Lucky Bamboo/Pothos Doing Nothing

[nzafi]

So I have pothos and lucky bamboo in my tank and it seems to do nothing. The bamboo has grown but people have pointed out that this plant is not fast enough of a grower to really impact nitrates. I have had pothos on the tank for 2+ months with no success. I had 2 pothos plants which just refused to grow and I bought 2 more about 2-3 weeks ago to make it 4 pothos plants. I had to throw out the original,but the 2 new ones arent growing either.

The tank is a 75 gallon with a 9-10in rhom. I have added a 60watt fluorescent light that I keep on for about 8hrs a day but that has done nothing. I have gotten really frustrated that the plants have no grown at all. I also tried cutting several inches off the roots like people recommended and it did nothing.

Any help is really appreciated

 

[BassetsForBrown]

I can't answer your question, unfortunately, but I do have one suggestion. You may already know that Lucky Bamboo is not a true aquatic plant, it grows in humid bogs/swamps, and it's leaves are above the water line. It is often sold entirely submerged and incorrectly advertised as an aquatic plant. Although it can survive in this situation for a few months it rot/die-out eventually. I love the look of this plant, and have one in my aquarium. To keep it alive, I keep it planted entirely underwater for 2 weeks, then rise it enough for the leaves to be above the water line for around 4-5 days, and repeat. Gather the sand or whatever media you plant it in and put it in a small aquarium safe cup, then plant the Lucky Bamboo in this. You can cover it entirely with your tanks substrate to hide the cup, but after the 2 weeks of submersion, you move the plant by the cup and avoid disturbing its roots. Better yet, if you have a Lucky Bamboo plant that is tall enough to rise above the aquarium you can cut a hole in the back of you tank lid to let it stay above water permanently.

Hope this helps

 

[snake8myelbo]

Post pics of your setup

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[nzafi]

Here are two pics. The shows the light and how all leaves are above the water line. The second pic shows that I have suspended the plants. The pothos roots are lose but in a container, and the bamboo are kept in gravel.

 

[Fat Homer]

To be fair, that is a really small pothos plant compared to other tanks i've seen using them...

Most the others i've seen have huge pothos plants running along the back of their tank to help keep parameters in check.... So maybe that could be part of your problem with the plant not big enough / enough of them to keep things under control parameter wise


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[nzafi]

Fat Homer - That could be the case, but the reality is the plant is not showing any sign of growth. If it was growing/blooming I would expect to need a larger plant or more for it to impact nitrates, but the plant is showing no signs of growth which makes me think its not absorbing any nutrients

 

[dragonfish]

Have the same issue. Have grown a variety of plants, mostly veggies, on top with great growth. CFL putting out 130 watts above so plenty of light. Pothos has put out a lot of roots but very little growth.


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[aclockworkorange]

With pothos I have found you have to start out with a lot! Then it takes off. Never worked for me when I had a couple small bunches. Mine has a new leaf on each stem every few days.


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[Thelatinofishlover]

my grandma has a photos plant and she said they are slow growers, idk how slow but she said they're slow

 

[gangster]

MIne grew quite fast. I have a 4ft 4bulb t5 hanging over them. They sit directly in the current and have tons of oxygen coming up from my powerhead.





This is how my first one looked when I first got it. IMO you need more light and some current directed at them.