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UG - Utricularia graminifolia

JamesC

JamesC

Member
Joined
3 Jul 2007
Messages
1,213
Location
Bexley, Kent
Seems people have been having problems with Utricularia graminifolia or UG so I thought I post my setup and parameters. Just over a month ago I decided to give it a go to see how I'd get on with it. I planted a little bit in my test tank tank. Most of what I had went into my main tank but something seems to take a fancy to it and eats any new growth :evil: . Below is a pic I took tonight of how it looks now. Growth was very slow to start with but has now picked up and has started sending out runners. There is a new clump on the left which has started to grow away from the main clump. Originally it was much smaller, especially shorter, than this.

Tank is 25 litre with 22 Watts light
Injected CO2 with Rhinox 1000 diffuser
Dosing is my standard PMDD+PO4
Drop checker is green with a hint of yellow
Akadama substrate
No fish or shrimp

pH = 6.4
NO3 less than 10
PO4 measurement is undetectable on my test kit
KH ~3
GH =5-6
25 deg C

UG.jpg

James
 
Hi James,

It`s still early days for your UG I know, but it looks a little leggy to me...well compared to mine. I had to use 33W over 24l to keep it low. What a pain it is to plant. Keeping small clumps in the rock wool was the only way I could do it.

Mine is all in amongst some Marsilea, so it is not that easy to see. My Ammano shrimp absolutely shredded it, and I thought it had all gone, so I planted Marsilea instead. Lo and behold, what remnants of UG there were made a decent come back.

Is yours Tropica James? Secondly, where did you get it from, as I am considering getting some for my 120l rocky scape?

Mine is grown in:
33W over 24l
30ppm CO2
EI ferts
Some of it is in inert sand, and some in Aqua Soil

Despite all these parameters, I still find it relatively slow growing.

This pic is as good as it gets. I am not going in any closer as I have been fighting a losing battle with Spirogyra in this tank. :lol:

UG017pscrop.jpg

Dave.

P.S. I like the look of the Akadama.
 
Thanks for posting Dave. I was hoping others would post their successes as well. Looks like yours is growing well. Ideally I'd like more light than 22W, but it's only a test tank that I try different plants out in so it'll have to do.

Interesting you mentioned Amano shrimp. I've got Amano shrimp in my main tank and suspected them of being the culprits but never saw them eating it. Probably waited till I went to bed.

I brought a single pot from Expert Aquatics - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Expert-Aquatics. Not sure the origin of their plants but the range they stock is exactly the same as Tropica's. They come in non-Tropica pots though. Quality seemed quite good but a little pricey IMO. Nice touch was a little note with the UG detailing how to plant.

Browsing other forums shows that many people have problems with UG. Dave, do you know your KH and GH values?

James
 
As I've heard so many people complaining about planting UG, when I setup my next tank I'll probably grow it emersed in the substrate before hand. I think it is one of those plants which isn't really meant to be aquatic, so many have great difficulties in growing it.
 
Having a fine root system i feel it is a plant which prefers a fine substrate - for my plugs the ones which were planted the deepest in the substrate are the ones which are doing the best, the shoots coming off are staying mainly below the substrate whereas the others seem to send shoots over the gravel and these tend to suffer.
 
My KH and GH values are virtually identical to yours, James. I do a dd a small pinch of GH booster at water change time, though.

The Amanos used to pull up the UG blade by blade, and the water`s surface would be covered by the morning.

I would say mine is very healthy looking, but still a painfuly slow grower. i would like to know how Oliver Knott covered the entire substrate of a tank with it.

Dave.
 
Utricularia graminifolia is a carnivorous bog plant, and may be the reason some people are having problems. To grow the plant terrestrially, it should be planted in 50% peat moss and 50% silver sand, which gives a very acid soil. Although the water table may often cover the plant, which is why i suspect it does so well as an aquatic, strictly it isnt at all. I would assume that in alkaline water this plant will not do well at all, and an abundance of nutrients probably isnt to its liking either. The very reason it has become carnivorous is to compensate for the lack of nutrients in the soil and make them up by eating bugs. You may be able to see the small nodules or traps on the roots which catch very small aquatic organisms (no harm to fry though). For many carnivorous plants, fertilizer or an excess of nutrients in the soil is certain death, as is anything other than very acid peat for substrate.
Hope this helps.
Chris
 
Funny - I recently dropped to half EI for my tank size and I'd say that the UG has perhaps benefited from this, it is looking healthier and has thrown off some of the (expected for a new tank) brown algae it started to attract. Not quite given up on it yet 🙂
 
Thought I'd update this thread and show how my UG has grown since I last posted.

PFKTank090508.jpg

Once it gets a hold it really starts to take off. Getting a bit thick now so am going to take a load out and plant in my main tank to see how it goes in there. Seems to like the lean water column dosing that I do and also the Akadama that I use as a substrate.

James
 
Haven't pruned it yet. Not sure it'd take too kindly to being prunned with scissors. I'm going to pull it up and replant in small clumps and see how that goes.

Got 2x 11 watt lights on it. One is the light that came with the freebie PFK tank subscription offer and the other is an arcadia arcpod that I also got as a freebie with a PFK subscription offer. Done quite well from their subscription offers but then again I've been buying the mag since the mid '80's so they've done pretty well out of me as well.

Thanks
James
 
I have been wondering the same, I'm thinking of getting a pot to try in my shrimp tank and I will be using easycarbo

JOHNNY
 
beeky said:
Does anyone know how it takes to Excel/easycarbo? I'm guessing it's not going to like it.
Click to expand...

I'd advise caution, especially for those who like to overdose Excel/easycarbo. I have strong correlation, but no proof of causality between heavy excel dosing and UG failure. Possibly James has a different experience?

Cheers,
 
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