Peace lily roots

[Guppysnail]

How do you folks prep/condition peace lily roots before adding them to the tank?  For pothos I rinse soak them for a few days until the tougher roots shed the husk.  Same for these? (Violet in center not for aquariums)

[Fish Folk]

I've never tried peace lilies. With pathos, I rinse like you describe. I think that if you can make an aesthetically pleasing set up where the plants can rest elevated in a tank in some sort of pot surrounded by simple stones to hold it it place -- like how plants are set up in an outdoor tub -- that is ideal. The problem is usually looks. If you had a long tray that hung along the back of your tank that could fill with tank water part way, but all of plants to grow up out, that would be perfect.

[Tihshho]

The issues with peace lillys are they they don't thrive when the roots are completely submerged. Some people can get them going for a while, but inevitably they don't last. I'd be curious to see your success with this as you're coming from the planted aquarium world and will most likely be dosing, but water + peace lilly more than likely won't be successful.

[Patrick_G]

On 4/19/2022 at 8:07 AM, Tihshho said:

The issues with peace lillys are they they don't thrive when the roots are completely submerged.

How long do they usually last? 

[Tihshho]

On 4/19/2022 at 11:09 AM, Patrick_G said:

How long do they usually last? 

I can't say in term of my own personal experience, but more so from back in the day when the lilly vases with bettas used to be a thing. The lillies would last some a few months, others would get a few years. The people who had the most success were those who had issues keeping betta's alive so the water would build up high organics or ammonia from the loss of the fish in the vase. Putting the roots in a HOB that is full of mulm and gets limited maintenance probably would have the most success. 

These plants naturally live in damp areas that get some temporary flooding, so they do get the opportunity to dry out or at least have a substrate that is very rocky/sandy to allow drainage. 

[Guppysnail]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:59 AM, Fish Folk said:

I've never tried peace lilies. With pathos, I rinse like you describe. I think that if you can make an aesthetically pleasing set up where the plants can rest elevated in a tank in some sort of pot surrounded by simple stones to hold it it place -- like how plants are set up in an outdoor tub -- that is ideal. The problem is usually looks. If you had a long tray that hung along the back of your tank that could fill with tank water part way, but all of plants to grow up out, that would be perfect.

I was just going to sit them on my egg cratebacking and let the roots trail into the tank. Very high tech 🤣

@Tihshho I did not know this and my tap is liquid fertz so I do not dose. I got the idea from someone on here I think @xXInkedPhoenixX or @PineSongmaybe?  Anyone else have longevity with these? 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

My mum has a peace lily in a water vase, nothing else there (no dirt, ferts, etc). It's been going for years so it theoretically should work. It might have been with her Betta a very long time ago. I'd probably do what I do with pothos and spider plants, let it be in water for a little bit then transplant it (just in case there is something in the soil that wouldn't be good in my tanks). 

[Guppysnail]

On 4/19/2022 at 11:39 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

My mum has a peace lily in a water vase, nothing else there (no dirt, ferts, etc). It's been going for years so it theoretically should work. It might have been with her Betta a very long time ago. I'd probably do what I do with pothos and spider plants, let it be in water for a little bit then transplant it (just in case there is something in the soil that wouldn't be good in my tanks). 

ORD thanks. Do you do anything special with your spider plants? I just got 5 rooted babies because of your posts about them doing so well. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Nope, I just clip and plop into a little jar with water, wait until they get long enough for whatever project I need them for (usually only a couple weeks) and ta da! 

The one I started for the Accidental Oto tank months prior to the Scapes project is still going but very small.....but the Scapes Spider....it's a monster already (organic soil with bat poop and 3 drops of Easy Green a week probably helps).

 (was trying to post a side by side of the plant but my tech is deciding to fight with me, I'll do it later)

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

....finally! 

[Patrick_G]

@xXInkedPhoenixX I love the vase. I just saw some at up in our village. Tempting!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Patrick_G they are super nice, sturdy (possibly dog proof 😉) Almost wish they made bigger ones!

[Odd Duck]

I just pulled mine [Edit to add this is regarding the peace lilies] out of the soil (from a very overgrown, overcrowded pot I’ve had for years), rinsed them very well, then in my 20 long, I just stuck them down into the water inside a plastic basket type pot that potted aquarium plants come in.  The basket is hung from the rim of the tank by a couple stainless steel S hooks.  The pot just keeps the plant from falling too far into the water.  These do OK but they don’t get enough light to do great.  I’ve been debating with myself how to get them a bit more light without it looking funky.  What I really need to do is get a move on with my fish room then it would be a non-issue to worry about a less than tidy light since the tank would be on a shelf and I could put a light above the tank easily.

For my 75 G I just tucked them around the foam blocks in the HOB between the foam and the body of the filter.  The 20 long has had them in there since at least early June last year.  I didn’t take a picture when I added them, but I have a pic from June 10 and the roots were already well grown through the basket so they had to have been in there at least 2-3 weeks.  My 75 G has had them in since late July last year and they’re very happy looking peace lilies because they also get nice light from a west facing window that’s mostly shaded by outside trees during the day but their roots never dry out.

All of these have their roots and the lowest part of the leaf stems fully submerged in water with zero transition time between soil and water growth.

First pic is the base of plants in my 20 long showing fully submerged roots.  Second and third pics are plants in one of the the 75 G HOB’s which were put in at least 2 months later than the 20 long but they get far more light.

Bonus 4, 5 and 6 pics are the pothos that are in the 75 G that got clipped right off my very old mother plant and stuck right in the filters with no attempt to grow roots ahead of time.  None of the pothos starts failed, all grew well.  All pics from a few minutes ago except pic 6 which I took a couple days ago that shows the light coming through the same pothos leaf just because it’s pretty.

Edit to add that I also kept peace lilies in a terrarium with the roots in water and water running directly over the roots from a waterfall in the tank, for a couple years before returning the tank to an aquarium.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Odd Duck

[Torrey]

Before I learned how to succeed with aquarium plants, I used terrestrial plants in tanks. Spider plants, pothos, philodendron, peace lilies, and dracaena.

I was pretty bad, as I rarely put them in other water first, unless I bought them at a place known to use pesticides. Then I would put them in water for a month before moving into the tank. Peace lilies are why I'm now successful with anubias and other rhizome aquarium plants: My peace lilies were great as long as I didn't allow the "crown" of the roots to stay submerged. We used peace lilies in the top of the cichlid tanks, simplest method is to wrap a wire loosely around the crown and then create a "hook" to hang over the edge of the tank. 

I iamgine using the egg crate like you do for your pothos will also work well. If the part where the roots meet the plants stayed submerged, it would rot after a couple of months. if the water level was variable (ie: I was slow to top off) the peace lily was more likely to bloom and thrive.

How are your submerged pothos leaves growing? Because I am thinking those of us with pothos growing leaves, and even new plantlets under the water, may have a new version of pothos that wasn't available 3 or 4 decades ago. I have heard of several other people discovering pothos growing submerged. Cory, you could have a whole new aquarium opportunity!

[Guppysnail]

@Torrey the pothos leaves that grew when it had emergent parent leaves continued to thrive. Oddly all new baby leaves would melt just before opening. I finally took it out and left only the roots in. Then the leaves that had grown submerged died.  Weird.  I’m thinking if they are grown emergent and trail in they would be fine though. 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Guppysnail