Hybrid aponogeton bulbs

Hey here! Well, I was at Wally World and saw these underwater bulbs. Has anyone ever used them?

 

Yes. Some sprout, some don't, its a hit and miss. When they do, they're very nice for a 20 gallon or bigger.

 

I'll keep my fingers crossed! I put them in the gravel in my 29 gallon! I would really like to replace my plastic with real! Any suggestions?

 

Don't bury them in the gravel. They should sit on top. Bulbs should never be buried.

If you have the regular stock lighting, you'll need to go with low light plants, but that's good because then you don't need to worry about fertilizers or CO2 injection. Go to and you can search for low light and/or beginner plants (Plant Guide section). Its a great resource. Any of the anubias or crypt species would be good. Swords are iffy, some people can grow them great, some can't keep them alive at all. Anacharis (ejeria densa) is always a good choice, fast grower and helps keep nitrates down. Dwarf lilies are another bulb-type plant that's good for low light tanks. Beware of some of the ones sold at petstores and Wal-Mart, as not all of them are true aquatic plants. Plantgeek also has a list of the most commonly available non-aquatic plants. Get them and they'll die and rot in your tank, so its best to avoid them.

 

I love the Undulatus variety of Aponogeton but I know it is a somewhat demanding plant. I may try to have one or two of them in my 75G tank just to see if it would do well. If yes, I'd get more. Love this plant.

 

I have the Aponogeton madagascariensis in each of my tanks and the bulbs have been planted in the gravel with great results. Everyone who has seen them has fallen in love with them and wanted them. The fish love them to rest on and the girls fight to see who gets to sit on the leaves. It is a beautiful plant that only need to have the floating leaves removed once in a while so that it will continue to put out new leaves from the base of the plant.

Picture to follow.

Rose

(lace plant with Holey leaves)

 

I've seen this plant so many times Rose, but it's so beautiful that I thought it would require high lighting, CO2 injections, and fertilization. Now I see you growing it successfully under regular conditions, which is wonderful to hear. What sort of substrate are you using?

 

Half regular aquarium gravel/Half fluorite in this particular tank but the others are just plain old aquarium gravel and I do not fertilize. My lighting is a 10 watt compact fluorescent screw-in type bulb like you buy at Walmart and it was sent to me as a bulb. I stuck it in the substrate and it took off. All I did is , like I said, pull off the floating leaves once in a while but if you want the plant to grow like 24" long you wouldn't even have to do that. It just wouldn't get as full. It is actually one of the easiest plants I have.

Rose

 

That sounds great. Are the freshwater plant bulbs available online? I also think Fluorite may have contributed greatly to the growth of your plant. My amazon swords grow so slowly in my 30G tank with regular gravel and only 20W of light, that I can barely notice any growth at all. Some time ago, I have received samples of Fluorite, Fluorite Red, and Onyx Sand from Seachem. I mixed the three and placed them in one spot in my 30G tank. A small outgrowth of my amazon sword (from the parent plant) that didn't seem to grow at all, once put in that fluorite mixture spot, took off like crazy, even which such a low light. It MUST BE thanks to Fluorite.

 

I got mine from the same gentleman in New York where Marty came from so I will check to see if he is still in business and get back to you.  He is a nice man, but had a very small operation.  I know he operates on eBay under the name of "mikeswetpets" and has had live plants and fish on before as well as new and antique fish equipment.

They also have them already in plant form at but that is where I got the snails from and the shipping charges are high as they will not guarantee live delivery of the plants if you do not pay for expedited shipping. I do not believe I shall order from them again.

Rose

 

OH MY!!!!  I just found this and realized that I never got back on here and posted to this about my information.  I am dreadfully sorry and hope you all haven't thought I have lost it completely.

The gentleman sells on ebay under the name of mikeswetpets and his e-mail address is   His prices are reasonable and he is decent on the shipping costs.  He also will discount on the shipping of more than one item.  He is also where I bought the famous and naughty MARTY

Sorry it took so long, I can only plead complete confusion the last few months. 

