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Nature aquarium dragon wood

Blyxa japonica is an obligate aquatic plant ( will never grow above water) and is known to not be very sturdy when traveling. This may be why yours is struggling a bit.
As long as there are firm parts left on the plants they should recover, they tend to want to establish a good root system before really taking off. While they do this, not much growth will be observed. Fun fact, they are actually tiny compact stemplants and not rosette plants :geek:

Aquasoil is a blasted unruly substance, but ive heard it's magnetic, and a neodymium magnet on a stick makes getting it out of the sand a fair bit quicker. However keeping them separate long term is a bit of a continued struggle :lol:
 
Hufsa said:
Blyxa japonica is an obligate aquatic plant ( will never grow above water) and is known to not be very sturdy when traveling. This may be why yours is struggling a bit.
As long as there are firm parts left on the plants they should recover, they tend to want to establish a good root system before really taking off. While they do this, not much growth will be observed. Fun fact, they are actually tiny compact stemplants and not rosette plants :geek:

Aquasoil is a blasted unruly substance, but ive heard it's magnetic, and a neodymium magnet on a stick makes getting it out of the sand a fair bit quicker. However keeping them separate long term is a bit of a continued struggle :lol:
Click to expand...
I've just checked the blyxa and it's making a recovery! Yes after delivery it wasn't great and I let it a sir a few more days aswell till I had time to scape the tank but I could see the plants not doing well so I got it done!

It helped the soil make its way to the sand this time 😂 I uprooted the rotala and it all came off the roots.

I did try the magnet trick from the glass cleaner magnet and it did collect some but wasn't worth the effort so I've just moved it all into a pile and vacuumed it, worked well and not had to add any more sand for now .

2 other plants struggling are rotala green. I replanted that and the leaves have gone red but I'm hoping that's just from replanting and nothing more

Then I have crypt flamingo in 3 tanks and it's done nothing in all 3 but still there so I'll give it chance, they are that small you can't see them
 
Hello

would anyone be able to tell if this plant is nutrient deficiency please? Could this be to do with fertiliser? The leaves have started to go brown ive noticed

Or possibly c02 not high enough?
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Day 18 overall things are going as planned an getting good new growth.

some green algea on the wood, nothing major and slight green spot on the glass.

C02 has been increased slightly and still dosing 2ml per day of apt 3 complete.

There is some plants not looking as vibrant but I think that's down to adjusting to the new setup.


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Considering switching the inflow, outflow and skimmer to the opposite side as it blocks a lot of the wood when you walk in the room from this angle.


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This is the viewing angle from the bed
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Ran out of C02 and my back up has broken down on the thread! So a couple of days with the lights off to prevent algea.

I've looked around for a replacement out of date FE but seems to be hard to get now. I'd have to drive almost an hour to get one so I've gone back to my main supplier who only has refurbed new FE's for £30. For saying the last one lasted 7 months I'd rather just pay that to save the hassle. The last time I've paid £10 each for 7 months use which is pretty much just over £1.43 a month so can't complain 😂
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Back in action!

i noticed theres alot more pressure in the c02 now, maybe it was running low sooner than i thought but never mind now. New 2kg bottle setup and im happy with the progress.

Think the background plants in the middle might be ready for a trim. It will look a lot more bushy when it grows back and there's some blyxa just in front of it in need of some light.

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Just over 3 weeks, first stem plant trim.

nothing major just cut all the tops and now its cut evenly, it will hopefully grow more bushy and evenly after this trim. Id say the growth rate has been steady and feels like all has been well apart from i c02 levels which are higher now so that could change. I want to keep on top of stem maintenance, my last tank was stem plant heavy but I did alot of topping with the stems which eventually causes problems If not sorted at the right time. You can replant healthy tops but I was struggling to get new growth, I've had more growth in the tank in 3 weeks than I was having in a month or 2 in the other! So my aim is to keep the bottom of the stems healthier for longer this time with maintenance and keep an eye on the stems lower down.

For now with soil I'm the sand I'm just going to leave it, it's not massive amounts but eventually I think I'll add more gravel to create a barrier

I've noticed BBA on the wood today which seems to be the algea I get the most but I'm hoping that's due to fluctuating c02 which has been sorted now
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Do you like the fissiden or the riccardia more? Which was easier to attach to the wood? Does one grow faster than the other? I'm looking to add one of the two to my tank.
 
