Search results for query: *

Will try and have a look. They're all still in an old firdge at my parents house as dry agar powder in tubs. Will try and look when I'm over there next time.

I grew Dactylorhiza. I grew a few fuchsii, foliosa and another I can't remember now! I also tried Cypripedium calceolus but wasn't very successful. I was growing them from spawn/seed and disinfecting them without killing them off was the challenge! I still grow fuchsii if you want some sealed...

I've tissue cultured hardy terrestrial orchids in the past and, as has been said above, the real key to it is keeping the media, equipment and the plant material itself sterile otherwise you just grow moulds and bacteria. To be honest I think you'd find more traditional emersed or submerged...

The leaves look terrestrial to me, like it has been submerged or fallen in - they look too tough for most aquatics. Although it's not from the right continent maybe Anubias might be the closest match? Or thick leaved species of cryptocoryne or amazon sword?

blackwater habitats have no plants as the very heavy tannin staining reduces light and the water is very acidic and very low in nutrients which doesn't allow much submersed plant growth. In an aquarium you rarely get such high tannin levels and you can fertilise the plants.

It's a fairly common plant sold as aquatic that isn't. Best to get it out and keep it in a pot in the bathroom IMO.

+1. You can get a leaf to do it by stabbing it with a pin or bending the leaf, however you don't always get the stream of bubbles when you do this.

It looks like a type of red algae to me. It doesn't seem to have the leaf ans stem structure of a higher plant. It looks nice though and I'd try tying it down onto some wood or rock like moss and see how it develops.

It might but it will look pretty impressive while it does! You can remove the larger leaves as it grows and keep it in check for while or just go the whole hog and change your tank to an open topped one with a pendant light and allow the sword to grow emersed leaves and probably flower! It...

I've found weeping moss much faster growing and good to attach but it's a very different effect to flame moss. Flame moss isn't too bad, as has been said above, with good light, CO2 and ferts.

I think he means trim it repeatedly. BTW flame moss was one I found never attached to rocks or wood (or at least not well at all) so use something permanent to attach it, not cotton thread.

You could try tropical water lilies in pots like an outdoor pond. You might also want to give water hyacinth a go as that is very rampant when it gets going. It does like a lot of light and no condensation dripping onto it though.

I remembered it was C.piahuyensis. Great plant.

I've grown both 'red' cabomba (sold as C.furcata) and 'yellow' cabomba (can't remember the latin name given with that) in soft water and under around 2wpg T5 lighting. The red was nice but it grew leggy quickly (may have needed more intense light?) but the yellow stuff was superb. It grew more...

Java ferns and Anubias tied onto small pieces of rock that can be moved and re-arranged at will without disturbing them. Depending on the set up you could also even use a tiny cold-water water lily in a pot, but only if the pond gets enough light.

For things like snails that can survive out of water for hours I don't know how effective carbonated water will be in killing them or their eggs.

Is there condensation dripping onto the leaves? This is a good way to kill it off IME. It can also die back in a new tank before it adapts to the slightly different conditions and then usually takes off again.

Hi Darrel, In my pond it was certainly evergreen in a rosette form at the end of the lateral branches that came out from the pot. Looking just like the posted pictures in fact! Above the water it was less developed and sometimes wouldn't form obvious overwintering rosettes. Until it flowers I...

It's a little hard to tell from the photo but it looks a little like Water Forget-me-not. I've grown it in my pond where it flwoers all sumer but never tried it emersed. The prominent mid-ribs look very familiar. Willowherb was the other thing I thought, like Darrel. It is definitely not a...

I wouldn't have said it was very curly, but it has a definite twist and curl to it. IMO it's much nicer then the standard dwarf hairgrass I've seen in other tanks. I don't have any anymore but if I want it again I'd order some more from Aquaspot World. I did send some out to a few people...

