Onoma1
Member
While Bucephalandra is described by the sadists in Tropica, Dennerle and other plant growing companies (there is a conspiracy) as an easy plant (I can almost see them cackling as they label it) this hasn’t been my experience (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/bucephalandra-crisis.56541/page-2#post-551513).
I think, however, that this is a fascinating plant and one which needs to be conserved as its natural environment (and ecosystem to which it belongs) is being rapidly degraded and subspecies are being eradicated as a result of both logging, farming and poaching for the aquarium trade. Rather counter-intuitively it's also been suggested that aquarium trade could be the salvation of this plant species as aquarists propagate subspecies of the plant that are now extinct..
I found Kalum’s Buce Drift Thread really interesting (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/buce-drift-bad-bba-good-pwl-shrimp.56037/page-3), read whatever I could on the forum then watched Jurijs Jutjajevs’ review of the tank Adam Paszczela is maintaining – full of thriving rare Bucephalandra. So I do realise that Adam Paszczela is a bit of a genius when it comes to Aquascaping and plant growing but it gave me faith that this is being done.
I do realise that I am in contrast a rather inexperienced Aquascaper with a spotty record when it comes to Bucephalandra! The challenge that I have set myself is to see if I can change this and grow and propagate different varieties of Bucephalandra. It seems like a reasonable challenge and one which is potentially useful.
So that’s the purpose of this new journal - to follow my journey and see how far I get. All the plants that I will buy will be propagated (not taken from the wild).
The tank is a bit of an experiment in three other ways – it’s using a part dirt substrate, it needs to be put together on a budget and I am using wood (for the first time) and ‘found UK wood’. So this is going to be a bit of an interesting process.
Following advice from the forum I went for a substrate made up of John Innes Number 3 capped with Unipac Limpopo Black sand (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/substrate-for-crypts.56567/#post-551595). I used a soil retainer between the two layers and then chickened out and impulse bought a small bag of tropica soil to go on top of the sand. I will combine this with a lean dosing approach.
I have used part of a Beach Tree root from a hedge that was cut down last year and grubbed up and left to dry. Each section of this was boiled for a 3 hours over the course of a day. Unfortunately, although I removed all of the bark from the thicker pieces I wasn’t able to remove it from the smaller ones. These are the bits that can be seen so I am hoping that they can be removed over time. I may live to regret this.
The other bits of equipment were bought over a period of months from ebay, Aliexpress and more recently Aquarium Gardens.
The plants were bought (Aquarium Gardens or few from ebay) and I have also planted quite heavily with some rapidly growing plants to help keep algae at bay. The intention that these will be removed once the Buce and Crypts are established.
Any advice, support or comments would be welcome.
Photo's will follow shortly.
Details of the setup and costs are below:
The headline costs are as follows:
Plants £45.97
Substrate £22.50
Opti-White Rimless Tank 60cm @ £50
Lighting @ £50
Pump £25
Inline Hydor Heater £52
Co2 Equipment/ Piping for Pump £82.62
Total Cost: £328.09
Bought Plants:
Cryptocoryne Rubella Tissue Culture £ 5.99
Cryptocoryne Costata £ 5.99
Vesicularia Species (creeping Moss) - Linea In-vitro £ 3.99
Bucephalandra Midnight Shadow, Lamandau Rain, Diamond, Blue Sea (£30)
Cuttings from my other tank:
Pygmaea Helvola Dwarf water lily
Ranunculus inundatus
Micranthemum monte carlo
Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini'
Water Sprite
Bolbitis heudeloti
Alternanthera (possibly Reineckii Pink)
Bucephalandra Biblis x 2 – Given to me
Cryptocoryne green gecko
Cryptocoryne bullosa
Sagittaria Subulata (I am not 100% sure on the identification - this was a gift).
Substrate:
Unipac Limpopo Black Sand Sand 2KG (£8)
Tropica Aquarium Soil 3kg (£15)
Soil retainer (old green greenhouse shading mesh)
3 inches John Innes Number 3 (50p)
Hardscape
Section of a Beach Tree Root from hedge. Boiled and 80% of bark removed + temporary rock to keep it down.
Equipment
The tank: 60cm X 35cm X 40cm (100 pounds with Oase 250 Thermo External Pump thrown - which I used for my other tank)
JBL CristalProfi E701 Greenline External Filter (700 l/h) transferred from my other tank £25
Chihiros A-Series 39W 117 PC Led 5800 Lumen, 8000k 'ADA' style £50
Hydor External Aquarium Heater Eth 16mm Hose, 300 Watt £51
Frosted Background (spare from my other tank).
