Rice, rice, baby

[WhistlingBadger]

has anybody on here ever tried growing rice plants in an aquarium? I would be most curious about your experiences. Google turns up several forums in which people have broached the idea, but no one appears to have followed through.

[Rue]

I have never heard of anyone trying. I know a little about cultivation of rice, but that's not really a help.

Wild rice might be something more suitable, but maybe more for use on the edges of a pond...

[DebinWhitmore]

I don't know anything about it but I do know that the largest inland lake in Michigan (Houghton like) as rice paddies or fields out in the lake so if it can grow in a lake it should be able to grow in an aquarium, I would think.

[RiversGirl]

has anybody on here ever tried growing rice plants in an aquarium? I would be most curious about your experiences. Google turns up several forums in which people have broached the idea, but no one appears to have followed through.

I'd be very interested in watching you experiment with this idea

[WhistlingBadger]

Well, unless anyone else wants to weigh in on this, it looks like I might have some experimenting to do. I am looking for something to replace the lucky bamboo in my tank, which grows so slowly it's always covered with BBA. I could just tear it out and replace with ambulia or val, but I really like the uniquely "Asian" look of it. Hoping to find something that will create that same mood, but grow fast enough to not get totally covered.

Rue, My water is about 18" deep, with a sand-over-soil substrate...would rice grow in that? I assume there are different varieties; are there any that don't get huge? Does rice grow from direct seeding, or transplanting seedlings? Any info would go a long way to increase my knowledge, as there's nowhere to go but up. :)

[Slaphppy7]

Just from this, I would think your water is too deep to plant in the substrate (if that is the idea)

http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Rice

[Boundava]

I dunno based on this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_rice

you may get it to work-but I am not sure if these are perennial or seasonal?

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These all came up when I :google: deep-water rice images.

Ooo and there is aquatic wild rice, not sure if its Asian...

http://www.mooselakewildrice.com/store/aboutwildrice.php

Sorry I keep editing-hard to focus on the important stuff while people are walking around in the office. This one has one Asian wild rice variety listed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_rice


One species is native to Asia:

Manchurian wild rice (Z. latifolia; incorrect synonym: Z. caduciflora), is a perennial native to China.

Would love to see you do this :thumbup:

[WhistlingBadger]

Yeah, most of the sources I'm finding say water from 2-6" deep, which would be excellent for a beta habitat...but then there are pictures like the one Nat shared of people boating through rice fields. Hmmmm...Hard to say. And if I found some and got it to grow, would I even like the way it looks? (https://www.google.com/search?q=rice+stem&safe=strict&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=634&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjyzbbVjdHPAhWL3oMKHeFrBv4Q_AUIBigB) And would it stay short enough to not completely take over my living room?

Like I said, I'm open to other bamboo alternatives, if anyone has ideas. Purple bamboo (http://www.everythingaquatic.net/forum/articles/aquatic-plant-library/149917-purple-bamboo-care-sheet) is interesting, for example, and there's currently some for sale on ebay...

[WhistlingBadger]

Oh, and I should mention that this is one area where I'm OK departing somewhat from my biotope region, if the look is still right--lucky bamboo is from Africa, after all! :shifty:

[Slaphppy7]

Tom, I would just find a nice tall plant to fill in, nothing fancy, something common and easy to find

[WhistlingBadger]

Tom, I would just find a nice tall plant to fill in, nothing fancy, something common and easy to find

Yeah, I've got a bunch of val I might move over there...It wouldn't look bad.

[Slaphppy7]

It wouldn't look bad at all.

I just want you to rip the whole set of flora out and start over, LOL...it was almost claustrophobic looking, IMO

[WhistlingBadger]

Yeah, it's pretty out of control. You can't grow ambulia, val, duck weed, and water sprite and not trim them for over a month...

[Slaphppy7]

Yeah, it's pretty out of control. You can't grow ambulia, val, duck weed, and water sprite and not trim them for over a month...

This, we have learned.

[WhistlingBadger]

It is written.

[Slaphppy7]

Well, typed if nothing else.

[Rue]

Again, even if it works, I don't think it will a long term solution.

Domestic rice is transplanted into the paddies, and then they drain them and start from scratch following the harvest.

Wild rice is a perennial, but I think it will grow too big. But you can muck about with seedlings, but I don't think they will look right, or be the right height for any length of time.

For a pond though, the wild rice might be nice.

[WhistlingBadger]

Again, even if it works, I don't think it will a long term solution.

Domestic rice is transplanted into the paddies, and then they drain them and start from scratch following the harvest.

Wild rice is a perennial, but I think it will grow too big. But you can muck about with seedlings, but I don't think they will look right, or be the right height for any length of time.

For a pond though, the wild rice might be nice.

Yep, those are the same conclusions I came to. Thanks for the input, everybody!