If you do then plant it in pure peat or a peat/perlite mix and do not put any ferts in the tank. VFTs will often die if fed IME (and I've killed more than my fair share!). Edit: Forgot to say that to get a good ID of a fern species beyond the generic level you really need to inspect the...

Drips of condensation are thr biggest killer IME. Make sure your condensation tray is tilted so the condensation runs off rather than dripping onto the leaves.

I reckon they've just piled aquasoil up behind the root and then tied the moss to the wood too. If you wanted to prevent it slipping you could just fill some dark tights with your substrate and pile thos up to create the slopes. Once planted they will soon be covered.

Aren't they quite buoyant? There are two types though. I'm not sure they will be fish safe as they are quite brittle and bits can break off.

Looking at that I'm afraid I think it's reached the stage where you need to replant the glosso! Pull it all up and then trim it into individual nodes (a section of stem with a pair of leaves) and replant as close together as you can. It'll take you a few hours but you'll get a lovely tight...

I've never used EasyCarbo as the sole source of carbon so I'm afraid you'll have to wait for some advice from somone who has successfully.

Have you got good flow down to the substrate? This is a real key with carpeting plants IME. And lots of CO2!

Annnual (and biennial and other monocarpic plants) tend to have life cycles where they grow for a period of time and then spend all the energy gathered in a period of intense flowering and seed formation. If they don't flower then they tend to carry on growing until they die from the cold...

I'd leave it on and leave it lying on the substrate; it will soon move round into a more upright position. The differences between rhizomes, bulbs, corms and tubers are mainly botanical technicalities and they all do the same function really - to store energy reserves for the plant.

Bury as much of the roots in the substrate and leave the rhizome half buried with all the shoots above the substrate. Personally I like to leave a lot of the rhizome above the substrate if I can and just anchor it with the roots.

If you check out the tutorials section there is a load of articles there all about CO2, ferts and lighting. Maybe they might be best for a start and then if you've any specific questions ask away.

I've kept it in my pond where it flowered non-stop. Never tried it indoors though and after a couple of years it disappeared in amongst all the other plants. Haven't tried it since.

Every plant is phototrophic to some extent, even aquatic ones. It does have functional roots too, though they are secondary ones rather than primary ones and possibly their main function is anchorage rather than nutrient uptake, though they can do that too.

IME Weeping moss and java moss attach well; flame moss and fissidens attach poorly/slowly and spiky moss doesn't attach at all.

I wouldn't peel the outer layers of the bulb off. I would cut the leaves near the bulb. You may find that the cut ends will probably rot back but the plant will be able to recoop some of the energy stored in the bulb before it does. I found this worked ok with my calamistratum but you need to...

Let them carry on growing and then plant them just like any other Echinodorus. Bury the roots and keep the leaf bases above the substrate.

This is perfectly normal. What you have are some adventitious plantlets growing at the nodes of the flower stem. Leave them to get as big as possible on the flower stem (or as long as you can bear them being there!) and then cut them off and plant them.

Generally Vallis don't respond well to Excel-type supplements. I haven't grown this species though.

One of my all time favourites! The best species I've used is Cabomba piahyensis (Almost certainly NOT that species) or 'Yellow' cabomba which seemed to grow much slower and not race up for the light at 2WPG. 'Red' Cabomba was the trickiest I've tried, needing excellent ferts and superb...

I found the N.rubra I've grown have done better and grown for longer if I allowed them to grow floating pads every so often, then prune them off. The submerged leaves would grow back much more luxurious after a month or so of floating leaves. Weird but it's what I found I assume because they...

To be honest with stem plants, apart from a few that are trickier, it's all about picking ones that you like and will work with your design or tank layout. With your set up if you stick with the easy ones you should be fine. The only pieces of advice I'd offer is to; a. Get less types but more...

You'd be better off using Excel or Easycarbo rather than Yeast CO2 IMO. When I used Yeast generated CO2 on my 25l nano I had continual algae growth until I used both CO2 and EasyCarbo. As it turns out the EasyCarbo or Excel will do as good a job on it's own. George has done some excellent...

