Cabomba

[Discomafia]

The topic pretty much says it all. I know this is normal in many plants, however, my cabomba hasn't established it's roots in the gravel since I bought it over 2 months ago. The funny thing is that it's doing well (not dying), and I even had to trim the top a few times, and it even had a few flowers a few weeks ago. What should I do? The other plants in my tank are doing well. The tank is a 10 gallon and readings all normal.

Nitrite - 0.1
Nitrate - 10
Ammonia - 0
pH - 7.0

As for lighting, I have two 15W compact flourescent bulbs.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Discomafia]

nobody?...

 

[panboy]

i have cabomba and it sucks

a 46g with 2.7wpg, co2, flourish , iron, and potassium with root tabs and it still cant grow good. i gave up on that plant....

but anyways.... to answer your question, yeah it will grow lots of roots in the middle if the light is kinda low. but it will always do that. ive heard its a hard plant to root and gets uprooted alot. before mine started to die, after about a month it rooted good enough to not uproot.

 

[Discomafia]

yea, mine uprooted the other day as well. At least your comments on this plant is assuring as I guess I'm not the only one with this problem. So how did you finally get the roots to establish itself? Also, how did yours die? Come on people, I know we're not the only two ones with cabomba in our tanks. Give us some feedback. There has to be some explanation for this...

Cheers,

 

[jams.alaskan]

Mine is also growing the roots about half way up. Interesting that those roots have found their way to the substrate and have rooted the plants down. It's not the prettiest solution but it seems to be the way that this plant wants to handle the conditions in my tank. I've been thinking of giving it a prune just under some of those roots and placing that new end into the substrate.

ALASKA

 

[Lateral Line]

Many stem plants throw aerial roots, it is quite normal. With many, the reason is the bottom of the plant is rotting, and a new growth point begins part way up the stem, usually just below a leaf/leaf pair. If this reaches the substrate before the base rots through, it anchors, if not, the rotten part breaks and the plant floats to the surface.

A common reason for base rot is crushed stems, or other damage. People tend to "nip" the stems off with their finger nails etc., leaving a partially crushed, ragged end, and shove it into a bacteria rich substrate which is just waiting to infiltrate and enjoy.

When cutting stems, always use clean SHARP blades, or if they are newly purchased, clean up the ends with clean sharp tools. Cut away any dubious looking material until you have sound, undamaged stem. These should then be allowed to float for a week or so until the plant has had a chance to heal the wound, and just possibly throw a few new roots.

This advice applies to most stem plants. Cabomba is generally a difficult plant to grow because it demands so much light and even then, really only goes well with CO2 adition.

 

[jams.alaskan]

That was a great answer Lateralline and something that I hadn't even considered in the past. Thankyou!]

ALASKA

 

[Discomafia]

Yes, thank you indeed. Really a very informative post.

 

[Discomafia]

For those of you that don't know what this Cabomba would look like, pop over to this thread.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST...t=0#entry497085