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Cryptocoryne Dewitii
- Thread starter Greenview
- Start date
Alastair
Member
It maybe worth giving the green machine a call and asking them, they usually stock other varieties of plants not listed online. There really helpful
ghostsword
Member
Ask PlantedTanks, they may be able to get it.
Nat N
Member
- Joined
- 28 Dec 2011
- Messages
- 120
Hi Greenview,
I found this post by searching on Papua New Guinea on this forum. I am in the process of thinking over my version of an biotop-ish tank for Papua New Guinea. How did you get along with finding that Crypt? Do you have a biotop tank running? If you do, I would be very interested to see the pictures and learn from your experience...
I found this post by searching on Papua New Guinea on this forum. I am in the process of thinking over my version of an biotop-ish tank for Papua New Guinea. How did you get along with finding that Crypt? Do you have a biotop tank running? If you do, I would be very interested to see the pictures and learn from your experience...
Hi. Glad to hear there is another PNG enthusiast out there. Have you got a PNG tank running at present?
Crypt Dewitii is not commercially available, though there are a few individuals who grow it. I think that some european crypt enthusiasts are selling or swapping it, but it is hard to get of; if you get locate some let me know. Apparently it is not the best grower submersed, and I have suspended my search at the moment, I may resume in the future. Crypt Ciliata is far easier to find (though technically this should be var ciliata).
I found many PNG plants were hard to locate, and this makes a true biotope almost impossible; there are some PNG plants available from shops, but these do not often occur together in nature. Because i could not reproduce a true biotope I have created a PNG only species tank with relatively common plants. Sorry, I do not have a photo of it at present as it is going through a change or two, but I would love to know your experiences. What plants have you used/planning to use?
Crypt Dewitii is not commercially available, though there are a few individuals who grow it. I think that some european crypt enthusiasts are selling or swapping it, but it is hard to get of; if you get locate some let me know. Apparently it is not the best grower submersed, and I have suspended my search at the moment, I may resume in the future. Crypt Ciliata is far easier to find (though technically this should be var ciliata).
I found many PNG plants were hard to locate, and this makes a true biotope almost impossible; there are some PNG plants available from shops, but these do not often occur together in nature. Because i could not reproduce a true biotope I have created a PNG only species tank with relatively common plants. Sorry, I do not have a photo of it at present as it is going through a change or two, but I would love to know your experiences. What plants have you used/planning to use?
Nat N
Member
- Joined
- 28 Dec 2011
- Messages
- 120
Hi,
No, I haven't got the biotope set up yet. I have a plan (quite expensive) to upgrade one of my tanks to a bigger one (possibly made with optiwhite glass) and am moving gradually towards it. I don't see myself being a happy owner of the new tank in quite a few months yet (probably many!) but strated to collect flora and fauna in the existing 120 litre one. I have Peacock Gobies and Dwarf Neon Rainbows in there at the moment. They have some completely mis-matching tank mates now which are the fish from my previous set up and I am letting the old fish just to live their natural lives at the moment (it would be cruel to get rid of them only because I got interested in PNG!). I am gradually collecting plants there as well which are reportedly from that part of the world but this is also a bit of a mixture at the moment.
As I am accumulating finance for the new tank, I am trying to research and get the plants I can. The problem for me is that there is not enough information available. One thing I know now - some of the plants have quite a wide distrubution area and marked as "Indonesian" or even "South East Asia" or "Oceania" they actually grow (reportedly) in PNG. Have a look at this:
http://www.rainbowfish.info/forum/viewt ... ica#p12774
The problem is - different sources have different information...
No, I haven't got the biotope set up yet. I have a plan (quite expensive) to upgrade one of my tanks to a bigger one (possibly made with optiwhite glass) and am moving gradually towards it. I don't see myself being a happy owner of the new tank in quite a few months yet (probably many!) but strated to collect flora and fauna in the existing 120 litre one. I have Peacock Gobies and Dwarf Neon Rainbows in there at the moment. They have some completely mis-matching tank mates now which are the fish from my previous set up and I am letting the old fish just to live their natural lives at the moment (it would be cruel to get rid of them only because I got interested in PNG!). I am gradually collecting plants there as well which are reportedly from that part of the world but this is also a bit of a mixture at the moment.