The pot you've pictured has been grown emersed so the plant may be taking it's time to adjust to being submerged. If they haven't died then I wouldn't worry too much. Is everything else growing well? The one thing I did thing is you don't mention a drop checker to check your CO2 level. Is it...

Most aquatic plants are only submersed naturally for part of the year and so time their flowering to the times when they are emersed (it's a bit hard to get pollinated by insects when your flower's underwater!!!). The groups then that you really need to look at IMO are those that are constantly...

They do look like wendtii but even if you ordered more wendtii they probably won't be the same as this type of crypt is so variable! The only way to actually get identical plants is to bulk up the ones you've got unless you can get them from the same source after a while.

Personally I'd treat the BBA with Excel or similar by adding the dose onto the BBA directly underwater. Get your tank reset up with good CO2 and the rest and the Excel should kill the BBA off.

Variegation will not stop a plant flowering but it can reduce the vigour of the plant and, as flowering uses a lot of energy from the plant, it can reduce the quantity or size of flowers. The degree of reduction would be related to the degree and form of variegation and how much chlorophyll is...

The first plant is Microsorum pteropus, or at least the fern sold as such in the hobby. It may not actually be that species. It is not that uncommon to have leaves that fork as yours has, either from some damage or something else. I have ones in my tanks that often do the same. It doesn't...

I think they are; 1 Hygrophila siamensis of some form. 2 Ludwigia sp. 3. Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosavernig'

Once you let them get established with decent roots they seem to survive being planted really well IME. Messy plant though.

I've only seen them rooted into lava rock once and never seen them long term in someone's tank. Will be interested to see if they survive!

While Superglue works brilliantly for attaching plants to dirftwood (and any slightly absorbant rock IME), Pogostemon helferi is usually planted in the substrate, not attached to driftwood! I'm sure it' might be ok if you keep on top of your dosing but it's not one of the usual ones to attach.

Sorry Dave but you can snip the top bits off E.vivipara when plantlets form on the leaves. It's not just like stem plants but they do reproduce without runners. In fact I don't remember mine actually producing runners! However you need to leave the adventitious plantlets until they produce...

I'm afraid you have got two species of terrestrial plants there. They will die if kept permanently underwater. The first one is a palm, probably Chamaedorea sp. (possibly C.cataractarum) and the second is an Ophiopogon sp.. If they were sold as aquatic plants then you should ask for your...

Tropica sell it too, http://www.tropica.com/default.asp?languageguid=en

vivipara grows new plantlets at nodes on the leaves and ends up in a rather tangled mess! acicularis doesn't!

Please also bear in mind that nothing good happens in a fish tank quickly! As Andy hinted you've had 6 weeks removing one of the main food sources for your plants so it may take a little time for things to come good. Just make sure your CO2, circulation and ferts are good and kept good for a...

No need to chuck the plants out. Up your water changes, syphon off as much algae as possible and check your CO2 is being diffused all around the tank. How long has the tank been set up and do you have fish in yet? If not then turn the CO2 up further to make sure you don't have a CO2 issue...

They look like old emersed leaves that have been folded or damaged at some point in transit. They'll die off and new submersed leaves will form. Once they get too tatty and the new leaves have come through I'd remove them.

Almost every plant except vallis, lilies and a few others will grow emersed, but you need to keep the humidity up and make sure it doesn't dry out. I'd probably fill the tank with water and set the CO2 high without fish and making rig up some drip dosing system for ferts if you can? Won't look...

Bubblewrap will insulate the top glass rather than just sides without blocking light. As for the heater you might be best with a heat-mat or propagator that has a thermostat so you don't boil them, but it'd mean having power in there.

Polystyrene's ok, but if you can get hold of some Kingspan foam insulation with reflective lining then you'll up the light levels from the reflective surface as well as much better insulation. You might also need to bubblewrap the glass and add a heater if you can? This would enable you to put...

