Plant question
Moderator: Mustafa
Plant question
I have a tank with two ghost shrimp in it and I recently planted some bulbs in the substrate. The package the bulbs came in says they are of the "Barclaya," "Aponogeton," "Waterlily," and "Onion" varieties. I have been keeping an eye on them and it seems that the bulbs are now giving off some sort of murky, brown, gel-like slime. Does anyone know what this is and if it can hurt my shrimp? The bulbs were well-rinsed before being placed in the tank, and the package said that they were supposed to be grown underwater. Should I just take them out? I'd like to add more ghost shrimp to my tank but I won't until I find out what this stuff is. Thanks for any help!
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YuccaPatrol
- Shrimp Master
- Posts: 600
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:41 pm
- Location: Burning-Ham, Alabama
I've bought those same packages. If you are lucky the apongeton and water lily with grow.
The water lily is the largest of the bulbs that might have been in the package. Generally shaped like a smooth oval/egg.
My experience is that less than half of these bulbs actually grow, and I suspect that depends on how long they sat on the shelf at the store.
If they appear to be rotting, then they are bad bulbs and you should pull them from the tank. If you do not see any obvious signs of growth after 2-3 weeks, then the bulbs are not going to grow.
Considering how cheap these packages of bulbs are, it is a success if even one of them grows and they are really fun.
I have had better luck with the packages that are only a single variety and have purchased packages of water lilies and apongeton which have had much better success rates than the mixed bag package.
I grow both the lilies and apongeton in my shrimp tanks with success. Because these bulbs have a low success rate, I just toss the bulbs into the tank without burying them so I can watch to see if they are growing. After a couple weeks, I'll plant the good ones and toss out the bad ones.
The package does have a guarantee and you can send the bad bulbs back, but I've never bothered to try it. I'd bet that the fresh replacement bulbs would likely be better than the packaged ones, but that is just a guess.
Hope that helps.
The water lily is the largest of the bulbs that might have been in the package. Generally shaped like a smooth oval/egg.
My experience is that less than half of these bulbs actually grow, and I suspect that depends on how long they sat on the shelf at the store.
If they appear to be rotting, then they are bad bulbs and you should pull them from the tank. If you do not see any obvious signs of growth after 2-3 weeks, then the bulbs are not going to grow.
Considering how cheap these packages of bulbs are, it is a success if even one of them grows and they are really fun.
I have had better luck with the packages that are only a single variety and have purchased packages of water lilies and apongeton which have had much better success rates than the mixed bag package.
I grow both the lilies and apongeton in my shrimp tanks with success. Because these bulbs have a low success rate, I just toss the bulbs into the tank without burying them so I can watch to see if they are growing. After a couple weeks, I'll plant the good ones and toss out the bad ones.
The package does have a guarantee and you can send the bad bulbs back, but I've never bothered to try it. I'd bet that the fresh replacement bulbs would likely be better than the packaged ones, but that is just a guess.
Hope that helps.