Saving my Hemianthus micranthemoides

[themox]

Hey guys,

I've recently bought some Hemianthus micranthemoides from a fellow forum goer on another site and they've been sent to me in decent packaging and all the rest; nothing bad there. Sadly though, due to the Easter public holidays here in australia, they were sitting at the post office for about 4 days in their packaging and now they're looking rather sad and pale and weak.

They're cut into 5-6cm lengths and are looking horrible in comparison with online pictures of the carpeting plant. Since tuesday last they've been in a small plastic container filled with tank water, on my balcony as my new tank isnt ready to be set yet. They get thorough morning sun but only for about 3-4 hours and then it's usually indirect light. Many of the leaves are flaking away from the length and i'm worried whether i should go to the effort of planting them in their state, as they were/are going to be my forefront carpet.

The only time i'll get to plant them is this weekend but what is its life expectancy when out of the water and without co2 or moderate to strong light for so long? I will be able to upload a few pictures once it's morning. I guess my main question is how hard is it to get back to its best and without proper conditions for almost 2 weeks now; am I hoping too much?

Any help would be great.

Themox

 

[aqua_chem]

The success of shipping plants through the mail can largely boil down to an issue of timing, unfortunately. A freak snow last week nearly killed a shipment I was expecting. It happens, unfortunately.

Here's what I would do. Find a bucket or some container to put the plants in. Will it with some water from an established aquarium so that it contains nutrients for the plant. Then hang a brooder light above it and put your plants in it. The probably will not thrive necessarily, but they should be able to bounce back.

You might also look into growing it emersed for a few weeks-month. HC responds really well to emersed setups, so I would assume HM does as well.

 

[themox]

The success of shipping plants through the mail can largely boil down to an issue of timing, unfortunately. A freak snow last week nearly killed a shipment I was expecting. It happens, unfortunately.

Here's what I would do. Find a bucket or some container to put the plants in. Will it with some water from an established aquarium so that it contains nutrients for the plant. Then hang a brooder light above it and put your plants in it. The probably will not thrive necessarily, but they should be able to bounce back.

You might also look into growing it emersed for a few weeks-month. HC responds really well to emersed setups, so I would assume HM does as well.

thanks aqua, much appreciated.

i'll try the water from my tank and bucket and light set up for now, it's all i think i would be able to do given my set up and limited things to use.

how would you attempt the emersed set up? i'm not that familiar with that kind of a set up

 

[aqua_chem]

That's a question for google. There are several very nice writeups on APC and TPT regarding emersed setups. You'll have to adapt it to your needs. Maybe also consider looking up the dry start method.

 

[themox]

That's a question for google. There are several very nice writeups on APC and TPT regarding emersed setups. You'll have to adapt it to your needs. Maybe also consider looking up the dry start method.

you're a champ aqua_chem. can i buy you a beer?

i'll attempt to get that set up tonight. hopefully it works well

 

[blert]

Looks like Crepe does some nice emersed growing.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ion-for-15-of-any-anubias-rhizome-202644.html
Might be able to get some tips if you send a PM.