Trapa Natans (water Chestnut)

[deanrar]

My girlfriend bought me a rather huge looking water chesnut off the internet which arrived this morning and I don't know anything about it, so I just wondered if any1 on here could give me any information about it and whether or not it will be ok in my tank (34G tall with 2X18watt bulbs 25/77 degrees).
Any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

[lljdma06]

Trapa natans, or water chesnut is used primarily as a floating plant in ponds, with cooler temperatures. It can be used in the home aquarium, but needs to be well ventilated at the surface (an open-top aquarium comes to mind). The main root, which can reach 5 meters in length, needs to be anchored into the substrate, while the rest of the plant floats at the surface. Like anchoring a balloon. According to the two sources I read, it needs some serious lighting, between 12-16 hours a day, and very soft acidic water with a low carbonate hardness. They also mention it is quite difficult to care for and free floating forms often die quickly in the aquarium. Baensch discusses two subspecies T. maximowiczii and Trapa natans var bispinosa as being much better for the home aquarium. It reproduces via runners and some pretty wierd looking nuts.

Hope this helps. A picture when you get would be pretty cool.

llj

 

[deanrar]

I read similar things but was a bit worried as a couple of place said it takes alot of oxygen which supprised me about a plant but I have decided to take the plunge as i doubt some1 off ebay would be happy me sending it back plus my GF would be giving me evils for ages if i sent a present back lol. A bit of a nightmare as i can't anchor it down as my tank is pretty full of plants at the bottom (plus I will add pics as soon as i figure out how to put them on straight from my memory card).
Cheers for the information.