Ambulia

[fish_4_all]

Asian Ambulia, Dwarf Ambulia, Limnophila Aquatica, and any other Ambulia. What do you think about any of them and how much success/failure have you had with it? What kind of lighting and substrate would be required to grow it and not have it shed all of it's needles like the last hornwort I had? I know they are different plants but they looks so much alike I want to make sure I won't have to spend hours removing the needles again if I decide to get it.

Also, if it is easy enough to grow, how easy is it to trim and sculpt into a desired arrangment?

 

[An t-iasg]

I have Asian ambulia - Limnophila sessilfolia. It needs at least 2 WPG in my experience to grow well. With 2 WPG (I have compact fluorescent lighting) the stem grows with short nodes between each leaf, so it looks a little bushier. At lighting levels of 2.5 WPG and above, the stem grows faster, and the space between the leaves lengthens. I think both forms are very attractive. Give it CO2 and lighting at 2.5 WPG or above, and you'll be trimming it twice a week! It's very easy to trim. I need to shorten it since it gets tall. I trim off the bottom few inches and replant it. It doesn't matter if you trim off the roots. It will grow new ones very quickly. Sometimes a side shoot forms - you can trim this side shoot off to make a new plant or you can leave it on the main stem to create the bushy look. When topping off and replanting, I have found that burying the bottom leaf in the substrate will help to anchor it. This leaf will rot under the substrate, but it won't hurt the rest of the stem. You can trim with this in mind - leave an extra leaf on the bottom to help anchor the new cutting back into the substrate.

The substrate doesn't seem to matter in terms of how well it does. IME, lighting is the main factor in determining how well it will do. I have had my ambulia in regular pea gravel, pool filter sand, and Eco Complete. It has done very well in all three types of substrate.

I have never had "needles" fall off and make a mess. If the lighting is poor, the whole plant will wither away. I have never seen it shed its leaves down to a bare stem.

I have seen a plant called Limnophila indica online. It looks just like my Limnophila sessilfolia. I don't know if they are, in fact, the same plant or not.

For the other species of ambulia, I think you are referring to Limnophila aromatica. I have seen this species grow up out of a 40 gallon tank. It's very pretty. I have never heard of a plant referred to as a dwarf ambulia.

 

[fish_4_all]

I guess the Asian Ambulia is also called dwarf ambulia. I can't tell you what my lighting is for sure but is between 2.5-4 w/g of NO. Should be able to grow it. Is good to know it doesn't act like hornwort, nothing against hornwort but I will bet many will atest to the fact that when it goes, it goes with a huge mess.

Is something I will keep my eyes out for. I hope once I am ready for it and get it, I will be able to keep it trimmed kinda short for a field effect behind a wall of christmas moss.

Isn't designing with plants you have never seen just a blast. lol

 

[malkore]

i had asian ambulia, and it grew like a weed under almost 3wpg and good CO2 injection.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I think I have Limnophila Aquatica. The pictures on google look more like mine than the Asian Ambulia does. I have mine under 2.2wpg of compact fluorescent lighting. It is in my 29g now. I have a small gravel substrate. It grows really fast. The tops are alot more "bushy" looking than the bottoms. The bottoms are more "leggy" looking, which I attribute from less lighting. I had the Ambulia in my 55g before with 2.4wpg and it wasn't bushy like it should be. It grew really leggy and had alot of algae, since it wasn't growing too fast. The substrate was a ~4mm gravel, so a little bigger than it should have been. It wasn't shaded, so I believe the poor growth was because the tank was taller and the light didn't reach the plant enough. That's the only conclusion I can make as to why it does so much better in the 29g with a little less light. I use Tropica Master Grow once a week, Excel twice a week, and Flourish potassium twice a week. And I do gravel vacs and water changes 50% weekly.

It is a very beautiful plant when it is happy. The differences between its growth in my 55g and 29g tank is very confusing. I've also never had mine shed its needles. If their isn't enough light, it either dies or gets really leggy.

 

[dnaelting]

I have Asian Ambula in my 20 and 75 gallon tanks. The 20 has 1.5 watts per gallon and the 75 has 1.7 watts per gallon. Substrate on the 20 is gravel just larger than sand, 75 gall sub is mix of a few things. I dose Flourish, Flourish Trace, and Flourish Excel weekly. The Ambula grows great. In fact, it grows like a weed. Just today, I cut the plants in half, ripped out the bottoms, and replanted the tops.

I think they have made it so you can't get Asian Ambula now. Not sure on that so check to make sure.