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I bought a couple of live lilly bulbs from a store, can I just put it in my tank or do I need to rinse it out with my water? Thanks.

Hi,
As I recall from seeing them at the local pet stores, they
came packaged in a group and with no dirt. It would not
hurt to rinse them off under some running water.

Also, as I recall, there is a top and a bottom to those
things, and hence a specific way to plant them. Always
plant them only partially in the gravel leaving the top
exposed. The roots will grow out of the bottom and into
the gravel while the tops will have shoots growing out of
them and heading toward the surface.

I've read that if you keep the shoots from reaching the
surface, that they will grow more and more shoots with
leaves on them and can look really attractive. If you
let them all reach the surface then they will provide
lots of shade below them.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

You mean those packages of dry bulbs? I'd just toss them into a tank and let them float or sink wherever. The ones still floating after a few days usually won't grow no matter how long you wait. The ones that land on the substrate will begin to sprout in a couple weeks unless they are bad. After they sprout you can easily tell top from bottom in order to plant them as well as what color they are in case that impacts where you want to put them. By the way the regular lilly bulbs can grow gigantic. I had to get rid of mine because the leaves were about as big as my hand and I was trimming it constantly to avoid having it take over a 55g tank. The ones labelled dwarf work fine even in small tanks and only grow leaves around 3" long. I had a few in a 10g for awhile and I think I still have a little red one in the 55g.

I agree with sham, i just threw them in the tank and waited till they sprouted. In my experience, some take longer than others, so unless your certain that it isn't going to grow, give em a little more time.

Good luck!

†Aquapickle†

I have one in my 10g aquarium, [it is a "dwarf" lily, those seem to work best in small aquariums.] and i let it sit on the surface of the gravel until i am sure what side is wich, the roots will almost always come out first. Although they are slow growers, when they get bigger they are beautiful. I have had mine now for half a year, and one of the leafs are almost touching the top of my aquarium! And the leaves are about 2" wide and at one point about 2-3" long. A small section has splitted off with roots and is doing quite well, and i hope to have it continue getting as big as the other one. They don't need the much light, i have it in 1.5wpg and they live just fine. Every bulb i have had seem to be hardy. They don't shed bad, and really easy to take care of. For how cheap they are.

I have had them in my tank also. They do not get that large and don't seem to need a lot of light, but for some reason mine always seemed to do better in the spring and summer months than in the winter. They will last for quite a long time and make excellent hiding places for baby live bearers. You can also buy a kind of aponogeton bulb that will do quite well. I just throw them in the tank and wait for them to sprout - some will and some won't. Just give them time and once you know which side it which, you can plant them.