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I know this has been asked before, but I can't find the thread.

A few weeks ago I bought 2 packs of these bulbs from walmart. I tossed them in my tank and wow have they ever taken off. What are they? They look kinda like a long thin crypt. One of them has shoots coming out of the middle reaching all the way up n out of the tank. It has a lil white flower on the end of it. They are thriving in less than 1WPG.

Most of them are dwarf lillies, and this sounds like the one you are describing. But, they do have several others mixed as well. I have bought those several times, just for the fun of trying to see what kind I get, LOL. It is a great experience for new fish keepers, and especially for newbies to the plant thing.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Walmart sells aponos and dwarf lilly bulbs. I've had both of them, and my aponos had the little blossoms on them, but my dwarf lillies never did, so I'm guessing that you probably have some of the aponos.

Good luck with them

I bought soem of these to when I got started with aquariums a few months ago... They do grow amazingly fast and still seem to be doing well 3 months later.

Very cool shannon, im very intrested in purchasing one do/can you get any pics of your current plants. Thanks fsh1

I'm positive they are aponogetons of some kind, i have the same ones too and i know which ones you are talking about

great deal, cost me like 2 bucks for 6 bulbs and 3 of the 6 have done amazingly well. perhaps I should get more

edit: here is a picture of the plant, is this what you're talking about?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v175/devon7/apono.jpg

Last edited by devon7 at 23-Nov-2004 22:02

If I remember right, the last time I got some of these, there were actually three choices you could get. They said right on the container, either lilies bulbs, apogen bulbs, or mixed bulbs. The mixed bulbs usually had more bulbs in it, and I liked it best because I got to search to find out just what kind of plant I got, kinda like a surprise.

Devon, not 100% sure about your plant, as the background plants kinda drowned out some of the aspects I would need to see better, and I would need to know how old it is, but, it could be one of the Aponogetons. If it is, I would guess it as maybe the undulatus, though the undulatus has more pail leaves and not any red color to them. However, IMO, I think it is actually an orchid lily. Or to be more precise, Barclaya longifolia. This lily has the red to red tinted leaves, and definitely is the closest plant I can think of without getting all the books out and going through all the pics and structure comparison. The orchid lily does very well in the aquarium and especially in heated ones. The only thing I am not sure of, is your plants age and size, as there is really no refference in the pic, to the size tank it is in, or its age. The orchid lily gets about 12 inches tall. If this is what you have, and your plant grows prosperously, it will produce little orchid like flowers, that can actually seed in your aquarium.


Did a quick search to give you some more info on the orchid lily and maybe some pic refferences;
http://www.tropica.dk/productcard_1.asp?id=020
http://www.ottawaaquatics.com/item585.htm
Red Form;
http://www.findfish.nl/waterplanten1/pages/Barclaya_longifolia_red_form_jpg.htm
Pictures close to yours;
http://www.kara-inci.nl/barclaya%20longifolia.html
http://www.firren.com/fakta/vaxter/bar_lon.html


HTH......

Last edited by ACIDRAIN at 23-Nov-2004 22:55

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There is always a bigger fish...

hmm interesting but I am still positive its an apono, it grew extremely quickly and the leaves in mine look much more flexible and soft than the leaves of the plants in those pix... they also have much longer stems with the leaves starting further up. after doing a couple of google image searches I think you are probably right about it being an aponogeton undulatus.

edit: oh btw that plant is probably about 10" tall in that picture and i think it is between 1.5 and 2.5 months old from a bulb... cant remeber when i planted them.

edit #2: oh yeah, i think it is more than 12" tall by now and there is another one of the same which grew faster and is easily 20" tall at least. it is a 29 gallon tank and the leaves grow up all the way to the top of the tank and beyond.

Last edited by devon7 at 23-Nov-2004 23:51

Last edited by devon7 at 23-Nov-2004 23:53

devon, That is exactly what mine looks like. I will try n get some pics soon. Did yours send any shoots up? The one I have that did has since sent another shoot up and come outa the tank since my first post. The shoots seem to grow more than 5 inches a day.
The Walmart i got the bulbs from only had the 2 packages to choose from. one with a mix and one with the same type in it. I got 2 packs of the ones with the same type.

Dude thats awsome im getting one. espicailly since i think someone said it grows fairly fast in not too much of light. Due you buy them dry or what???

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Hey Shannen, try to get a pic of the flower or top of the "shoots" for us. Will make ID much easier.

They are in little bags at Walmarts. Yes they are dry. When you are looking at them, give them a gentle squeeze to make sure they are solid. Any of them that feel hollow will not grow.

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There is always a bigger fish...

hmm my bulbs werent in a bag they were in one of those square cardboard backed plastic packages like what batteries are packaged in.

They are aponogeton bulbs definatley, i have them for my tank. They have different types of apons too, so drop one in and they are all different

A bunch of walmart aponogeton bulbs as you've described will take over a tank pretty quick. I've found that the easiest way to thin it out is to get a good hold of a stem and pull it straight out completely. It comes straight out of the root system/bulb pretty easily. I know you didn't ask about that, but in 2 months you will be, trust me.

The plant you described is a hybrid aponogeton, as it says on the box. Something the walmart mad scientists whipped up maybe.