FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hi guys! i recently got interested in VFT's, and ordered two on Amazon, which got shipped today. I'm planning on putting them in an old aquarium. Its 5 gallons big, and comes with built in flourecent lights. I hope this is good enought for the plant? Also, can i use bottled water (Deer Park) to water them? Or would distilled tap waver be better? Another question i have is if i should put something under the plant pots in the aquarium, suck as pebbles? i was just planning on putting them in, pot and all.
Thanks guys,

Cheers!

i use distilled water or rain water. but mostly rain water the rocks arnt a big deal. i put sphagnum live moss under them oh, and welcome to the forum

Hello and welcome! I just moved a bunch of my plants into a big aquarium, I just set the pots in there with nothing under them. As rhys said, I wouldn't worry too much about your substrate layers unless you wanted to take them out of the pot. Some bottled water is acceptable if that's what you have available, im not familiar with Deer Park, check the ingredients label. I think they will do ok in the aquarium, the only thing that might be a problem is the lighting, may not be enough, mine are in a 50 gallon aquarium right now and i have the hood light and a grow light in there, and i don't think it's enough...but I guess it's better than an early dormancy because of the cold!

Thanks for the advice and Hello's! I think the aquarium setup is pretty good, lots of light in there, and its by a window, so double light! I'm just worried about using bottled water, its actually Nestle Pure Life brand that I was planning on using, the label says it contains Purified Water, Calcium Chloride, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Magnesium Sulfate, but it also says it was purified with R/O and or Distillation before being "enhanced" with a balance of minerals for taste.
Now i'm thinking of buying distilled water. Does anyone have a preffered brand of distilled water? Also, the VFTs im getting come in 3 inch pots, and i don't plan to repot, as that's how i killed my last VFT. So my question is, How often will water be necessary, and should i also "mist" the aquarium with a sprayer?

Cheers

Eh, I ended up just buying the distilled water. $2 for 2 gallons @ walgreens. Today I recieved my plants in the mail. Two VFT from amazon. They are very green and look healthy. One plant's trap has a dead insect husk too! The plants have 5 traps each, including the ones i can see forming. I placed the pots in shallow plastic container and put the distilled water in it. then i put the whole thing in my terrerium with the lights on. Hopefully they will grow alot, but they do look quite small now. Luckily, the also appears to be 2 sundews growing with the VFT! buy they are very small.

Oh awesome! Tag-a-long plants are the best freebies. Yeah, i wouldn't use the enhanced for taste bottled water. Cheap-o distilled from Kroger's is how I roll My plants seem to stay pretty moist in the enclosed area of an aquarium, so I actually water them less than I used to when they were outside; however, I give them a generous spray, more than a mist, pretty often, about once a day. I also dont have mine sitting in water, i was worried about them getting some kind of mold or rot since there isnt much air flow in the aquarium, so be careful with that one. Again, good luck with your new additions!

Thanks, I hope the sundews do ok. I decided to overwater them instead of having the possibility yo let them die of dryness, so I put the pots in the standing water. However, the pots seem to be waterlogged, it I poke at the soil with my finger I can see water. Is this normal?

Well, it's normal if you drown them, lol, moist and damp is the key! I'd pick up the pots and let the excess drain off.