# Aquarium Plant Seeds - Do they work?



## EDO (Dec 14, 2014)

Hi everyone,

https://www.amazon.ca/slp/aquarium-plant-seeds/5cymnr8jft7f9vr

I have seen videos of people buy various aquarium seeds online. The reviews are pretty mixed as some people couldn't grow anything, and others see their grass die after a few weeks as they found out the seeds are not aquatic plants.

Any advice on your experience is appreciated, thanks!


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## default (May 28, 2011)

No personal experience with these seeds, but from what I've read from years before, none of these are truly aquatic species. These were very popular in Asia as many would utilize them to set up a tank just for the "final" picture and then tear it down, as these are known to survive submerged for quite some time.

I would definitely say growing a foreground carpet via dry start would be the most ideal and cost effective approach.


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## baishui (Jan 7, 2014)

I am planting #7 on the Amazon list right now, and it's the 3rd day. A friend of mine bought the same one and he said it all melted after the tank was filled with water. I will let you know how it goes with mine in a couple of days.










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## EDO (Dec 14, 2014)

default said:


> No personal experience with these seeds, but from what I've read from years before, none of these are truly aquatic species. These were very popular in Asia as many would utilize them to set up a tank just for the "final" picture and then tear it down, as these are known to survive submerged for quite some time.


That's what I have read, they don't really survive after the tank gets filled with water. It would be great if someone out there would actually sell seeds for aquatic species - right now it's difficult to separate the facts or the fiction.



baishui said:


> I am planting #7 on the Amazon list right now, and it's the 3rd day. A friend of mine bought the same one and he said it all melted after the tank was filled with water. I will let you know how it goes with mine in a couple of days.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Pretty good looking for just 3 days of growing. Keep us posted on how it goes.


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## baishui (Jan 7, 2014)

EDO said:


> Pretty good looking for just 3 days of growing. Keep us posted on how it goes.


I will. Btw, when do you think I should get the tank filled with water?

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## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

That's three days?! That's pretty cool. I grow erios from seed, some species literally take weeks to get going.


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## baishui (Jan 7, 2014)

It's the 7th day, just filled the tank with water ...










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## baishui (Jan 7, 2014)

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## Pisces71 (Apr 15, 2020)

I’ve not tried Amazon for ordering seed but have never had a problem with ones I have purchased on eBay. Started a few new ones Monday evening, will see if I can remember to snap some pics before & after immersion


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## hendy8888 (Sep 10, 2010)

Every experienced person I have seen say aquatic seeds are a scam. @default states a logical use of them though. Erio's not included as they actually produce seeds in a submerged environment.

Interested to see anyone's success stories being submerged for 4-6 months or more and what species they are as I have never actually used seeds.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Very interesting, it's also nice to see the experiences of everyone.
The tanks with the seeds do look very nice, I've had similar seeds show up in aquasoil from time to time. They look like most sprouts and they only to keep the initial shape and simply stretch hoping to get to the water surface. None seemed to have lasted longer than a few weeks in that state.

I have had experience with Rotala Bonsai seeds in the submerged state as one of my tanks before had thousands of mini sprouts after a dozen stems flowered. Interesting part was how they likely got pollinated via water currents - as they produced viable seeds and almost everything sprouted still attached to their parent plants. This was a absolute nightmare to clean up as once the plants got large enough they drifted off and clogged pumps, settled on other plants, and caused a mess.
Knowing how readily most Rotala sp. Are to flower in emersed, you could technically collect and disperse Rotala sp. Seeds and create a carpet.


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## Pisces71 (Apr 15, 2020)

The first photo is from October 2019, the second photo was taken today. 
It had to be thinned out a lot and often so I could actually see the fish in the tank.


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## EDO (Dec 14, 2014)

baishui said:


> I will. Btw, when do you think I should get the tank filled with water?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I think that is the ultimate test for these seeds. They need to live in fully submerged conditions.



Pisces71 said:


> The first photo is from October 2019, the second photo was taken today.
> It had to be thinned out a lot and often so I could actually see the fish in the tank.


That looks pretty good, I guess you unrooted a lot of them?



default said:


> Very interesting, it's also nice to see the experiences of everyone.
> The tanks with the seeds do look very nice, I've had similar seeds show up in aquasoil from time to time. They look like most sprouts and they only to keep the initial shape and simply stretch hoping to get to the water surface. None seemed to have lasted longer than a few weeks in that state.
> 
> I have had experience with Rotala Bonsai seeds in the submerged state as one of my tanks before had thousands of mini sprouts after a dozen stems flowered. Interesting part was how they likely got pollinated via water currents - as they produced viable seeds and almost everything sprouted still attached to their parent plants. This was a absolute nightmare to clean up as once the plants got large enough they drifted off and clogged pumps, settled on other plants, and caused a mess.
> Knowing how readily most Rotala sp. Are to flower in emersed, you could technically collect and disperse Rotala sp. Seeds and create a carpet.


The nightmare scenario is if the sprouts just dies after a while and you are left with a big mess for the fish to suffer in.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

EDO said:


> I think that is the ultimate test for these seeds. They need to live in fully submerged conditions.
> 
> That looks pretty good, I guess you unrooted a lot of them?
> 
> The nightmare scenario is if the sprouts just dies after a while and you are left with a big mess for the fish to suffer in.


You will definitely risk the decay issue, but from the sprouts that I've encountered before, you will start to notice it and can take action.
From what I've noticed:
1. The sprouts will only have their sprout shape, usually with just 2 leaves, so if they start to stretch and not have new growth, it will just be a matter of time before they melt. I've had some sprouts reach 3" before melting away the next day.
2. Any translucent parts or signs of melt is rapid, although they can survive under water for awhile (most cases), they melt very quickly once it's happening. Clean up once you notice any.

For what it's worth, I've had a sprout from a bag of Netlea Aquasoil turn into a Water Sprite. From a sprout to a 12" plant in a couple of months. It was pretty cool.


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## Pisces71 (Apr 15, 2020)

@EDO Yes there was a lot of uprooting which made an extraordinary mess of the substrate! The plants were divided between other tanks and the learning curve continues for my substrate mixes lol 
A quick update on the seeds planted Monday evening, 1 of 12 plantIng containers is showing signs of life


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## baishui (Jan 7, 2014)

It started to melt from yesterday. However, there seems to be new ones coming out as well, as they are perfectly green and the leaves are way smaller than those melted.

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