Skeleton King Bucephelandra

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Has anyone grown this successfully? I prematurely bought some without reading up on it and there’s a lot of complaints that it’s not a true aquatic and will just melt away. Seems to be limited examples of success from what I’ve been able to find. Anyone with experience that can shed some light?

 

[OmidNiav]

Has anyone grown this successfully? I prematurely bought some without reading up on it and there’s a lot of complaints that it’s not a true aquatic and will just melt away. Seems to be limited examples of success from what I’ve been able to find. Anyone with experience that can shed some light?

I have seen/read many posts about it being terrestrial vs aquatic. It has been 50-50 per all that I have observed. Some were selling what they claimed to be submerged-grown specimen on PTQA I think. Looks like you could be running an experiment with what you got recently

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Unfortunately I wouldn’t be a good judge of success, most Buce I try ended up withering away and failing. The one thick bushel of it I do have is the only one I’ve been able to grow lush and successfully and I can’t even tell you what kind it is but I’m sure we’ll see shortly if it survives or not, it’s a beautiful plant for sure

 

[anewbie]

I have one for about a year that seems to be alive submersed; even has a couple of new leaves that are very small but it isn't the best growing. It is in one of my few tap water aquariums which is gh 6 kh 3 tds 130.

My helena in blackwater is growing faster.

 

[anewbie]

I should have mentioned i have one growing emersed that is growing a lot faster and much richer as well as larger.



As a bonus a pinto anubia after 18 months:

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

So far it’s surviving, no melt or algae, but no new growth either.

 

[HarryL]

According to Ghazanfar Ghori, they will not grow successfully submerged, and seems to be tried and true in the hobby.

 

[anewbie]

According to Ghazanfar Ghori, they will not grow successfully submerged, and seems to be tried and true in the hobby.

Who is he and did he try growing it in blackwater ?

 

[HarryL]

Who is he and did he try growing it in blackwater ?

He has a passion in studying crypts and buce and tries to help with the scientific identification of these plants. Idk if he's grown them in blackwater but according to his presentation at the AGA convention in 2017, Buce. Kishii(Skeleton King) doesn't grow well submerged and will eventually die within time. I just did a plant exchange and will receive this species called Green Skeleton Queen, I'm not sure how closely related it is to Skeleton King, but this species seems to grow pretty well submerged.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

It’s a crime that it’s marketed the way it is, it’s not a cheap buce to just buy and watch wither away.

Now, let me go fill my tank with dragons tongue so I can see a TRUE aquatic plant flourish

 

[anewbie]

He has a passion in studying crypts and buce and tries to help with the scientific identification of these plants. Idk if he's grown them in blackwater but according to his presentation at the AGA convention in 2017, Buce. Kishii(Skeleton King) doesn't grow well submerged and will eventually die within time. I just did a plant exchange and will receive this species called Green Skeleton Queen, I'm not sure how closely related it is to Skeleton King, but this species seems to grow pretty well submerged.

I wonder the difference between green skeleton queen and green skeleton king. There is also a dark sekelton king. The problem is these are common name and not species name. On a reddit thread one person 'claims' it grew fine submersed for 2 years; the problem is that these might not all be the same species. Most sites selling the plants are not listing the species name.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I wonder the difference between green skeleton queen and green skeleton king. There is also a dark sekelton king. The problem is these are common name and not species name. On a reddit thread one person 'claims' it grew fine submersed for 2 years; the problem is that these might not all be the same species. Most sites selling the plants are not listing the species name.

You hit the nail on the head and I’ve been meaning to post a similar response. Names get thrown around a lot especially with buce and crypts

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Well, so far so good. A few emersed
buds dissolved after the first 2 weeks but that small leaf in the middle and bottom are new and that might be a flower preparing to bloom dead center.

 

[anewbie]

Well, so far so good. A few emersed
buds dissolved after the first 2 weeks but that small leaf in the middle and bottom are new and that might be a flower preparing to bloom dead center.
View attachment 7971

What type of water (soft, acidic, hard, gh,kh, ??) ? Just curious - also 2 weeks is too soon to tell anything as a lot of growth probably begun before received. Will be interesting what happens after 6 or 12 months

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

@anewbie The last time I checked, gH 5 and kH ~2.
To clarify, it’s been in my tank for a month now.

But to circle back, I still standby the issue with these plants in not knowing exactly what plant you are dealing with. There are so many unknowns.

 

[anewbie]

I purchased three plants that were sold as ksii (skeleton king):


And planted them in three aquariums:
1 tap water
1 blackwater
1 emersed (ok not really an aquarium)
--
if someone reminds me i will report how they do in 6 months or a year. Btw i've been buying most of my buces from:

BuceFarm - Etsy

Shop items by BuceFarm located in Austin, Texas. Rave reviews! Average review rating is 4.8 or higher.

www.etsy.com

He sells on both etsy and ebay - most of the plants are large and healthy though two complaints:
1) they seem to be mostly in emersed form
2) it is frequently difficult to tell different species apart and i have no clue if they are actually the species sold as though skeleton king does have the more obvious look.

Having said that the plants are mostly reasonably price and quite large (helena is of course small as are a few other hard to find plants).
--
Anyway time will indicate how they do but the root system was rather extensive compared to any buce i've purchased the past 5 years.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Looks like the green variety, nice. Mine is actually still doing well and put out a new leaf. I’ll post soon when I do a clean up, my tank is in rough shape at the moment from lack of maintenance.

 

[anewbie]

Well as it has only been a measly 3 weeks one cannot say anything conclusive but what i have observed so far:
tap water (tds 120 gh ~7 kh 3 gh 6): very little change just a tiny bit that sez i'm still alive
emersed - a little change start of a new leaf but nothing exciting
blackwater (kh near 0 gh near 0): quite a bit of change with 3 new leaves (though when the plant arrived i think 2 were starting already) but nearly ever few days i can see the leaves growing larger.

Of course as i said in plant life this is a bit premature and one really should wait several years before commenting. Still it is at least in plant terms interesting to watch the weekly changes in the one in blackwater. I wonder if the black variety would be harder to grow.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Mine is still humming along, with evidence of new leaves still popping up. I still standby that there are so many cultivars that are similar in shape and size it’s hard to say what is an accurate representation.

I’ll post a new picture soon.

 

[anewbie]

Mine is still humming along, with evidence of new leaves still popping up. I still standby that there are so many cultivars that are similar in shape and size it’s hard to say what is an accurate representation.

I’ll post a new picture soon.

I might try to get another one from indonisa the last one they sent me arrived dead but they are suppose to replace a few plants with their next shipment to usa.