Bolbitus heudelotii

[Sam]

I have some Bolbitus heudelotii in a moderately lit aquarium with W. African dwarfs. It is growing well. I have heard of the plant reaching "critical mass" and growing a rhizome so fast that it can be divided every couple months, etc etc. Is this true or bull? If true, how can I get it to grow that well. I do not use CO2.

 

[tjudy]

I have grown a lot of Bolbitus, but I have never seen it grow so fast that it doubles its rhizome in only two months... but I certainly have not seen everything. IME the limiting factor for Bolbitus is water hardness. I keep my tanks with it at a conductivity of less than 1000 mS/cm. That may seem very hard to most, but my tap water is almost 2000 mS/cm. I mix 1/2 and 1/2 tap with RO. Straight tap (my tap) does not suit Bolbitus at all.

I have been told that optimal conditions for the plant include pure rain water. We do not get that much rain in Arizona... :wink:

 

[2la]

I'm not sure about the critical mass issue, but there may be something to it. My large specimen grew amazingly fast for a rhizome plant. In a two month time frame it certainly could have produced a new rhizome with several leaves on it, though admittedly I didn't keep any records on it.

 

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

In my planted tank, with high light / CO2 - the works it grows
very slow and stunted. I have some in my fish room in a tank
that gets only ambient light and it grows like a weed in there.
Go figure.

 

[tjudy]

Bolbitus definitely dislikes bright light.

 

[2la]

Ted, how did you come to that conclusion, if I may ask? Mine was kept under 3W/gal and grew very fast, as stated before. I should add that it was in the pathway of the filter outflow, so that may have favored rapid growth, also.

 

[tjudy]

How deep was the tank under the 3 W/gallon? OR maybe a better question would be how close to the lights were they? I keep mostly 20H and 33L aquariums. The 33L (13 inches tall) have 80W over them and CO2. I have found that the Bolbitus produces more fronds faster if I diffuse the light over them with a single sheet of newspaper. If I don't, the fronds grow more slowly, and they are the first plants in the tank to get algae on their leaves.

The best growth I ever had was in a 20H that received ambient light from a nearby south facing window only, CO2 and pure rain water. THat was back where we had enough rain to do it though.

 

[Orchid]

Most of what I have read about this plant both in books and online supports this plant prefering a low light, but there is always exceptions to any "rule". My own bolbitus is in a twenty long with a 13 watt compact flo. bulb that is about ten inches above the water and off to the other side of the tank, plus the bulb is only in a socket and has no reflector or cover. I am not using any CO2 in the tank, but the rhizomes have put off 27 new fronds at last count, though they are all young fiddleheads still. It is right in the path of the out flow of the the filter, which seems to be the most critical to its growth if you follow online experiences. I use ro water.

 

[2la]

How deep was the tank under the 3 W/gallon? OR maybe a better question would be how close to the lights were they? I keep mostly 20H and 33L aquariums.

The tank is a 40G-breeder, 17" high. Figure a little over 2" for substrate, then plopped onto a piece of driftwood, the rhizomes would have been between 9" and 13" away from the light. The plant was growing so fast on limited real estate (i.e., the driftwood) that it would actually choke portions of itself off and kill itself!

Again, the plant was right in the path of the filter outflow, so that may have overrided any detrimental effects of the lighting (if there actually are any). How about yours?