Tankless said:
Do you like the fissiden or the riccardia more? Which was easier to attach to the wood? Does one grow faster than the other? I'm looking to add one of the two to my tank.
Click to expand...
For now I would say fissidens has adapted and grown along faster. I had dipped mine in some searches excel which looked like it killed it off but its growing back well.

My riccardia was a brighter green when it came out the pot but looking brown with diatom algea atm as the tank is still maturing but not really seen any growth from it yet.

I've used glue to attach them both so I would say both the same
 
I've had plenty of blyxa japonica from another tank so thought it's give this one a boost as its taking a while for the blyxa to grow from in vitro pots. Adding the blyxa looks like it gave it more depth.

Ive also added small ammonts of HC on the wood as feel it could do with some coverage on the wood.

BBA come out of no where but I've dosed it with searches excel and its dying off, I think the issue is high flow as I've had the same in previous tank which I didn't get on top of but I've made the adjustment and seems to have worked. I noticed quite a bit of detritus in the cracks of the wood also so when I'm doing water changes I'm taking more time using the turkey baster to get rid of as much dirt as possible.

diatom brown algea is still there so the plants look like they are slightly coated in it but that seems to be improving too.

Feel like it's all starting to get hoping now, most plants are rooted and had time to adjust, the stem plants in the back are starting to go red in the middle
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Trimmed and maintenance done

I seem to have on going problems with BBA if anyone could help, in all of my tanks this seems to be the only already I have an issue with. I keep on top of maintenance once a week but have started doing 2 per week and use a turkey baster to get in all the gaps but I don't seem to be getting on top of the BBA.

I've tried turning the flow down as it's powerful.

C02 comes on 2 hours before lights on.

Lights on 100% 8 hours a day

Most plant health is great apart from some slow growers in shaded areas have BBA.

The plan was never to have it all red in the middle but it was heading that way 🤣 there is blyxa infront of the stems but was getting covered so I've removed some stems behind it to give it space.

I've also added green rotata to the front area of the stems to break up the colour as the rotala HRA and yao yoi will colour up even more after this trim.

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Hi
I always tend to think BBA is a consequence of dirty sponges or lack of removing organics!
I never get BBA, maybe because I have a lot of floating plants which collect BBA spores and minuscule particles of dead flotsam and jetsam.
When was the last time you cleaned your filter sponges and pipework.
hoggie
 
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Could be insufficent flow and light near this area due to being compact growth....try thining it out a tad.
 
GHNelson said:
Hi
I always tend to think BBA is a consequence of dirty sponges or lack of removing organics!
I never get BBA, maybe because I have a lot of floating plants which collect BBA spores and minuscule particles of dead flotsam and jetsam.
When was the last time you cleaned your filter sponges and pipework.
hoggie
Click to expand...
Thanks I don't have any floating plants in there as they seem to get caught up in the flow and I think it was
GHNelson said:
Hi
I always tend to think BBA is a consequence of dirty sponges or lack of removing organics!
I never get BBA, maybe because I have a lot of floating plants which collect BBA spores and minuscule particles of dead flotsam and jetsam.
When was the last time you cleaned your filter sponges and pipework.
hoggie
Click to expand...
Thanks I last cleaned the filter and pipes 1-2 weeks ago and that was roughly at the 1 month mark.

I've tried really getting the waste organics put with every water change but I do find another of waste each time.

The floating plants would be worth trying also, I had taken them out because they get caught in the flow and end up getting stuck to plants or wood.

Thanks I'll try cleaning the sponges and pipes again 👍
 
GHNelson said:
20230220_231144-jpg.201480

Could be insufficent flow and light near this area due to being compact growth....try thining it out a tad.
Click to expand...
It's been slow growing and I'm is very compact all across the background. This area is much worse with waste now! I tried to get out as much waste as possible, the bottom of them stems are brown and breaking down, but the skimmer was over the top and blows downwards so I don't think it would be flow. They light could easily be blocked by wood though so maybe why it's continued growing when it's got enough light but the buttons were breaking down?
 
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