I think you'll find a sunny cold frame will be much warmer than that in summer. I have a quarantine pond in one of my greenhouses that has lots of insulation on and the temperature is around 20 degrees centrigrade now. The heaters turn off at 16 so the extra is just good insulation and...

If you've got 3wpg lighting you should really be dosing both macro and micro nutrients. See the Tutorials section for the write up on EI fertilisation. However Java Fern is a tough thing and will cope with some awful growing conditions!

This is perfectly normal on the tips of growing java fern leaves.

Nymphaea 'rubra'. I've put it in quotes as I've seen it sold as a number of things including N.stellata and not sure of the correct name. IME it grows well for a while and then goes dormant and I've always struggled to get it going again.

That's not Java fern at all. I've seen it sold as a number of different names. I've bought it a couple of times and it never did well, but I never tried it in a high-tech tank.

I've never grown the Subbwassertang but just wanted to say that you need to be really careful using that much light with only DIY CO2. That's nearly 4WPG :shock: and you are going to have an algae farm unless you can add enough CO2 and ferts to keep up with light levels that high!

It's a rosette forming plant that requires high light and soft water. A few guys on APC are growing them and they are pretty tricky apparently. Not sure where you'll source them over here. When young they're a smaller rosette of spiky leaves.

Those other elements are trace elements! You need to read the tutorials section about EI dosing and the need to provide Nitrate and Phosphate for your plants too. However stable CO2 is a real need with this. If you can't stretch to pressurised CO2 yet then supplement your Yeast CO2 with...

I've not heard of KH toxicity. Rapidly changing water parameters is a good way to cause problems in any direction but I've not heard of any specific issues with KH being toxic. Some plants prefer lower pHs that are usually prevalent in low KH water. Is soda water really that high in NaHCO3? I...

KH is the measure of carbonates and bicarbonates but only some plants can use them for a Carbon source by Biogenic decalcification. Soda water will only have a very temporary effect on the CO2 as the CO2 will rapidly come out of solution. Just think what happens when you leave a bottle of pop...

Sorry I wasn't trying to rain on your idea, just thought it might affect/change your choices a bit. Geographically and ichthylogically those lower islands are considered South American anyway as their fauna and flora are largely South American in origin. I agree your Caribbean choices would...

There a quite a few species from the Pantanal (often called that, e.g. Hygrophila sp. Pantanal Wavy) that you could use if you just wanted plants from South America. However a real biotope would be a bit more specific than that. Did you know BTW that your first choice of fish isn't actually...

How tall is that tank? I have got a group of Crinum calamistratum which are superb plants and look really great and don't spread, but their leaves are way too long for my Rio 180 so they're being moved into a deeper tank soon. I reckon they'd look perfect in a 2 or 3 ft deep tank, I'm just...

When you remove 50% of the water you are removing half of everything in the tank. That includes lots of organic waste syphoned off the substrate and decor (you should syphon off every bit you can see, dead leaves, investigate those corners at the back of the tank, etc.), half the algae spores...

I hope it's well insulated and this recent cold weather hasn't got to it? It can ruin the membrane!

To place an extra pump to boost flow I would turn off the filter and look at the flow rate when just the filter is running. This will then show you where the flow is lacking and will allow you to position the koralia more effectively. Personally I think it would be best with the koralia at the...

Is this the same LFS that sells you the RO water....? Persoanlly I like RO. I use RO water for all my tanks and keep soft water fish in them. However it's also fairly convenient for me as I have my own RO unit set up and plumbed into a barrel. I also keep wild fish and sensitve species such...

Just wondering but why are you using RO? Do you have any sensitive fish in there that need the soft water or is there a problem with your tap water? If not then you really don't need to use it and can use tap water with a dechlorinator added. If you do have sensitive fish (as I do) then I'd...

