Lucky bamboo (dracaena)

[Pamelajo]

I know that putting them in the aquarium is great for the plant, but would like some reading material on the benefits to the aquarium itself. Anyone have any links or articles they would like to share.

[Melody]

Its the same concept as the Mangroves & Willows, but to a lesser degree because the former are trees. My guess is they're more efficient than other "marginal" plants because they don't have to be planted, indicating that they get all or most of their nutrients from the water column.

I've seen discussions on it, but no specific articles. You should write one! :)

[Pamelajo]

who me???
If I could find some info on them I might be persuaded. Did find some on mangroves, but coming up emty handed on willow and lucky bamboo. I should have thought of this early and did a test with the bamboo before I put it in the tank.

[Soggybottom]

If you could do trials and test which nutrients the bamboo sucks out of the water, that would be great. If you could break it down with a nice easy to read chart and some reading points, that would be nice too. And if you could have it done for Wednesday that would be just fantastic.

Seriously though, I think it could only be beneficial for an unplanted tank by pulling nitrates and whatnot out of the water. In a planted tank you would have to monitor how much it pulled out or risk running low on some nutrients.

[Jonesy]

I agree with SB. The risk of pulling all the nutrients out of your already established plants could be a very costly venture

[Melody]

She has snails and Plecos - the chances of 'Bamboo' taking out all the nutrients is nil...lol.

But seriously, all valid concerns I'm sure. I suppose a lot would depend on the tank size, how many & what types of plants, etc, but I don't think the 'Bamboo' seriously depletes the water like the trees potentially could. I have 5 in a 20G and 5 more in a 33G, one with plants, but nothing close to heavily planted.

I think you would write a great article Pam. You do your research and you're well-spoken/written.:) It would certainly be more useful than my uneducated assumptions as demonstrated above....lol.

[Pamelajo]

uneducated assumptions as demonstrated above
Hog wash.:)


Bamboo & nitrate experiment:
I will start getting ready for the experiment today on my 75 gallon the only plants it has now are the two bamboo stocks. Will remove today and do a water change then will add some more occupants to slightly overstock. Give it a full week so the nitrates will be higher than normal for this tank regularly but normal for the new stocking level. Reason for this is, right now it is understocked and if I start the experiment after changing water today nitrates are going to be lower to begin with. Then will add extra occupants to slightly overstock this tank. I don't want to really overstock and risk the health of my fish.
Once I have everybody in I will add the list of occupants.

The bamboo I will be using is 2 x 30" stocks.
Everyone okay with this? Any suggestions?

[Melody]

Sounds like a plan to me! If you don't see any difference, you could always take the Bamboo into a smaller tank to see if it makes a difference there.

Thanks for being our evil genius!

[Soggybottom]

*Eagerly awaiting the results*

[korota]

so.... what happened with this experiment? just wondering because we have some bamboo that we tried putting together with some fish & shrimp; our betta was fine but the amano shrimp died within hours! the bamboo is in its own little flask right now, and even though it's sitting near the window there's no algae growing in it. we think there must be some toxic substance in the bamboo..

[Melody]

I've used it for a couple of years or more without a prob. It could be that there was something on the plant though, ferts or whatever. I do make sure that the end is dry when I cut them as there are some species of Dracaena that are potentially toxic to pets. They've been fine with my Cherry Shrimp anyway.

[Pamelajo]

Sorry guys. As far as the nitrate experiment went: ended up having to put some other plants I received earlier than planned and had to put them in there. It was the only non plant eater tank with good lighting at the time. And then life got in the way.
That tank still has the bamboo with no ill affects. It is going quite rapidly for bamboo. Have it sticking out the back of the 75 gallon. Since then I have added it to another small tank and it is also doing fine. This tank has shrimp and there have been no problems with them. I buy mine directly from flower shop and not Walmart etc. to be on the safe side. They recommend keeping it in aquariums.

[Melody]

I hadn't thought of the source or recommendations Pam, thanks for mentioning that. I saw them at Walmart actually and almost bought them, but they were so short I figured I couldn't use them in most tanks anyway.

[Pamelajo]

Our flower shop sells them in all different sizes. Mine are 36 inches I think.