FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So we got some new plants for our tank and I found some Utricularia (I think gibba) floating around in it. Apparently it grows into a mess so I'll probably get rid of it. Aquarists seem to hate it with a passion - Quote "I've just found Utricularia gibba growing out of some riccia I bought and I'm so angry that someone would sell something infected with it!".

Anyway, thought I might just share.

Okay, it looks like that stuff spreads really bad, worse than duckweed (and aquarists know how bad duckweed is).

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I remember seeing someone who used one of the terrestrial Ultric's as ground cover in a tank. It looked pretty nice too.

I currently have some U. inflata floating in my tank as an experiment to see how it does. So far it's growing pretty well and producing tons of traps. Though it does seem to be dying from the back as quick as it's putting out new growth. I think the nutrients may end up being too much for it but it's worth the try.

As for duckweed, yeah it sucks. I've found that as long as I net out as much as I can during water changes it's never really a problem.

What type of tank are you running?

I must be a rare bird as I'd love to have U. gibba in my tank, there is a second utric that is commonly available for aquariums called U. graminifolia that is used as a ground covering plant.

I have a planted aquarium as well so I have a fair amount of microfauna in the tank, I don't mind it but as my betta is a pig I'd like some natural pest control to help ensure he doesn't eat himself to death.

parker679 wrote:What type of tank are you running?

Its roughly an amazon tank (tetras etc) with a few odd other fish.

Apparently its quite common to find U. gibba tangled amongst live plants. The problem with U. gibba is that its ugly (massive mats of tangled mess) and grows FAST. I've seen them fully grown in the wild, grown into massive thickets, not something you particularly want in your tanks . I might chuck some in the silver dollar tank, if it survives them bravo to it.

And yes, terrestrial Utrics look quite nice.

Cool, any pics of the fish?