Quick question about blyxa

[Maxkolbe]

I got some blyxa about a month ago and was very happy when it arrived as a nice, full bushy plant. Then it underwent some melting and lost nearly all of it's leaves. Is this normal for this plant or am I doing something wrong? I have a 40 wat equivalent cfl bulb with root tabs and use flourish comp. I use to use DIY co2 until my diffuser broke. Tank is ten gallons with hard, alkaline water.

So I guess the main question is is it normal for blyxa to go through melting after planting and will it recover?

Thank you.

 

[rkilling1]

I got some blyxa about a month ago and was very happy when it arrived as a nice, full bushy plant. Then it underwent some melting and lost nearly all of it's leaves. Is this normal for this plant or am I doing something wrong? I have a 40 wat equivalent cfl bulb with root tabs and use flourish comp. I use to use DIY co2 until my diffuser broke. Tank is ten gallons with hard, alkaline water.

So I guess the main question is is it normal for blyxa to go through melting after planting and will it recover?

Thank you.

I've had it take some time adjust and then grow, but it never melted. I used to have dozens of them in my 75 gallon tank and then I killed it all. It was either it didn't like hard water or high organics.

 

[aqua_chem]

I had some blyxa hitchhike in on some dwarf sag. Of four stems, two survived the initial melt. The two remaining ones have exploded under T5HO and presurized co2. My water here is GH 13/KH 10.

Blyxa will commonly melt if significantly disturbed, but is usually pretty good about bouncing back. If you only have the one 10w bulb, you may not have the light to sustain it.

 

[Maxkolbe]

So as to the lighting I was kind of confused. Do you look at the actual wattage of the cfl or it's incandescent equivalent?

 

[Atxpunx]

Actual wattage. Count it as fluorescent plant growing power

 

[Maxkolbe]

Ok, so if I'm currently at ten how many watts would you recommend to get it into the higher end of the spectrum?

 

[Atxpunx]

You have the ten gallon with the two socket hood? I'd max that thing out and put two 15 watt daylight cfls in there and then get co2 pumping into your tank then you should be there

 

[Maxkolbe]

No, I have a clamp on light from menards with one cfl in it. Cheap and does a pretty good job.

 

[fort384]

You will have trouble growing blyxa well under that kind of lighting. Blyxa likes higher intensity lighting - especially if you want to get it to show the golds and red speckles that are usually desirable with it.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Ok, next time we are at menards I'll pick up a twenty or thirty watt bulb. Do you think that would be enough?

 

[fort384]

It will help...