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Re: [APD] Planted tank urban myths - aerial roots



Before I would call this an urban myth I would want someone who has  
seen these plants in the wild to comment on whether there are aerial  
roots then too.  I notice in my tank, the obvious, that not all stem  
plants grow aerial roots to the same extent.  Some species grow them  
profusely, others hardly at all.  But, I haven't seen any reason yet  
to attribute their growth to stress, nor to having no substrate  
roots.  I do know that plants of all kinds, both aquatic and  
terrestrial, are capable of absorbing nutrients through the leaves,  
so aerial roots are not needed for that.

Vaughn

On Dec 15, 2006, at 10:00 AM, Greg Fiske wrote:

> The one response to the aerial roots question that gets posted on  
> forums that never seems right to me is that aerial roots are  
> perfectly normal.  If it is perfectly normal, then why, in my well  
> established (for 3 months) tank, do I never get aerial roots?  To  
> me it is an indicator of stress.  For example, I left my controller  
> off during maintenance on my tank.  My rotala "green" responded by  
> sending out fine roots (interesting that they were finer than  
> normal).  Maybe the plant is trying to move and search out a better  
> location?  Maybe the plant is trying to get nutrients from the  
> water column?  The last one I mention because the other time I  
> notice aerial roots is when I've planted the tops of my rotala  
> green.  It seems like since the gravel roots haven't developed, the  
> stem plant is trying to get nutrients from the water column.
>
>
>

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