Did some Re-planting

[Purrbox]

Well, I think this has convinced me to finally give up on Hemianthus Callitrichoides. As gorgeous as that foreground looked, it's so disappointing to see it lift away and have to be restarted from scratch. I'm not sure that it's worth the trouble to figure out what it doesn't like about my tank.

Would the various Marsilea sp. share this same problem? So far I really like the way that my Marsilea Minuta is filling in, and I am seriously considering using as the foreground plant in all of my tanks. Of course it shares the problem that Downoi has in that it takes quite awhile to fill in.

 

[travis simonson]

I like Marsilea as a ground cover but you're right, it is a bit slow, although not nearly as slow as something like Downoi. IME it also doesn't fill in quite as nicely as something like Glosso, but I've never kept M. minuta so it will be interesting to see how it works

 

[Glenc]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I am hopeful the Glosso will fill in, although I just got home and the loaches have dug some of it up. I've never tried ET, will look for some next time I'm at BA. dskidmore, I think Travis and czcz gave good advice as how to prevent this. Thin and re-plant is probably the only way. Bit of a pain, guess it's the price you pay for that gorgeous looking tank. I have even more respect for those people that have those jaw dropping tanks. They must be a heck of alot of work! I'm learning as I go, thought that nice HC carpet would stay that way. I did for 7 months. New lesson learned! Just in time as well, my ten gallon is packed with HC, won't let the same thing won't happen again. Met mrfunktastic today, his tanks are even better in person, real nice guy. I'll bet he's busy planting HC as I type this!

 

[mr funktastic]

glen i hate u!!! lol i spent atleast 3 hours planting. my arms are so soar but i hope it catched on. it was sooo much of a pain in the a$$. i have sooo much left over. i dont know what to do with it. i think i might go to big als and see if they would trade for it. i planted my 5 and 20 gal with it. i am lost. i tried planting some bigger clumps but it refused to stay down. i will post pics tonight. thanks a million man!

 

[Glenc]

LOL, I told you, you will be cursing! You have to use tweezers or forget it, it will follow your fingers up everytime. It's worth the effort. It will catch. Before you know it you'll have a nice carpet. Just don't let it get to thick on you or it will lift like mine did. Wait till you try the glosso!! I didn't mean to scare people away from HC. It's my own fault it lifted. I should have been maintaining it better. It is a great carpet plant that I would still highly recommend. I only removed from my 20 because I have a ton in my 10 gallon and wanted to learn to grow something different.

 

[travis simonson]

When I was keeping HC I got so frustrated with it floating away (or being forcefully removed from the substrate by a digging Mbuna) that I started taking small (1-2" diameter) clumps of it and clamping a small hunk of lead weight to the bottom of it. This guaranteed it wouldn't float away until the roots took hold but did leave me with a submerged chunk of lead, but it was worth it to avoid the dang headache

 

[Glenc]

Just a quick update on the Ludwigia palustris. When I first put this plant in my tank my N03 was steady at 10ppm. It coloured up to a beautiful reddish pink. I was happy. I recently upped my N03 dosing to deal with some algea issues. The higher N03 levels of 25ppm were kept in place for about 3 weeks. It worked on the algea, but my beautiful red Ludwigia wasn't so red anymore. In fact, it got pretty average looking. Slowly I have decreased my N03 dosing and have been running at 10 ppm for 2 weeks. The colour is back, even nicer than before. This plant is definitely sensitive to N03 levels. That and my magic water! Here are a few shots of it tonight. Hopefully going to fill the whole back of the tank with this beauty, just got to prune to get it to thicken up.

 

[mr funktastic]

why didnt you bring me any of that plant glen!!! thats an amzing colour!! how is the glosso filling in?

 

[Glenc]

I'll get some of L palustris to you as soon as I have enough of it. Right now I'm trying to fill the back of the tank, need all I have! I'll have extra soon, it's yours when I do. The glosso is doing ok, starting to sprout new growth and is staying put since I moved the loaches temporarily. Miss that nice HC carpet, I have lots in my ten if the glosso dosn't work out!

 

[mr funktastic]

lol i still got lots if u want a bit back. i will be getting lots of stuff from travis soon so maybe he will send me something with that kind of colour. i will probably be sending u plants if travis puts in as much as i think he will. i cant wait to see the glosso fill in like th HC. is it pearling for u?

 

[Glenc]

Thanks for asking, my glosso is pearling, just starting to catch. We'll have to se how it fills in for me, never tried it before. I don't want any of the HC back, I have a ten gallon full of it!

 

[ryan]

ill take the left over hc if thats ok with you

 

[Glenc]

Quick update shot as of today, background is starting to fill in with cutting and re-planting the tops of L palustris. Getting a decent background, lost the foreground! Working on it!

 

[Jchillin]

Shame...shame on you, depriving that L. palustris of NO3! Whom do I report this to?

 

[czcz]

Man, your C. parva looks great, too. I think the roundness of Glosso is going to work great in there.

 

[Glenc]

Hey Jchillin, guess the red plant police are gonna bust me! The L palustris is still happy at 10ppm NO3, and redder!
czcz, I am beggining to wonder if my C Parva is indeed C willisii. It's getting pretty big, maybe to big to be parva. Looking alot like some pics of C willisii I have seen. Hmmm.....

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Looking good Glenc..........

 

[Jchillin]

czcz, I am beggining to wonder if my C Parva is indeed C willisii. It's getting pretty big, maybe to big to be parva. Looking alot like some pics of C willisii I have seen. Hmmm.....

Let us know as we've been "discussing" getting some of yours through nefarious means...hate to go through all this planning and getting willisii.

 

[Glenc]

No problem Jchillin, I have already sent "Parva" to a few members here. I am curious as to how big it has grown for them. Without a spathe, it's pretty hard to tell what you have for sure. Apparently willisii and parva are easily confused. I have a few other varieties of dwarf plants that over time have gotten way bigger than they are supposed to. Hygrophila Corymbosa "compact" being one. Stayed small for quite a while, got to big after about 6 months. This "Parva" has stayed quite small in the other tanks I have it in. Although, they are low-med light tanks, unlike the 20 gallon which is high- very high light. Also, like Parva, this crypt grows very slow, takes a long time to send out any runners. Yours if you want to try it, not sure anymore what variety it really is. It is no trouble to send it

 

[Jchillin]

Sweet! I'll have to inform the other members of the IMF to destroy all the evidence. This is cool, sending those self-destructing cassette tapes is truly expensive. LOL!