BUCEPHALANDRA PANDORA QUEEN ROUNDED (Dark & Stunning)

(Information written by Aquarzon based on actual growing experience, observations and research. Please do not copy any information or photos) 

Portion Size : Around 4-5 Leaves

Growth Speed   : Slow-Very Slow
Difficulty Level   : Easy
Temperature      : 10-30°C
PH Range          : 5.5-7.8
Min. Light Needs: Low
Origin                 : Borneo, Asia

Bucephalandra Pandora Queen is a beautiful bigger leaves Buce that can grow very colourful and stunning leaves. It is amongst the darkest coloured and most beautiful Buce species which is perfect as an aquascape feature plant.  It is also one of the fewer Buce species which can produce dark and very beautiful colour tones even under a lower level of aquarium lighting intensity.

Aquarzon considers this our top 3 Bucephalandra for beauty, with the beauty rivalled by Bucephalandra Hellfire.

When we put the side by 2 sides, our observation is our Pandora Queen has a colder colour tone (more bluish), whereas Hellfire has a warmer colour tone (usually appears a bit redder/maroonish).

Based on Aquarzon's research, the first Pandora Queen was found naturally occurring in 2017 in Sintang, West Kalimantan. The name 'Pandora' was suggested by Ryan while the name 'Queen' was inspired by the lady who discovered it. Through the years since then, other varieties of Pandora Queen appeared in the aquarium trade including Pandora Queen Round Wavy and Long Leaf. 

The 'Pandora Queen Round Wavy' which appears on some overseas websites look much lighter coloured and also longer leaves. It actually looks more like a Theia variety which is a cheaper and more common variety.

Our variety is not the more common Pandora Queen Long Leaf. Our variety here has dark-coloured leaves (even under normal room light) and very round/oval-shaped leaves.

This species is currently the top 3 darkest and most beautifully coloured Bucephalandra variety propagated by Aquarzon. The darkness and colour is stunning even under normal white lights and even under normal room light or sunlight. There are relatively not many species that can look this dark and beautiful under normal light.

Due to this species being highly sought after, there are unfortunately many occurrences of other types of cheaper Buce being incorrectly traded or sold as Pandora Queen.  As an example, there had been instances whereby Bucephalandra Theia or similar which is 3-5 times cheaper was incorrectly traded or sold as "Pandora Queen".

This is why it is important to buy from trustable sources to avoid being given a Theia or something cheaper value instead of Pandora Queen. A true Pandora Queen would have dark-coloured leaves. The colour tone would appear dark even under normal room light. 

As part of Aquarzon's process to ensure a high level of accuracy, we have sourced our original specimens from 5 different Australian hobbyists including highly reputable hobbyists. From there, we have grown them over the years, observed them and done a filtering process. We have filtered out those which has growth that does not conform to how a Bucephalandra Pandora Queen would usually be, to be able to get to this.

All photos here are all taken by us. We have been propagating Bucephalandra Pandora Queen under high-intensity in our aquarium for over 3 years, using MML and then Chihiros WRGB II RGB LED. Throughout the period, we have added conforming submersed stock as well.

The photo below how it appears under cooler white-tone LED:









The photo is to show a close up of a leaf:



The photo below shows the piece being photographed while indoor: 



The photo below shows how the same piece appears more reddish when taken closer to sunlight while indoor (the photo is taken near a window): 

 The photos below are showing they appear under our high intensity RGB LED:




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Please note that not every piece has the same colour tone as it can change based on aquarium conditions that vary from time to time. For example, even by just moving it from center to a side of an aquarium, its new growth may be greener due to the reduction in lighting received. Aquarium lighting can also affect its appearance. Under pure white lighting, most Buce appear greener and under RGB LED aquarium lighting, most Buce usually reflect more colourful tones.

The Bucephalandra rhizome for sale here by Aquarzon here is indoor aquarium submersed grown. It is not emersed or tissue culture which can suffer melting when transitioned to an aquarium. This leads to ammonia and organics increase, making it susceptible to algae issues like BBA. It is also not pond grown which can carry outdoor parasites and diseases. It is also not harvested from the wild as it is non-legal and can cause extinction. The Buce rhizome for sale here is naturally aquarium-propagated which takes a long time due to its very slow growth rate. 

Majority of our Buce is aquarium submersed grown for 1-3 years and only sold once they meet our quality standards. The price reflects the care, effort and time in propagating these very slow-growing plants (some growing just 1 leaf in 2 weeks).

By purchasing from Aquarzon, you are assured of quality, indoor aquarium submersed grown Bucephalandra that do not suffer diseases or emerse-to-submerse melting issues that can affect emersed-grown Bucephalandra and support sustainable growth efforts which helps protect them from extinction.