That perfers loamy, slightly boggy soil and needs to have the root systems covered with the soil. Luckly, the root system is rather shallow, so if the variety you have isn't dwarfed, it can still generally be used indoors as a potted plant. Bamboos also need lots of air circulation and some (at least two or three hours) sunshine to thrive; the "heavenly" bamboo is about the only type that can grow in shade - but other than as a bonsai, you don't usually see those as indoor plants.
There's a lot of pretty cuttings you can see at the stores nowdays that are kept in water, but those won't last very long without the nutrients and protection that soil will give them. I think there are additives to put in the water, if you want to keep it as a water plant. They are also geneally not dwarfed, so if you pot them, you probably need to transfer the plant to a deeper pot or decorative jar as it grows bigger.
Marbles at the base of the pot aren't bad at all - for drainage. Nor are river pebbles or sand. My mom (who has grown bamboo and other indoor plants successfully) tells me that the rule of thumb for plants that like loamy soil is for every inch of drainange at the base, you need 6 to 7 inches of soil above the root ball.
Here's a link to a site that might help some more concerning the actual care of indoor bamboo.
http://www.bamboosourcery.com/cat_frame.cfm?id=34If you are putting the plant in a big glass jar so that you can put a layer of marbles/colored sand between the soil and the wall of the jar for decoration - my mother did that with a jade plant and a large (12" dia at the rim)brandy snifter - make sure the soil is at least four inches around the root ball before you get to the sand and that if there's no "drainage" holes, you've got at least 2 inches of marbles or sand for moisture to drain off to at the base. A mesh cheesecloth like "bag" to hold the plant and soil "in place" works great when you're filling the marbles around the jar.
It's a bit tricky, but you can get a very nice color effect that way.
Haele