# Betta Bulb Plants?



## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

Hi all... Has any one used those betta bulp plant seeds packages that they sell at the pet store...


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

They have low sprouting ratios. So of the pack you bough count yourself lucky if more than one sprouts. HOWEVER the price is pretty good even for just one plant and they have the ability to grow like weeds. They are most likely a type of apongeton or lily. I bought a lily a while ago. neither of the 2 bulbs have sprouted so I will probably end up throwing them out.

PS. Sprout them in a different container of water than your fish is in. you dont want a rotteng moldy bulb in your tank...


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## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

well one of them started looking like it was it had some weird white stuff floating from it but my ghost shrimp ate it... its lookn alright now.. got another kinda sprouting


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## Learn To Fly (May 15, 2010)

If it has white, fluffy-looking stuff on it, take it out. It's not going to sprout. I have had no luck with them, they all rotted in my tank.


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Learn To Fly said:


> If it has white, fluffy-looking stuff on it, take it out. It's not going to sprout. I have had no luck with them, they all rotted in my tank.


Actually, when i did research on them people said this commonly happened. So they may still sprout. Thats why I said to try it in another tank.


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## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

well my wife bought one of those variety packs of plants its got like 3 different plants bulbs them... waterlilly... onion... aponogeton.... my wife said that all the LIVE plants weren't looking to ALIVE so she bought these thinking we give them a chance and they we cheap... its says on the back just mail the dud bulbs to them and they'll send u new ones...


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## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

i might just do that considering that the mailing list is in the next city over to me..


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## Learn To Fly (May 15, 2010)

Yeah, that's the one I got. None of them sprouted and they all rotted.


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## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

well ill try in a separate bowl/cup and c what happens.....


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## JD3P (Oct 21, 2010)

NEWBEE FISH said:


> well ill try in a separate bowl/cup and c what happens.....


Any luck with the bulbs? I'm thinking about doing the same thing, just curious if it worked for you at all.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

NEWBEE FISH said:


> Hi all... Has any one used those betta bulp plant seeds packages that they sell at the pet store...


Yep, for the price you can't go wrong. Was something like 3 bucks for a package of 3 bulbs at my local petsmart. Took about 30 days for them to sprout.


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## Jayy (Dec 23, 2009)

I Bought the ones at Wal-mart and only the water lily sprouted. I still want to try them again.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I have had a 50/50 success with the bulb that I got at walmart 4-5 years ago-I still have the lily and they are still growing fine, I frequently cut the roots and plant away from the bulb and plant so the bulb will make a new plant. I also have several that will get buds on them but not grow more than that-they don't rot just don't grow either-the bulbs make a nice looking plant overall and I love the lily pad on top of the water-I have both the green type and the red type.

I got the apon corms and they grew fairly well and I was able to propagate them the same as the lily bulbs-they are a bit more sensitive to changes than the lily and tend to melt with too big of a water change or moving them around..but they will flower for you too in the right location-mine liked my tank that get sun and responded well...neither like to be planted- but I do kinda cram the bottom of the bulb in the substrate a tiny bit to keep them in place once they sprout-otherwise I just drop them in and let them sink to the bottom-if they float I give them a day or so to sink and if not I put them in a shallow dish of water in the window-half rot and half sprout

I have had some that did rot in the tank and I had to toss them-I have maybe 8 lily plants left that are still going strong from 3 bulbs I started with that sprouted and that I propagated-all the apons melted last year and have not sprouted again so I guess they are dead......lol.....or I can't see them through all the other plants in the tank....my tanks are massively planted.....

Here is a pic of a lily pad on top of the water-you can't see this in the pic but it has red dots on the leaf and the leaf under water at the bulb are red


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## NEWBEE FISH (Sep 4, 2010)

JD3P said:


> Any luck with the bulbs? I'm thinking about doing the same thing, just curious if it worked for you at all.



Yes 3 out of 5 i had have sprouted and growing... i kept them in separate cup and threw them in my tank when they sprouted and had some leaves..


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## zelilaa (Jul 31, 2010)

I've had some experience with them! The white stuff, if it looks fluffy, is bad. If its a stick like thing that looks liek string, its the roots. Thats obviously good :3 I had soem in my 2.5 gal tank, and 2 out of 3 sprouted and filled up THE WHOLE almost empty tank!! It was incredible. It grew inches over night once it started to get going. It will grow towards the light, and eventually, will stick out of the water line. I accidently killed mine by washing them with tap water before I got to see how far out they would grow. But please get these- they are _amazing_.


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## bettabreeder123 (Nov 7, 2010)

stuff on one of my gaint plant bulbs is growing and infesting rocks in my tank


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## nomoretickets (Sep 29, 2010)

these things grow just fine. dont worry if they get the white halo around them, just let it go. Some of mine had that and they are sprouting just fine. wait a month and if it hasnt sprouted by then, take it out send it in and get a new one from the company. They will sprout just give it time, and dont pull it out if it gets a white furry halo to it, that is normal.


