# how are plant bulbs beneficial to the betta?



## papinkston (Oct 25, 2010)

hey guys. i have recently purchased a Betta and just today i went back to the pet store and bought some plant bulbs. they are supposed to sprout within 30 days. i was just wondering what exactly do they do for the Betta. do i have to change the water as often with the bulbs in the bowl?


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## BlueHaven (Jul 17, 2010)

How big is the bowl?
I have some plant bulbs like that, if they sprout, they are like any other plant & will eat ammonia. They will need some amount of light, some may be higher than others. It doesn't take away the need for water changes, but it might lessen the amount depending on how many plants you have and what kind. 
You can try testing the water for a while and see how it works.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I have tried plant bulbs.. And they never really did anything...Never grew one inch..


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## BlueHaven (Jul 17, 2010)

Yea, they aren't the best to buy, but usually one will grow if not all, and then theres the batch that does not grow at all. But they aren't too expensive, and you can always send them back after 30 days and get a replacement, or more than one. I read somewhere that someone had sent theres back and were sent a bunch of them. It is annoying when they don't grow though.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

How big is your tank? if its over a 3gallon..I would add a live plant, that is already growing...haha


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Here is one (amongst 2 others) of my bulbs that sprouted. The package contained 5 and 3 sprouted. Its been about 2 weeks now and one looks like this now. As you can see it has already grown the height of my 10 gal. So if it does sprout in a bowl I think it will soon grow too big. This plant grows FAST. I see a noticeable difference in size and thickness of the leaves everyday.


















Plants are good because they absorb ammonia (toxic fish poo byproduct) and keep the water clean. If you have a VERY heavily planted tank (lets say a 10 gal) with a low bio-load (lets say it only has a betta) then the plants will act as filters and there will be no need for frequent water changes. However, this will not happen in a bowl as a bowl is too small.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Wow! I wish I was that lucky! (urgh) None, out of the 5 that I had sprouted..


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## papinkston (Oct 25, 2010)

well i have a bowl so its not that big at all so i just threw two in and im gonna see what happens

i put the bowl near the window so hopefully they will get plenty of sunlight. should they be grown in a seperate tank? because i just threw them in there with my Betta. they dont seem to bother him.

do they give oxygen to the water so you dont have to change the water as much?


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

papinkston said:


> well i have a bowl so its not that big at all so i just threw two in and im gonna see what happens
> 
> i put the bowl near the window so hopefully they will get plenty of sunlight. should they be grown in a seperate tank? because i just threw them in there with my Betta. they dont seem to bother him.
> 
> do they give oxygen to the water so you dont have to change the water as much?


Bettas dont need oxygenated water- they breathe through their labyrinth organ. And a few plants in a bowl isnt gonna let you skip on water changes im afraid... You would need a bigger tank and lots of plants to do that.


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## papinkston (Oct 25, 2010)

okay well thanks for all the help. and i did not know that about Bettas so they you for that lol.

im still going to wait and see what these bulbs do though. hopefully they will sprout soon.


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