Dracaena (sold as 'aquarium plant')
Included as a warning rather than a recommendation: this and several other terrestrial species are routinely sold as aquarium plants and die slowly underwater, fouling the tank as they go.
Requirements
- Scientific name
- Dracaena sanderiana
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Light
- Low
- CO₂
- Not required
- Nutrients
- low
- Growth rate
- Very slow
- Placement
- Flexible
- Feeding
- root feeder
- Temperature
- 18–28 °C
This is not an aquatic plant
It is sold in aquarium shops and will not survive submersed. Expect it to decline over weeks to months and to foul the water as it rots.
Identity
- Common name
- Dracaena (sold as 'aquarium plant')
- Scientific name
- Dracaena sanderiana
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Also sold as
- lucky bamboo, ribbon plant
Trade-name warning
Sold in aquarium shops as an aquatic plant. It is a terrestrial houseplant and will rot when kept fully submersed.
How to plant it
The commonest way to kill an aquarium plant is to install it wrongly. This is the first thing to get right.
Roots buried, crown above the substrate
Nutrition reaches this plant mainly through its roots, so root tabs matter more than liquid dosing in an inert substrate.
Growing conditions
| Input | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Low | Match plants to the light you have rather than raising light to suit the plant — that grows algae. |
| CO₂ | Not required | Not a requirement, though growth is faster with it. |
| Nutrients | low | Use root tabs in inert substrate. |
| Temperature | 18–28 °C | |
| Growth rate | Very slow |
Propagation
Not applicable — the plant should not be grown submersed.
Emersed growth and melting
Survives with roots in water and leaves in air. Fully submersed it declines over weeks to months and then rots.
Common problems
- rots when submersed
- fouls water when dying
Work from the observation: melting, yellow leaves, holes in leaves and poor growth.
Fish and invertebrate compatibility
- Resists grazing
- poor
- Resists digging
- poor
Worth knowing
- Other commonly mis-sold terrestrial plants include Chlorophytum (spider plant), Syngonium, Ophiopogon ('mondo grass') and several Aglaonema.
- A useful test: if it is sold in a pot with soil and looks like a houseplant, check the species before buying.
Evidence
| Claim | Value | Evidence type | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scientific name | Dracaena sanderiana | Observed / measured | high confidence | Plants of the World Online |
| temperature | 18–28 °C | Aquarium-literature consensus | high confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| light requirement | low | Aquarium-literature consensus | high confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| co2 requirement | not-required | Aquarium-literature consensus | high confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| growth rate | very-slow | Aquarium-literature consensus | high confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| placement | any | Aquarium-literature consensus | high confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
Why we say this
What each figure on this page rests on, and how far that is from being independently established.
Every figure on this page has a provenance. Open any claim to see what AquariumHQ holds for it, which sources say what, and what a claim of that kind actually needs. Different claims need different evidence: an accepted scientific name is settled by one authority, while a legal restriction needs a current primary instrument. A single source is often the right answer rather than a thin one. Light and CO2 categories are aquarium conventions rather than measurements, and are labelled as such — AquariumHQ has taken no PAR readings and does not publish figures it has not taken.
scientific nameAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableLimited evidence — treat with caution.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: accepted botanical name — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. This class needs 1 independent origin of at least primary-compilation authority, and 0 are held.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
temperatureAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: how to grow the plant — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
light requirementAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: how to grow the plant — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
co2 requirementAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: how to grow the plant — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
growth rateAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: how to grow the plant — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
placementAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: how to grow the plant — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.