Plant bulbs.. pre packaged bulbs that grow plants...

[Mudfrog]

Hey everyone. I really have not had any luck with the plants that you buy from a LFS and plant. The only plants I have had luck with are the bulbs that you drop in and they grow. I guess part of the reason is I do not pay much attention to the upkeep of them. I'm not looking for a completely planted tank, I would just like some live plants.

Anyway, I just purchased a 55 gallon and I want to add some live plants. The bulbs that I buy are from Walmart, they cost around $3 and come in packages of 4 or so. You simply drop them in the water, they sink and within 20 days or so you have plants. These have always worked great, the only problem is they only have two different types available. Does anyone know where different types can be purchased from?

[malkore]

www.aquariumplants.com sells bulbs also, but you have to buy 2 packs, for $5.50 each, plus shipping.
if you have a PetCo by you, they sell these packs also. It's a variety assortment, so you can't select what bulbs you get. And the 2 types at wal-mart are also ones you'd get in their assortment

[PK Tester]

What light do these require? Will they work with low lighting?

[malkore]

Not really. You'd want about 2watts per gallon to ensure good growth. Medium light.

[Mudfrog]

They do grow with low light, just pretty slowly. One of my aquariums has dim lights and they took about a month to sprout.