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

_*edited*_. Ignore my random mood swing of doom. XD

If you decide to grow bulbs get a vase and grow them submerged in that. *The white fuzzy halo is mold my friend and it's bad for your fish*. That's why I hate the darn things. The fiasco that has caused the loss of my 5 gallon stemmed from mold problems from a bad bulb in summer and bleaching my tank when I should have used vinegar. If I'd just tried to grow it in my 1 gallon pickle jar I wouldn't have had to worry about it and I'd have had a cycled tank by now.

If you get it that's great! =] Just don't grow it in your tank.* Grow it in a jar or vase near a window first* then when it starts to sprout and looks like it's doing well transfer it to your tank. =]

That's my advice. =] Take it or leave it though.


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## JD3P (Oct 21, 2010)

Sounds good! I'm going to get some bulbs tomorrow and do exactly that. If they ever do grow maybe I'll post some pics up.



wallywestisthebest333 said:


> _*edited*_. Ignore my random mood swing of doom. XD
> 
> If you decide to grow bulbs get a vase and grow them submerged in that. *The white fuzzy halo is mold my friend and it's bad for your fish*. That's why I hate the darn things. The fiasco that has caused the loss of my 5 gallon stemmed from mold problems from a bad bulb in summer and bleaching my tank when I should have used vinegar. If I'd just tried to grow it in my 1 gallon pickle jar I wouldn't have had to worry about it and I'd have had a cycled tank by now.
> 
> ...


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

JD3P said:


> Sounds good! I'm going to get some bulbs tomorrow and do exactly that. If they ever do grow maybe I'll post some pics up.


Lol Awesome! =] Glad you're avoiding my mistake! XD Have fun with it and no pressure or anything but BUY A LILLY!!!!! <3 They're actually lotuses and they make pretty flowers after a while! <3


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## MoePaac (Jun 16, 2010)

I bought some of the apon bulbs on a whim. I figured I'd get one or two to sprout. Well, four (or maybe it's five?) are now sprouting and growing by the day. Looks like that back corner of the tank is going to get filled up like I wanted. 

I grew them in a separate dish until I was sure they were growing. I then put them in my tank and buried about half of each bulb.

Apparently these things get huge?


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Yes, those things get huge and don't die unless you starve them. all six of mine sprouted (some got moldy, just wipe the mold off) and I stuck them in my 10 gallon. They're dying becuase they need more plant food, but when they were at their best, the leaves grew and grew and grew. 

Oh, a good way to make sure all of them sprout: Put them all in a small bowl or cup of water and add a sprinkle of fish food. As they grow (but are still too small to go in the tank) keep adding small bits more of fish food and keep the bulbs free of mold.


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## BlackLabelAxe (Jul 10, 2010)

I bought one of those packages- one out of three bulbs sprouted into a valisneria-type plant, except that it doesn't appear to be a chain reproducer.

It adds a nice variety to the anacharis, no complaints.

-John


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## bettabreeder123 (Nov 7, 2010)

well for some reason topfin's bulbs for the waterlily never grows for me and the rot all the time.

theres like only 1super sucsessful bulb for me


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## Capricorn (Sep 4, 2010)

Sorry to be bringing up this older thread, but I thought I would mention that I sprouted my whole pack of bulbs in a separate container, and all but the onion plant have begun to sprout nicely for me.. even the lily. Make sure you read up on the plant itself, it's possible that the bulb was not supposed to be buried in gravel or the like and that's why it rotted away.


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## nomoretickets (Sep 29, 2010)

these are the bulb plants that i dropped in about 5-6 weeks ago. these are the topfin ones from petsmart. I have a pack of 8 from wallyworld that went in about 3-4 weeks ago and they still arent doing anything. i got two packs of lillys at the same time from wallyworld and they are going crazy. they are really hit and miss it seems to me. if they grow, they are going to grow like crazy. but if they dont sprout they are just gonna sit there


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## JD3P (Oct 21, 2010)

Just thought I'd give an update of the progress my betta bulbs have made.
The first two are from the betta bulb package (started about three weeks ago), and the last one is from the top fin package that came with the water lily and onion bulb (which haven't sprouted.) The last one is one of the aponogeton bulbs from the same package that finally did sprout. (Started about two weeks ago)


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Funny, those first two look like mondo grass a non-aquatic...but it may be the angle of the pic too-I sure hope they are not selling them as aquarium plants...but I also have never seen the onion plant or had one so maybe that is what they are....
On the last one if that is an apon bulb you may want to get it up a little more the corm can sometimes rot if planted to deep


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## JD3P (Oct 21, 2010)

I think it might just be the angle but I'm sure I'll find out soon if they are true aquatic plants or not. They ones I posted the pics of aren't onion, I have an onion bulb on the other side of the tank which hasn't sprouted yet. It looks like an actual onion lol. So I'm also not quite sure what these new plants are yet. And thanks for letting me know, I'll lift the last bulb out of the sand a little more until it sprouts.



Oldfishlady said:


> Funny, those first two look like mondo grass a non-aquatic...but it may be the angle of the pic too-I sure hope they are not selling them as aquarium plants...but I also have never seen the onion plant or had one so maybe that is what they are....
> On the last one if that is an apon bulb you may want to get it up a little more the corm can sometimes rot if planted to deep


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