As I am accumulating finance for the new tank, I am trying to research and get the plants I can. The problem for me is that there is not enough information available. One thing I know now - some of the plants have quite a wide distrubution area and marked as "Indonesian" or even "South East Asia" or "Oceania" they actually grow (reportedly) in PNG. Have a look at this:
http://www.rainbowfish.info/forum/viewt ... ica#p12774
The problem is - different sources have different information...
Yes, I got a lot of information from Adrian at rainbowfish.info too, his lists are very helpful. A couple of other resources that I found are these:
http://ramsar.wetlands.org/Portals/15/Papua.pdf
http://www.pngplants.org/search.htm
As far as availability goes, the shops which import from the far east are more likely to stock some of these plants; I found plantedtanks.co.uk had quite a few that Tropica do not cultivate. Many of the plants are also indigenous to Australia and there are Australian stockists of some of them, but Australian customs law makes export of these plants almost impossible.
Your project sounds interesting, the flora and fish of PNG are really beautiful. I was wondering, as Praecox is from West Papua will you use plants from both parts of the island? I did not really look for plants from West Papua (that may be another project in the future!), and I expect that they will be the same as PNG, but adding West Papuan plants might increase the species available.
http://ramsar.wetlands.org/Portals/15/Papua.pdf
http://www.pngplants.org/search.htm
As far as availability goes, the shops which import from the far east are more likely to stock some of these plants; I found plantedtanks.co.uk had quite a few that Tropica do not cultivate. Many of the plants are also indigenous to Australia and there are Australian stockists of some of them, but Australian customs law makes export of these plants almost impossible.
Your project sounds interesting, the flora and fish of PNG are really beautiful. I was wondering, as Praecox is from West Papua will you use plants from both parts of the island? I did not really look for plants from West Papua (that may be another project in the future!), and I expect that they will be the same as PNG, but adding West Papuan plants might increase the species available.
Nat N
Member
- Joined
- 28 Dec 2011
- Messages
- 120
Hi,
Sorry, I haven’t replied earlier – I have had a fairly busy time at work literally taking all energy out of me... Thanks for the links – I’ll have a good look at them at the weekend. I know about plantedtanks and have ordered from them before.
To reply to your question about West Papua and PNG: I generally try to get my tanks roughly “true” to a certain part of the world but found that slightly broader boundaries are actually helping a lot. If you try to get only one country’s flora and fauna in a tank it might look not that attractive from the point of view of aesthetics of planted tank at home. The choice of Praecox was not only that I like them but also the fact that I can get them easily enough and their size matches the size of the tank... I am having to re-think this though... Being so much commercially bred they seem to be quite a week strain now. I have 7 at the moment which seem to be doing O.K. but this is after I lost quite a few and had to buy more in. They seem to be fine but go down after a month or two... I suspected Mycobacteriosis at first but all the other fish are fine and I am running a UV filter in that tank just in case. I think this is down to inbreeding. I am thinking now that I probably have to get some other rainbows of a similar size which are harder to get but will probably have a better survival rate... Still, I think that the Praecox and the Peacock Gobies look stunning together and represent one island...
As the project is evolving in my head, I may have a few changes to come yet.
Do you have any pictures of your tank? I would be very interested to see those.
By the way, I am thinking about getting some Crypt Indonesia. I know, it is not strictly New Guinea plant but as part of the island is Indonesia, this may do!
Sorry, I haven’t replied earlier – I have had a fairly busy time at work literally taking all energy out of me... Thanks for the links – I’ll have a good look at them at the weekend. I know about plantedtanks and have ordered from them before.
