# Potting aquatic plants?



## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

I got two new plants last weekend (a larage Crinum calamistratum and a red tiger lotus) and don't have a deep enough substrate to cover the roots, my YoYo loaches have great fun uprooting them, so they float. If I get more gravel to cover them, I think the loaches will simply uproot them again. 

The crinum is a gorgeous 'crinkly octopus' looking plant and very dramatic. I'd hate to lose it. I was thinking of either getting more gravel to cover the roots and then covering them with river rock -- but the loaches seem rather Herculian in their efforts to move objects and uproot the plants. Should I pot the the plants instead? If so, how do you pot an aquatic plant? What type of pot and potting material should I choose? The root system on the crinum is at least 3 inches deep. It has thick fleshy roots. The red tiger lotus has a long bulb attached with many fine roots.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Its pretty easy to pot these plants. Go to walmart or garden center and buy clay pots the size you want. You can also buy a small bag of aquatic soil as the plants would do better in this. Put enough soil in the pot to cover 1/2 of the bulb, then top off with gravel to just below the top of the bulb. Do not cover the crown. Soak in a sink of dechlorinated water, then slowly put pot into tank where you want it.


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

Thank you, I'm just getting ready to go buy materials.


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

Crinums are beautiful plants. Please post pics when you get it potted and in your tank. I'd love to see how it looks.


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

I bought everything but the soil since I couldn't find it anywhere, including the nurseries carrying pond supplies. I had to get extra gravel and river rock anyway to build up the substrate around the pots, So I decided just to make it extra deep around the roots with the river rock on top. They look great this way. 

I put slate round the crinum to begin with to hold the extra gravel. One of my pork chop rasboras (the one who wouldn't school with the rest) darted between it and the glass to hide and was wedged pretty tightly in. When I tilted the slate to let it out, it darted into the 'well' of new gravel. Sorry to say he didn't make it. He just seemed to do things backwards.

I was worried about my yoyo's, as I could only find two. But, a couple of hours later the third one came out of hiding and all is back to normal. 

I picked up a madagascar lace plant, but fear they take a higher level of skill than I have right now. It is small with only two leaves. The last one they had left in the tank. Wish me luck.

Here's a pic of my new crinmum calamistratum. Its on the left side. Hiding behind it is my gold neon tetra. You have to enlarge the image to see him.


Forgive the tacky scotch tape on my thermometer strip. This is actually the back of the aquarium.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

It needs to be in an area where it will get some good water movement so crud don't pack into the little holes on the leaves.


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

It is directly under the filter outflow. Hope that works. Thank you for the advice.


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