Sagittaria Latifolia(broadleaf arrowhead) in an aquarium?

We have this very neat looking tuber plant growing all over the place here. Would this plant survive in an aquarium or is this more of a semi-aquatic/semi-terrestrial plant that would die fully submerged in a tank? Plant is Sagittaria Latifolia, aka- broadleaf arrowhead.

Thanks

Chris M.

S. latiifolia likes to be emergent, but you may have S, graminea around too, which tolerates deeper water.

I'll have to see if the other is around here. This isn't the grass-leaf arrowhead. I have a plant of it in the tank now. I guess we'll see what happens to it.

We have this very neat looking tuber plant growing all over the place here. Would this plant survive in an aquarium or is this more of a semi-aquatic/semi-terrestrial plant that would die fully submerged in a tank? Plant is Sagittaria Latifolia, aka- broadleaf arrowhead.

 

Thanks

 

Chris M.

Yes you can use it fully submerged in an aquarium. There may be a "melt back" as is common with plants that have been grown emersed but it will adjust readily and end up a lush, bright green, bushy background beauty.  Given the right amount of light and proper planting depth, it will spread readily.  Remember that it is a rhizome plant and as such should not have the rhizome buried.  Good luck with it and enjoy!

Thank you Michmass. As of today I see that it has thrown a new leaf already. It's about 10" tall at the tip of the new sprout. I do however have a concern about the crays munching on it.....

Can't help you there. 

Feed the crays other veggies (greenbeans, zucc, etc) and maybe they'll leave the Sag alone.   Michmass thats great to know Sag latifolia will survive and grow submersed.  I've never seen it that way in the wild (in NC), other than temporarily submerged during high water. 

So far they seem to be leaving it alone. They eat a plenty when I feed the darters their blood worms and Mysis shrimp. I'll be keeping my eye on them though.

The newly emergent leaf has already put on 1" of height since last night and looks like it'll unroll here fairly soon. Growing that fast since last night is a good thing!

Periodically I give the crays pleco wafers to supplement their diet. Perhaps I can get some plant matter from the river for them to snack on if they get too "interested" in the sagittaria.

That plant will easily grow up and out of your tank, unless you've got 4' of depth.  Once it really gets going, I'd recommend a somewhat aggressive trimming regimen.  As soon as a stalk gets longer than you're comfortable with, take it off at the base.  Even plants learn what you want them to do if you're consistent with them.  It looks beautiful by the way.

Thanks for the information. By how quickly it's growing, I can tell these are a FAST growing plant. So once this gets taller than I want, just cut the whole thing off at the base and it'll start to regrow again without killing it? I know that they spread by rhizomes, so as long as the roots are intact and getting nourishment, it should survive?

Thanks

Chris

Just take the stems that are longer than you want back to the rhizome individually and eventually he plant will stop trying to grow up and will start to grow out.  And yes as long as the rhizome is healthy, it'll come back no matter how harshly you trim it.

Enjoy it!

Thank you so much for the info! I look forward to grooming this plant and hopefully being able to keep it contained and perhaps spreading.

Chris M.

As of today, yet another arrowhead has shot up and growing. Apparently it's getting the needed nourishment and light or it'd be dying.

I have taken submerged plants from a small fast flowing spring only to realize that they were emergent and even marginal rather than aquatic. Turned out the cold oxygen rich water was making something possible that normally isn't. The plants looked great and even grew in an aquarium until they didn't. Your situation is different, but I am going to be really surprised if these make it long term submerged. I see arrowhead quite often here in Ohio. I am not sure which species, but I never see it growing in water more than 6 inches deep, and more often I find it growing as a marginal. They are very cool plants and I hope this works out. Even if they don't hold up submerged, they would be worth potting and raising them up high enough to be emergent, or maybe floating them. With leaves that size, I would have to believe that they drink up a bunch of nutrients.

As of today, yet another arrowhead has shot up and growing. Apparently it's getting the needed nourishment and light or it'd be dying.

... or else it's consuming stored nutrients in the roots/tubers.   Hope you're right and Matt and I are wrong.

@Matt,

We have the arrowhead plant all over the place in Central Ohio along with the narrow leafed arrowhead. I've always found the Latifolia to be semi-aquatic/emergent and never fully submerged. So I guess like submerged trees, they might continue to live until they die from the conditions that they're not used to or fully adapted for. Time will tell I guess.

@Gerald,

I tried and failed to get the tuber on this plant. It has a good sized, long hank of roots on it, but the tuber broke off, so I surmise that it's taking in the nutrients of the substrate from food and fish waste. Hopefully the plant will live, if not, well, it was a good experiment to see if emergent/semi-aquatic plants could adapt to a submerged life.

Chris M

I'm interested in your experiment since I've seen a lot of S. latifolia growing nearby. For the best chance of success, I'd recommend trimming the stems before the foliage reaches the surface, or else it will start to organize itself for emergent growth rather than submerged growth. At that point, trimming the stem would flood the internal structures that develop to transport gases directly to the air instead of from the water column.

Interesting!  So if you cut off leaves after they've emerged through the surface, you damage the plant more than if you cut them off before they reach the surface?

I'm interested in your experiment since I've seen a lot of S. latifolia growing nearby. For the best chance of success, I'd recommend trimming the stems before the foliage reaches the surface, or else it will start to organize itself for emergent growth rather than submerged growth. At that point, trimming the stem would flood the internal structures that develop to transport gases directly to the air instead of from the water column.

That's my understanding.

@

I know this is over a year old post sorry for reopening. I was just wondering how long the plant lasted in your aquarium?  Did it ever emerge and survive? I tried an arrow head but it didn't work out. I am considering trying it again be different substrate once the spring hits. Im over in toronto ontario canada.