# How long do Aquarium plants live?



## miogpsrocks (Sep 3, 2015)

What is the lifespan on Aquarium plants? 


Is it only like 1 year or can it be longer? 

Thanks.


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## jboone82590 (Jul 4, 2015)

I didint even know that had a life span good question I'm kind of interested thanks

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## big b (Jun 3, 2015)

I have always wondered this. I would guess maybe 5 years?


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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

Most aquatic plants that we keep are tropical and perennial in nature. This means that they never die but just keep growing. They are essentially immortal. 


You can find some marginal plants that are annuals or biennials (onions species etc.) I kept quite a few plants for more than 5 years.


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## DaveK (Jul 10, 2010)

You also should consider that it's easy to get most plants to reproduce, so you can always be growing replacements.


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## big b (Jun 3, 2015)

THE V said:


> They are essentially immortal. .


I want to be a plant now.


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## loach guy (Jun 2, 2014)

Until you leave your dosing and feeding schedule up to the brat down the street that blows stuff up with fire crackers while on vacation, come home and find out that he over-fed your fish to the point that they died in the first day, which caused an ammonia spike that wiped out your tank, which led to algae and cyno bacteria all throughout your tank leaving your house smelling like a pile of death and your wife tells you that it's time for the tank to go.


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## miogpsrocks (Sep 3, 2015)

THE V said:


> Most aquatic plants that we keep are tropical and perennial in nature. This means that they never die but just keep growing. They are essentially immortal.
> 
> 
> You can find some marginal plants that are annuals or biennials (onions species etc.) I kept quite a few plants for more than 5 years.


I had a old pamphlet from Petsmart that I got years ago that said that plants live 1-5 years. I thought they lived longer. I would hate the idea of a plant dying after only 1 year. I am glad to year that you had some that lived over 5 years. 

I don't think that growing a new plant from a cutting will reset the clock on it either. I am not sure about if they grow new plants from roots if its considered a new plant or a new growth of the old plant. 

Thanks.

Bump:


loach guy said:


> Until you leave your dosing and feeding schedule up to the brat down the street that blows stuff up with fire crackers while on vacation, come home and find out that he over-fed your fish to the point that they died in the first day, which caused an ammonia spike that wiped out your tank, which led to algae and cyno bacteria all throughout your tank leaving your house smelling like a pile of death and your wife tells you that it's time for the tank to go.


Did this actually happen to you or just hypothetical?


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## loach guy (Jun 2, 2014)

It was my poor attempt at humor. 😕


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## randym (Sep 20, 2015)

I have had a tank set up for 25 years now. It still has the same anubias and crypts I set it up with. They are slow-growing plants, but I have still had to remove a lot over the years. Not sure the crypts are the very same plants - they tend to spread - but some of the anubias are. They are still attached to the wood and stone I tied them to, so many years ago.


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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

Clonal propagation is how many plants reproduce. Whether it is by cutting, buds, rhyzomes, or other means it is very common in plants. If they are all one plant or individual new plant only foolish humans care. The plants just keep growing.. 

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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Stem plants that get too tall can be trimmed off and the tops replanted. The bottom is often bare or has just a few leaves, but will often sprout new branches at the point it was cut. 
After a while the older parts don't have too much recovery, but by then you have several 'generations' of cuttings going. You can pull out the non-productive ones and replant with some of the new trimmings. 
Since this is a form of clonal reproduction, I think it also counts as a long life of a single plant. No flowers or seeds are involved, not a real next generation.


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## Leeatl (Aug 8, 2015)

+1 to randym . I have some Java Fern I have had for over 10 years through several tanks and they are still growing...lol


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## miogpsrocks (Sep 3, 2015)

Perhaps the literature was produced before there were trace elements fertilizer you could buy for an aquarium. I am not sure why pet supermarket literature had plants with such a short lifespan. 

Thanks.


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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

miogpsrocks said:


> Perhaps the literature was produced before there were trace elements fertilizer you could buy for an aquarium. I am not sure why pet supermarket literature had plants with such a short lifespan.
> 
> Thanks.


My guess... How long does it take mondo grass to die if it is fully submerged?


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

Diana said:


> Since this is a form of clonal reproduction, I think it also counts as a long life of a single plant. No flowers or seeds are involved, not a real next generation.


+1. If the plant is reproducing vegetativley either by trimmings or, rhizome cuttings it is biologically the SAME plant. It has the same DNA sequence with the same traits being expressed as the original plant. It is sort of like if you cut off your arm and it regrows into a new you. Like Diana said, without flowering and SEXUAL reproduction it's the same set of genes with the same gene expression continuing to grow. Another example. Say you have plane Jane Anubias barteri nana. You can cut the rhizome up into as many pieces as you want and regrow it into new CLONES. However, none of these cuttings will EVER express the 'stardust', 'variegated', 'snow white', 'pinto', 'viper' or any other phenotype except what the original specimen is. Again, you could propogate seeds from two A. nana 'stardust' parents and STILL not get this phenotype expressed in any offspring. Another example, if you have true Hygrophila polysperma, not the 'sunset' variety with the Rosanervig virus, it will never magically become H. polysperma 'sunset' no matter how many times you trim and replant it. ANOTHER example, lol, many species of Potamogeton are naturally occurring hybrids. These hybrids are sterile ie, not capable of sexual reproduction however, they are vary capable of vegetative reproduction. So, basically, as Diana and the V have mentioned propagation via trimming and rhizome cuttings creates a clone of the same plant - in essence, immortality.


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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

Well you are mostly correct except for the steady rate of mutation. Everytime the cells divide there is a probability of mutations happening. The rate of mutation varies by species. If these mutations are in expressing genes they can change the phenotype.

So in time a fully clonally reproducing species can diverge and change. So you can get variegated leaves, dwarfs, etc in time. 

Another fun one is spontaneous ploidy changes. Due to one of several events, the number of chromosomes change. Diploids Triploids tetreploids pentaploids etc even octoploids happen in nature. This can create some radical changes in the phenotype of the plants. 

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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

big b said:


> They are essentially Immortal...
> 
> I want to be a plant now.


LOL. or you could be like me....

Sorry, could not resist the opportunity :wink2:


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## big b (Jun 3, 2015)

Immortal1 said:


> LOL. or you could be like me....
> 
> Sorry, could not resist the opportunity :wink2:


Ha. If I could live forever here's what I would do. I would go up to an old guy and start a conversation. Eventually we would get to how old we are. "So you were born a hundred years ago?" "Well I was born 100,000 years ago "


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