They all look like they've been planted fairly recently. There will be a period of adjustment as some plants will have been grown emersed and those leaves will die off while new, submersed ones grow. Also you've got your koralia positioned horizontally and in the same rough direction as the...

It's a very easy plant to grow and should do fine in the conditions you're describing. Just make sure that you don't bury the rhizome; they are best tied onto rocks or wood.

Amazon Frogbit and Ludwigia helminthorhiza both have very long roots that will grow down to the substrate. IME they both need some air exchange above the water's surface and to ensure that no condensation drips from the condensation tray if you have one either or they tend to rot.

Well 11 hours is a long photoperiod for starters. Cut it to 8 hours as you are having algae issues as it will reduce their growth. What water change regime are you using? As soon as you get some algae or something's not looking too good my first step is to do a 50% water change and if...

To be out of the water.... I don't think they'll grow long term submerged under water. They will put on some growth under water but after a while I think they'll rot. If you really want to keep them you could grow them emersed with their roots in the water in the tank. Or you could grow them...

These are both Chlorophytum, possibly C.bichetti

I think you'd be best to stick to java ferns, anubias and moss on a few large, twisty pieces of wood with that little lighting. 1, 11w bulb would be low light on a 25l tank so it's really low for a tank 2 foot deep! I don't think Crinums would do well I'm afraid, certainly not the...

Thinking about it some must surely be air (including Nitrogen) rather than just O2. I'm just not sure about the solubility of Nitrogen in water to be honest! I think that nay slight rise in the rate of photosynthesis after a water change is probably only a minor factor, I think the bubbles...

So why aren't they "just bubbles"?! I would say that's exactly what they are! The reason they are the same is that the cause is effectively the same - too much O2 in the water for it to go or stay in solution so it forms gaseous bubbles of 02. I don't understand what difference in appearance...

If I understood that correctly you're saying you had bubbles (I'm not going to call it pearling as I don't think it is here!!!!) on the plant leaves while there was no light on in the tank? If so this is simply O2 coming out of solution as the rise in temperature as the new water warms means...

If you're after a wish list of the plants I'd keep then that'd be very different!!! What's your design going to be? I'd look at one plant for the carpet at the front (assuming you're having one); then maybe a taller carpeting plant to transition into the mid-ground; Crypts or small swords for...

I don't think you relate this to growth Andy. Growth is dependant on a whole range of factors. We are talking about the rate of photosynthesis (and the related production of O2 from that) and the amount of O2 in the water creating locally saturated boundary layer around the leaves. Plants may...

I got a tiny amount mixed in with some glosso from Aquaspot World and have been nurturing it for ages. It's only ever grown painfully slowly until the last few weeks when it has just started to put on a growth spurt! The only thing I've changed is to remove some plants so allowing more light...

All plants are CO2 limited, even terrestrial ones, partly as the enzymes they use all evolved during a time when the CO2 concentration was much higher and they evolved to utilise that. I think plants could use more than 30ppm if the light allowed, but the fish would die! I don't think we ever...

I was under the impression it was adapting to low levels of CO2 that caused a problem. High levels (i.e. 30ppm upwards) will allows the plant to gather more CO2 and grow more effectively whereas lower levels mean the plants have to adapt and put more effort and energy into acquiring enough...

Well it's a bit subjective. I'd say you will get a better effect and more impact if you have large amounts of fewer species, but I'm a bit of a plant collector and tend to cram too many types in. My 40g tank has 23 species in it. But I wish I could halve that as I think the tank would look...

IME they usually grow back pretty quickly. I hope your do too.

IME Glosso will give you a carpet much more rapidly. HC's nice though and much smaller leaved.

I would guess that that's melt. Have the leaves started to disintegrate by now? If it was snails I wouldn't have expected the changes in colouration so quickly, however it could be that they are causing damage that the plant is then reacting to. Have you changed any water parameters dramatically?

If it's only for a few days then put them somewhere warm and light and they should be fine. Any longer and I'd want to leave them floating in another tank if possible.