Habitat - Indoor :: Bamboo plant in tank

[Rollen]

Disclaimer: Lucky Bamboo is not recommended to be placed in your tank. The roots are very toxic to nibblers if they are exposed. This could cause your fish or turtle to die. Also in order for the bamboo to survive it needs the growth part at the top to be out of the water or else it will die indefinitely. You can take extra steps and precautions to prevent these two things from happening but it's not recommended for those of you who are knew to the plant and turtles.


I was wondering if it's possible to have a living bamboo plan in a tank I dunno if they can be submersed completely or not. but it came across my mind while I was looking at my windows background. tell me what you guys think

Edit:


this is something i found on youtube. I dunno if the bamboo might release something toxic but tell me what you guys think

[Rollen]

http://www.guppylog.com/story/2007/9/26/172214/397

There is a lot of interesting information here. Basically I found out that they can live in water problem is that the leaves release something toxic that is very harmfull for kids and pets and general "chewers". I'm guessing the turtle being a turtle would eventually get to chomping on the leaves and get really sick. But basically it's completely safe to keep in tanks with fish. Turtles is a different story.

I'm still on the fence about it but I'm currently googling more information. If you guys can inform me on more info that would be great. I was hoping since bamboo is durable that it would make a great water scape and survive the nom noms.

Some RES Living with Bamboo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTuqcb18ML8

[Rollen]

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Turtles-3543 ... plants.htm

Another source of information. Basically "Lucky Bamboo" is not bamboo but a different type of plant and is non-toxic and safe for pets.

They are called Dracaena



Basically with some much investigation I figured this out on my own but I hope this helps any future members if they decide to go with this similar idea.

BTW the Lucky bamboo can also act as a filter and can lower NO2, NH3 to 0.

So it's a great durable alternative for people looking to have live plants. Especially since the plant grows rapidly it will be able to survive the turtles nom noms.

[steve]

It's generally not recommend and is considered harmful to certain pets. While it might not be a problem being in the water, I would not want the turtle to interact with it.

[Rollen]

ugh steve I was hoping you didn't say that I'm just gonna hold it off then and try to get in contact with res owners who use it.

[happycamper]

I had bamboo in my tank until I read about the possible issues, which surprised me considering I got it in the fish section at Petco. I guess it shouldn't though, they don't seem to really know what's going on.

Sheldon bit it, but didn't eat it. He is fine, but I wondered if he knew by the taste that is was bad for him...

[Rollen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqy9jBDGsk0

Well this guy claims to be a expert and he seems to know his stuff. He says it's not okay because the roots are very dangerous for fish and nibblers alike. and the top part of the bamboo needs to not be submerged in order for it to stay alive.

[Marcus.85]

Well a lot of people including me grow dracaena sanderiana (lucky bamboo) in their aquariums. I have to say that some of my specimens have grown considerably and they look quite healthy. I know about the toxins and stuff but somewhere I read that reptiles such as res have hight tolerance towards the elements contained and realeased by lucky bamboos, while a mammalian might instead be harmed quite seriously i.e. a cat chewing on them.
I'm not sure about all this though.

Btw I don't know how you guys manage without live plants sucking up Nitrates from your tanks. I have quite a lot of them but I still get something like NO3=50 or more when i test the water. I sometimes have to use a chemical conditioner in order to keep them in check, otherwise all my fish would die. :/

[Rollen]

Well a lot of people including me grow dracaena sanderiana (lucky bamboo) in their aquariums. I have to say that some of my specimens have grown considerably and they look quite healthy. I know about the toxins and stuff but somewhere I read that reptiles such as res have hight tolerance towards the elements contained and realeased by lucky bamboos, while a mammalian might instead be harmed quite seriously i.e. a cat chewing on them.
I'm not sure about all this though.

Btw I don't know how you guys manage without live plants sucking up Nitrates from your tanks. I have quite a lot of them but I still get something like NO3=50 or more when i test the water. I sometimes have to use a chemical conditioner in order to keep them in check, otherwise all my fish would die. :/

Can you show me a picture of your tank I'm really curious as to how you have it set up. I really want to put plants in my tank for that very reason about the NO3 but only thing that seems to be okay is the moss balls and they are pretty dull.

[Marcus.85]

Can you show me a picture of your tank I'm really curious as to how you have it set up. I really want to put plants in my tank for that very reason about the NO3 but only thing that seems to be okay is the moss balls and they are pretty dull.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26470

[Rollen]

it looks like the roots are trimmed did you do that yourself or was it them nibbling it? It also looks like you wrapped one in a bag.

[Marcus.85]

No the pic with the roots is old, now they're much longer. They were that short when i bought the plants.
In the 'bag' there's the pothos, i did that so the turtles wouldn't eat/tear to pieces its roots. There's no other way.

[Rollen]

How long have they grown so far are you gonna plan to bury them in your substrate when they are tall enough?

[Marcus.85]

How long have they grown so far are you gonna plan to bury them in your substrate when they are tall enough?

Well, they've grown like.. 1.2 or 1.3 inches.. in 3 months. i don't think i'll ever see the day they're tall enough to be buried in the substrate. But the big ones on the left of the tank in the first picture are indeed buried with roots and all. Too bad they'e dieing.

[Rollen]

awww you almost gave me hope. guess i'll have to go with moss and plastic plants .