant knowledge can chime in. I still do my water changes on the same schedule though just in case...


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## carbonxxkidd

Good to know! The cuttings I currently have in my tank now are pretty small, only 3-4 leaves each. I will try to get them partially emerged now, but I might have to make some bigger cuttings first!


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## sareena79

my buddy ALWAYS has cuttings so I figure I can afford to mess up a bit during this trial and error process, but so far so good....good luck with yours too


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## ChoclateBetta

When there leaves are in the air they are not lilited by CO2 and work faster and remove formaldehyde, benzene, and xylene from the air.


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## carbonxxkidd

That's exactly how I feel too. I always heard that pothos were next to impossible to kill, but I'm not sure how that applies to being in aquariums.


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## ChoclateBetta

I saw one Pothos grow ten feet out of an aquarium filter.


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## sareena79

snapped this pic of my boy last night....he loves to lounge on his giant pothos hammocks  he was ON it but he saw me coming with the camera and took off lol but I still got a decent one of him I think. hes so much prettier in person, camera doesnt do the little booger justice


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## ChoclateBetta

Anuibus will work well.


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## DustinRichie

ChoclateBetta said:


> The leaves will die underwater I keep mine in the filter.


no, the leaves will do FINE under water. The plant WILL grow more slowly, but my Sorority Girls love all the cover they have in their 29 gal! :grin2:


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