Transferred co2 setup and glassware from my old tank to the new and bought the following for my old tank:
13mm/ 17mm Aquarium Glass Inflow/ Outflow Poppy Pipe Set For 12/16/22mm Tube £9.99
Glass Drop Checker CO2 Aquarium £1.17
Qanvee atomizer £12.21
Regulator/ Solonoid/ Bubble Checker £27
Co2 Art CO2 Tubing 3m £5.99
Fire Extinguisher for Co2 £10
Clear Silicone Pipe £16.26
I think, however, that this is a fascinating plant and one which needs to be conserved as its natural environment (and ecosystem to which it belongs) is being rapidly degraded and subspecies are being eradicated as a result of both logging, farming and poaching for the aquarium trade. Rather counter-intuitively it's also been suggested that aquarium trade could be the salvation of this plant species as aquarists propagate subspecies of the plant that are now extinct..
I found Kalum’s Buce Drift Thread really interesting (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/buce-drift-bad-bba-good-pwl-shrimp.56037/page-3), read whatever I could on the forum then watched Jurijs Jutjajevs’ review of the tank Adam Paszczela is maintaining – full of thriving rare Bucephalandra. So I do realise that Adam Paszczela is a bit of a genius when it comes to Aquascaping and plant growing but it gave me faith that this is being done.
I do realise that I am in contrast a rather inexperienced Aquascaper with a spotty record when it comes to Bucephalandra! The challenge that I have set myself is to see if I can change this and grow and propagate different varieties of Bucephalandra. It seems like a reasonable challenge and one which is potentially useful.
So that’s the purpose of this new journal - to follow my journey and see how far I get. All the plants that I will buy will be propagated (not taken from the wild).
The tank is a bit of an experiment in three other ways – it’s using a part dirt substrate, it needs to be put together on a budget and I am using wood (for the first time) and ‘found UK wood’. So this is going to be a bit of an interesting process.
Following advice from the forum I went for a substrate made up of John Innes Number 3 capped with Unipac Limpopo Black sand (https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/substrate-for-crypts.56567/#post-551595). I used a soil retainer between the two layers and then chickened out and impulse bought a small bag of tropica soil to go on top of the sand. I will combine this with a lean dosing approach.
I have used part of a Beach Tree root from a hedge that was cut down last year and grubbed up and left to dry. Each section of this was boiled for a 3 hours over the course of a day. Unfortunately, although I removed all of the bark from the thicker pieces I wasn’t able to remove it from the smaller ones. These are the bits that can be seen so I am hoping that they can be removed over time. I may live to regret this.
The other bits of equipment were bought over a period of months from ebay, Aliexpress and more recently Aquarium Gardens.
The plants were bought (Aquarium Gardens or few from ebay) and I have also planted quite heavily with some rapidly growing plants to help keep algae at bay. The intention that these will be removed once the Buce and Crypts are established.
Any advice, support or comments would be welcome.
Photo's will follow shortly.
Details of the setup and costs are below:
The headline costs are as follows:
Plants £45.97
Substrate £22.50
Opti-White Rimless Tank 60cm @ £50
Lighting @ £50
Pump £25
Inline Hydor Heater £52
Co2 Equipment/ Piping for Pump £82.62
Total Cost: £328.09
Bought Plants:
Cryptocoryne Rubella Tissue Culture £ 5.99
Cryptocoryne Costata £ 5.99
Vesicularia Species (creeping Moss) - Linea In-vitro £ 3.99
Bucephalandra Midnight Shadow, Lamandau Rain, Diamond, Blue Sea (£30)
Cuttings from my other tank:
Pygmaea Helvola Dwarf water lily
Ranunculus inundatus
Micranthemum monte carlo
Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini'
Water Sprite
Bolbitis heudeloti
Alternanthera (possibly Reineckii Pink)
Bucephalandra Biblis x 2 – Given to me
Cryptocoryne green gecko
Cryptocoryne bullosa
Sagittaria Subulata (I am not 100% sure on the identification - this was a gift).
Substrate:
Unipac Limpopo Black Sand Sand 2KG (£8)
Tropica Aquarium Soil 3kg (£15)
Soil retainer (old green greenhouse shading mesh)
3 inches John Innes Number 3 (50p)
Hardscape
Section of a Beach Tree Root from hedge. Boiled and 80% of bark removed + temporary rock to keep it down.
Equipment
The tank: 60cm X 35cm X 40cm (100 pounds with Oase 250 Thermo External Pump thrown - which I used for my other tank)
JBL CristalProfi E701 Greenline External Filter (700 l/h) transferred from my other tank £25
Chihiros A-Series 39W 117 PC Led 5800 Lumen, 8000k 'ADA' style £50
Hydor External Aquarium Heater Eth 16mm Hose, 300 Watt £51
Frosted Background (spare from my other tank).
Transferred co2 setup and glassware from my old tank to the new and bought the following for my old tank:
13mm/ 17mm Aquarium Glass Inflow/ Outflow Poppy Pipe Set For 12/16/22mm Tube £9.99
Glass Drop Checker CO2 Aquarium £1.17
Qanvee atomizer £12.21
Regulator/ Solonoid/ Bubble Checker £27
Co2 Art CO2 Tubing 3m £5.99
Fire Extinguisher for Co2 £10
Clear Silicone Pipe £16.26
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