So This Is Dead, Not Healthy, Red Root Floater, Correct?

[Homeslice]

I've gotten a combo plant mix off amazon like 3 different times - Frogbit, Watter Lettuce, and "Red Root Floaters" (the last of which I know nothing about - I just wanted the first two and the cheapest route seemed to be the combo pack). All 3 times the Red Root Floaters arrived very sick looking, or dead. If they were not dead already, they soon got that way. Same when I got mad and tried to order some separate Red Roots off ebay to try again - dead on arrival, put them in the tank to see if there was any chance, but no good. At least I think. They are supposed to turn "red" if doing good I think, but I just want to make sure these are dead plants, not plants doing good. I realize there are some other plants in here besides the red roots, but mainly they are red roots. I think surely these cannot be healthy plants, but I'd sure like a gut check before I toss these latest ones out!

Thanks so much! P.S. any ideas why they seem to do so much worse than the other floaters? Thanks!

 

[midna]

ew... yeah, i'd say those are pretty dead. they're supposed to be green with a reddish tinge. sorry about your experience. i've heard floaters are hard to keep alive during shipping. plus it depends on the weather. lots of people will sell them on this forum or r/aquaswap though, you might have more luck with them instead of buying from a vendor.

Rtessy might still have some available. Free - Red Root Floaters!

 

[Homeslice]

Oh wow, thanks a ton midna! I'd certainly prefer to support forum members all else equal! Looking at the Rtessy thread now, very cool, will almost certainly reach out to him/her. Thanks!

 

[JAMarlow]

Definitely dead. They should have arrived at the very least with green leaves. They are really touchy to getting water on top of the leaves. I had to buy two batches before I got a few to survive and reproduce. The good news is that once they start reproducing they are very prolific. I used to sell big batches off, and even then, I sometimes had to throw handfuls away. Unfortunately, I just went through a move where they were splashed around for about two days and wow, they didn't like it. I have maybe 4 plants right now and I'm hoping that just one survives. Otherwise I'll have to start over.

If you ever have to ship any, I've had luck shipping them on top of damp paper towels inside a ziplock bag, but with no free-standing water inside.

 

[Homeslice]

Definitely dead. They should have arrived at the very least with green leaves. They are really touchy to getting water on top of the leaves. I had to buy two batches before I got a few to survive and reproduce. The good news is that once they start reproducing they are very prolific. I used to sell big batches off, and even then, I sometimes had to throw handfuls away. Unfortunately, I just went through a move where they were splashed around for about two days and wow, they didn't like it. I have maybe 4 plants right now and I'm hoping that just one survives. Otherwise I'll have to start over.

If you ever have to ship any, I've had luck shipping them on top of damp paper towels inside a ziplock bag, but with no free-standing water inside.

Oh wow JAMarlow, your statment that they are touchy to getting water on top of their leaves explains everything - I have my plants in a 29 gallon aquarium with a pretty huge trickle filter on top that showers water into the tank. So they almost certainly had water on the top of their leaves very often! That explains SO MUCH lol. I will have to use some air tubing connected to itself or something to "rope in" my future red root floaters to one side of the tank where the trickle filter water cannot get on the leaves. Thanks so much!

 

[JAMarlow]

Having a floating corral will greatly improve the chances of them surviving. They like calmer water, so the corral will break up any surface waves and give them the environment they like. I use one made of extra air tubing myself.

 

[Giul]

I agree that a corral helps. I disliked them circling the tank so I made one out of bendy straws and they’ve been thriving since then