To reply to your question about West Papua and PNG: I generally try to get my tanks roughly “true” to a certain part of the world but found that slightly broader boundaries are actually helping a lot. If you try to get only one country’s flora and fauna in a tank it might look not that attractive from the point of view of aesthetics of planted tank at home. The choice of Praecox was not only that I like them but also the fact that I can get them easily enough and their size matches the size of the tank... I am having to re-think this though... Being so much commercially bred they seem to be quite a week strain now. I have 7 at the moment which seem to be doing O.K. but this is after I lost quite a few and had to buy more in. They seem to be fine but go down after a month or two... I suspected Mycobacteriosis at first but all the other fish are fine and I am running a UV filter in that tank just in case. I think this is down to inbreeding. I am thinking now that I probably have to get some other rainbows of a similar size which are harder to get but will probably have a better survival rate... Still, I think that the Praecox and the Peacock Gobies look stunning together and represent one island...
As the project is evolving in my head, I may have a few changes to come yet.
Do you have any pictures of your tank? I would be very interested to see those.
By the way, I am thinking about getting some Crypt Indonesia. I know, it is not strictly New Guinea plant but as part of the island is Indonesia, this may do!
Yes, the commercially available mass-bred Rainbowfish can have health problems, and their colours are not as good as pure bred fish. There are several rarer small Rainbows that you could look at and several shops in the UK are worth keeping an eye on for more unusual species (including Sweet Knowle, Maidenhead in Crowland, and WIldwoods in North London). Otherwise it is getting fish direct from breeders in Europe.
I have not been very good at photographing my tanks and have taken none of the PNG tank since I planted it; it is having a couple of problems at present and pending work in a poorly photogenic state. As I said in my previous post, I gave up on a true biotope after my initial research because there simply are not the plants available, and several of the available species are quite demanding. There are really two approaches: using plants which come from PNG and making the best aquascape that you can, or trying to mimic the natural habitat of the fish but using non-PNG plants closely related to PNG plants. This can be done with a sandy foreground, with some river rocks and Ceratophyllum demersum (PNG), smaller crypts (non-PNG); Java Fern (PNG); some Vallis (Natans is good, or others are non-PNG); and even some Eleocharis sp (non-PNG). This would create a truer lake habitat than the first option, but I went for PNG only plants: I have used Java fern, Marsilea Crenata, Crypt Ciliata, Bolbitis Heteroclita, Ceratopteris thalictroides, Limnophila aromatica, and Blyxa Novoguineensis. It all really depends on what you are wanting to achieve. The other plants that I know you can get (Tropica or Plantedtanks) are Cyperus helferi, Pogostemon Stellata, Potamageton ‘Malaianus’, Hydrocharis dubia, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides. If you locate any others, please let me know.I am quite new to Rainbows and PNG plants myself, so I am still finding my way. My current difficulty is deciding on a PNG algae crew (I will rely on Gobies, the only shrimp available are bite-sized snacks for the fish) and things are suffering a bit while I am sorting this out.
I have not been very good at photographing my tanks and have taken none of the PNG tank since I planted it; it is having a couple of problems at present and pending work in a poorly photogenic state. As I said in my previous post, I gave up on a true biotope after my initial research because there simply are not the plants available, and several of the available species are quite demanding. There are really two approaches: using plants which come from PNG and making the best aquascape that you can, or trying to mimic the natural habitat of the fish but using non-PNG plants closely related to PNG plants. This can be done with a sandy foreground, with some river rocks and Ceratophyllum demersum (PNG), smaller crypts (non-PNG); Java Fern (PNG); some Vallis (Natans is good, or others are non-PNG); and even some Eleocharis sp (non-PNG). This would create a truer lake habitat than the first option, but I went for PNG only plants: I have used Java fern, Marsilea Crenata, Crypt Ciliata, Bolbitis Heteroclita, Ceratopteris thalictroides, Limnophila aromatica, and Blyxa Novoguineensis. It all really depends on what you are wanting to achieve. The other plants that I know you can get (Tropica or Plantedtanks) are Cyperus helferi, Pogostemon Stellata, Potamageton ‘Malaianus’, Hydrocharis dubia, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides. If you locate any others, please let me know.I am quite new to Rainbows and PNG plants myself, so I am still finding my way. My current difficulty is deciding on a PNG algae crew (I will rely on Gobies, the only shrimp available are bite-sized snacks for the fish) and things are suffering a bit while I am sorting this out.
