Lilly Bulbs Floating

[BrookeLea]

I bought some Nymphaea Lilly bulbs for my 55 gallon tank. There are no fish in it at the moment, it's being cycled. The directions say "Drop the bulbs into the aquarium and watch them grow....Do not plant the bulbs in the gravel. As the roots develop, the plants anchor themselves."

So, I drop in the first one and it sinks to the bottom. I drop in the second and it floats. I think "It's a dud," and I drop in another and it also floats. Currently, 3 out of 4 bulbs are floating around the tank. Amusing as it is to watch them dancing in the filter, I'd like them to get to the bottom. What should I do?

 

[houndour]

how long have they been floating? maybe there's just an airbubble somewhere...if you've only just done it wait till morning, see if they have sunk. If not you could maybe lean a rock on them?

 

[BrookeLea]

It's been 2 nights already. I thought I'd give them the chance to sink on their own, but it hasn't worked. I've got a ton of river rocks in there. I'll try to weight them down. Thanks!

 

[smooth_bourbon]

Just dont bury them too well, a lot of those bulbs have a tendency to rot.

 

[Walt]

i planted mine about half way into the gravel... they are really taking off now..

 

[emma12321]

I buried mine in the sand, I didn't know they shouldn't be buried. Of the three I got one rotted and the other two are now taking over the tanks.

Emma

 

[soggysandwich]

i had some of those, and they floated. but only one actually grew and then just died right way cause of my gold fish and bad lighting. but anyways once it started to grow it sank down. i might go get some of those, i dont have a goldfish anymore and i got better light now

 

[BrookeLea]

Well, I couldn't quite get them to stay down. They kept escaping and floating up. Now there's this white fuzz/slime stuff growing on the floaters, and even on the one that didn't float and has started to bloom. Is this how yours "rotted"? Should I remove them?

 

[KentBlokey]

This "Fuzz/Slime" should clear soon enough, if like mine, which had this. Went as soon as it started flowering.

 

[smooth_bourbon]

Actually the one I burried grew really well at first, then the bulb turned into a ball of goo. I bought them around four years ago, and I still have the ones I didn't bury. I even tossed one in the pond this summer and it got huge.