Rose
:-[

 

hI 2 days ago I added 5 of these bulbs into my tank and they have what looks like white spots or fuzz on them and one is still floating if anyone has had any sucess with these bulbs please let me know. thanx

Hello Has any one used these bulbs in their tank I have a 14 gal and I noticed these bulbs began getting what looks like white spots or fuzz. They have been in the tank for 2 days and look like there growing I'm just looking to hear more info on these bulbs cus it is my first time growing live plants. Please write back and let me know.

 

Hi, I have merged your two threads, please only start one thread per topic

I don't have any experience with these bulbs, but I did some googling for you.

It seems that the bulbs aren't always good. Apparently they smell horrid if they're no good.

It was suggested (in one article I read) that the white fuzz could be mold or fungus as a result of over-feeding or a rotten bulb, and to take the bulb out and smell it, being careful not to squeeze the bulb. If it smells bad, toss it out.

It seems it can be a bit hit and miss with the bulbs as to whether they'll grow or not.

 

Well, I got the same thing 9 or so months back. At first only 3 grew in my 10gal, then I moved them into my 29, they died. They weren't growing Nearly as fast as the package states, I mean, 2 months for maybe 6 inches of growth. So, after they died I forgot them. Got new lighting on the 29 gal last month, and suddenly a little green thing pokes up from the gravel, buried 2" down was one of the bulbs, I moved it over to my 10gal and put it under the new lighting(running a goo 3watts per gallon) BOOM! Shot off like a rocket. Its gotten nice and pretty, very very quick. I think the key is to have a good lighting for it.

 

cool thanx ill keep an eye on them one looks like it has a lil nub on the end of it and its white there just sitting on the gravel.

 

That's the other thing, the instructions say to let them sit on the gravel, but mine was buried down under it.

 

bulbs look like there sprouting

one of my bulbs looks like its sprouting does anyone have any photos of these plants sprouting so I can get a better idea of if its sprouting or not. its been in the tank for about 5 days now. any pics or info would be helpful.

 

In this picture mine is the big plant on the bottom with thin leaves shooting off in every direction.

 

cool thanx it helped did your start out with a lil white nub comeing out of it.?

 

I think they did, those sound like the roots. Which should be the first thing you see.

 

cool thank you so much

 

one of my bulbs still looks the same it looks like it got some more lil hairs comeing out of it. I really hope it sprouts cus I want some real plants.

 

I've gotten several packs of these bulbs. I think three from walmart, and two from petco. The ones from walmart totaled about twelve bulbs and only three grew. the rest of them developed the white fuz you r talking about. Ryan is right, it's mold from a rotting bulb. I have it also on a piece of driftwood ( had the piece for around ten years..lol.) It's just rotting. If it's not too much on the bulb, it may still grow. They are rancid if they are bad. I had better luck from the petco ones. I looked through the packages and found the best and healthiest looking ones. Almost all of them started, I have a total of 9 now. I do dose with Flourish and Leaf Zone, so that may also helped. Added a few root tabs around them also.Most of them that grew are tall so put them in a place where you later will not have to move them, I'll have to relocate mine (my first time also).

Mine also started with the leaves first. Once they started I planted them about 3/4 covered. The roots developed later.

Here are some pics (the oldest plant is about a month old).

 

awsome pics thanx ya mine does look like one of the pics on the bottom left but mine has a lil white nub and hairs like your bulb its been like this for about 10 11 days now hope it sprouts soon I did check them for a bad smell and pinch test and they seemed ok no smell so hope they are still good

 

I put them in my gravel when I set my tank up. One of them ended up underneath a 15 pound piece of Florida limestone unbeknownst to me at the time. I didn't really recall where I had placed them at first and put the rock in a couple weeks later.

Of the 5 I put in, one of them floated out of the gravel somehow, and I just threw it out. About 30 days in I had the remaining 4 growing up, even the one that was under the big rock. It found it's way out horizontally and then grew upwards. It was only 3-4 inches in from the edge though.

Two of them are about 8" tall and the other two are about 12-14" tall. Not sure why they are different heights, but they're all healthy.