Nat N
Member
- Joined
- 28 Dec 2011
- Messages
- 120
Hi again,
And thanks for the reply. I have had a productive weekend aquarium wise. I have read through the links you suggested and found some more info of my own! I am also a proud owner of what I believe is a PNG strain of Melanotaenia Maccullochi! My tap water is neutral towards acidic and the hardiness is just about medium. This was one of the reasons to keep the Peacocks and Praecox and now NPG Maccullochi ones joined in – I really prefer to create as close as possible natural environment without messing too much with the tap water (I do use a deionising filter sometimes for topping up evaporation). I know that the rumour is that all commercially bread Praecox are from the 4 fish which Heiko Bleher brought from PNG... My 7 ones are seemingly going strong so I am intending to keep this kind of fish.
I completely agree with you – it is not quite possible to create a 100 % true biotope. There are practical as well as aesthetical reasons for that... Therefore, I will keep my beloved Amano shrimps as a cleaner crew for the tank – at the end of the day, they are from South East Asia (not, say, from Latin America), not likely to be eaten , do an excellent job of cleaning and are literally “invisible” in comparison with the Rainbows and the Peacocks. I am thinking about some Stiphodon as well – and that will be it, I think.
I am inclined to use Seachem Florite as it is one of the substrates I like.
However, the plants WILL be PNG ones. I currently have quite a few – Pogostemos Stellata, Hornwort (Ceratophyllum Demersum), Java Fern “Trident”, Ceratopteris Thalictroides, etc. and am gradually getting (or thinking of getting) other ones.
I have found an interesting source of information this weekend:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nG9X ... ts&f=false
Not sure you will be able to open it – it does seem too long, but if you do, page 527 seems to be very interesting.
I do hope you will get around taking some photographs of your PNG tank – would be very interesting to see. On the topic, it does seem this discussion went beyond your initial topic – maybe, when you get your photographs taken, it would be wise to start a new topic... As I said, my “PNG” tank is only temporary (which may last into as much as a year though) but I am happy to join into the new topic if you get around to post some pics...
And thanks for the reply. I have had a productive weekend aquarium wise. I have read through the links you suggested and found some more info of my own! I am also a proud owner of what I believe is a PNG strain of Melanotaenia Maccullochi! My tap water is neutral towards acidic and the hardiness is just about medium. This was one of the reasons to keep the Peacocks and Praecox and now NPG Maccullochi ones joined in – I really prefer to create as close as possible natural environment without messing too much with the tap water (I do use a deionising filter sometimes for topping up evaporation). I know that the rumour is that all commercially bread Praecox are from the 4 fish which Heiko Bleher brought from PNG... My 7 ones are seemingly going strong so I am intending to keep this kind of fish.
I completely agree with you – it is not quite possible to create a 100 % true biotope. There are practical as well as aesthetical reasons for that... Therefore, I will keep my beloved Amano shrimps as a cleaner crew for the tank – at the end of the day, they are from South East Asia (not, say, from Latin America), not likely to be eaten , do an excellent job of cleaning and are literally “invisible” in comparison with the Rainbows and the Peacocks. I am thinking about some Stiphodon as well – and that will be it, I think.
I am inclined to use Seachem Florite as it is one of the substrates I like.
However, the plants WILL be PNG ones. I currently have quite a few – Pogostemos Stellata, Hornwort (Ceratophyllum Demersum), Java Fern “Trident”, Ceratopteris Thalictroides, etc. and am gradually getting (or thinking of getting) other ones.
I have found an interesting source of information this weekend:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nG9X ... ts&f=false
Not sure you will be able to open it – it does seem too long, but if you do, page 527 seems to be very interesting.
I do hope you will get around taking some photographs of your PNG tank – would be very interesting to see. On the topic, it does seem this discussion went beyond your initial topic – maybe, when you get your photographs taken, it would be wise to start a new topic... As I said, my “PNG” tank is only temporary (which may last into as much as a year though) but I am happy to join into the new topic if you get around to post some pics...
