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Slow and steady

Scummy Flooding Experience: 18th April 2016

The rising water picked up loads of scum so I used the Eheim skimmer to clean it up. A lot of the Riccardia which seemed attached, eventually floated off... not immediately but over the course of the next few days. I've collected these bits and put them in a propagator. I should superglue them properly later. The Fissidens fontanus stayed put. The Java ferns are held in place with JBL plastic clips.

26092575343_5fffe4fb38.jpgP4181028 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
26669873786_1b157dffa8.jpgP4181029 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
26630482161_c22da353d8.jpgP4181032 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
26630480281_683e72102d.jpgP4181033 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
26090874624_69cf9318e9.jpgP4181034 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
26423631890_c5b25c2f8e.jpgP4181038 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
26669853496_beb8677074.jpgP4181040 by pepedopolous, on Flickr
 
Normal service has resumed! :mad:

4 weeks since planting, 3 weeks since flooding.

All plants had been growing well, even the Staurogyne.

But this week, the Stauro has started to lose leaves by the handful!:arghh:

Here's how to fail to grow Staurogyne (the EASY plant from TROPICA): -

# Don't use an internal CO2 diffuser, use an in-line atomiser for superior CO2 distribution.
# Don't have a pH decrease of just 1.0 units. Have a consistently bigger decrease of 1.3 to 1.4 units.
# Keep the KH consistent by adding some coral sand to the filter.
# Check for leaks with your CO2 system by weighing the bottle each week.
# Don't just aim for the standard 20g of CO2 per day, go for 30g per day!
# Put your drop checker in various places as close to the substrate as possible, where CO2 dissolution is likely to be low. Make sure that it is not just lime green but yellow before the aquarium lights come on.
# Instead of having a life, use a pH meter to check hourly each Sunday to make a pH profile.

# Don't guess about light levels, get a SenEye and then to be really sure, get an actual PAR meter to make sure the PAR is between 40-50 at the substrate.
# Ramp the light intensity slowly up to make sure there really is enough CO2 before the lights are at full intensity.
#6 hour photoperiod (excluding ramp up/down), CO2 on/off 1 hour before lights.

# Remove half your filter media to ensure that you get strong flow, obeying the 10* turnover rule.

# Weekly 50+% water change
# Daily fertilisation using DIY ferts with recipe recommended by planted aquarium gurus.
# Daily cleaning of glass and any debris around filter inlet.

# If your other plants are growing well, it's a sure sign that your Staurogyne is going to die very soon!

P
 
EdwinK said:
Don't be so pessimistic ;) Staurogyne is a weird plant really and you'll never know when it decides to lose leaves. So I would go with usual maintenance and it will regrow one day.
Click to expand...

If this continues there will just be bare stems with maybe a pair of leaves at the top. Should I just trim the plants down to the substrate...?

P
 
Nice scape P, shame about the stauro, I'm sure it'll recover...

It is a weird plant, mine's tucked away in semi-shade in the part of the tank with the least flow and consequently is always covered in a light dusting of sediment.
It's been constantly uprooted, mistreated and abused but its growing like the clappers.
Meanwhile, the plant that's been better treated and is supposed to guarantee a carpet in no time, mini hair grass, is melting...go figure...o_O

It just goes to show that nature often has different ideas...I tend to try and go with it; quite often mother nature's ideas are better anyway;)
 
pepedopolous said:
# If your other plants are growing well, it's a sure sign that your Staurogyne is going to die very soon!
Click to expand...
:lol:

I can't grow Staurogyne either, at first it looks grand, then the leaf loss begins ... this time I re-read the Tropica article & just trimmed it back - not to substrate but only a few cm's above - planted some nice disguise plants around it & forgot about it (yes, that many leaves disappeared that I thought it "gone") ... stripped tank down to remove some fish I could not catch any other way & those Staurogyne stems have long deep roots & very nice new leaves (except of course now they are sitting in a bin :oops:)

I really like the new scape :thumbup:
 
Tropica need a new category for their plant range: Easy, Medium, Advanced, and... Weird!

I can't really disguise these plants but I'm gonna leave things exactly as they are. I tried increasing the CO2 by a notch yesterday but the fish were soon gasping. PAR is around 60 at peak, so well below photon torpedo level!


P
 
EdwinK said:
Don't be so pessimistic ;) Staurogyne is a weird plant really and you'll never know when it decides to lose leaves. So I would go with usual maintenance and it will regrow one day.
Click to expand...
yep. it can die when it pleases but especially in immature tanks.
 
Hi , try to connect the Eheim skim 350 to an electronic timer , run it like 3-4 times per day maximum 3 minutes per period . Set like this should be more than enough to clear your surface scum (if you have any) .

This skimmer is degassing a lot . I'm using it to degas during the night after photo period is off .

Agree stauro is a weird plant , i had different issues with it . Likes co2 a LOT and try plant is in the shade

Try not to overdose micros , try dosing 0.1 - 0.2 ppm Fe micros

Good luck
 
Hi,
I have a skimmer on the filter inlet, the Eheim was just to pick up the really bad scum when I flooded the tank.

I agree they do cause CO2 loss but I still get a decent profile and reasonable CO2 usage (~30g per day).

I'm dosing about 0.1 ppm trace mix with Fe. The macros are also leaner than full EI dosing.

Stauro is still deteriorating...

P
 
I gave up on staurogyne due to same issues never got it going for more than a month or two, http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Penthorumsedoides(138)/4764 has made an awesome substitute for me seems to be indestructible, I've had it high tech, chucked some in my low tech and a few stems have been trimmed and chucked in an emmersed propagator and so far not a leaf lost.
 
tim said:
I gave up on staurogyne due to same issues never got it going for more than a month or two, http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Penthorumsedoides(138)/4764 has made an awesome substitute for me seems to be indestructible, I've had it high tech, chucked some in my low tech and a few stems have been trimmed and chucked in an emmersed propagator and so far not a leaf lost.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Had no idea about this plant. Now I can see it's already available at my usual supplier... I really like the look of Staurogyne but I think I've wasted enough time and money on it. At times it has really sucked the joy out of the hobby for me. I trust and respect Tropica but it seems many people have frustrating experiences with Stauro which simply does not fit with a plant labelled 'easy'.

P
 
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easy does not go in the same sentence with staurogyne. Maybe a special category should be created "temperamental". :) or " are you feeling lucky"
 
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