That’s a good 15-20cm. I am sure it can get bigger with time.How big that Echinodorus Aflame can get? never seen one with a “traditional” Echinodorus size…
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That’s a good 15-20cm. I am sure it can get bigger with time.How big that Echinodorus Aflame can get? never seen one with a “traditional” Echinodorus size…
I got it as a TC labeled as Aflame Purple Knight. Aflame can get pretty large supposedly (I’ve never grown it), but purple knight maxes out around 8”/~20cm. Based on my experiences with it over the last year +, I believe it is indeed purple knight.How big that Echinodorus Aflame can get? never seen one with a “traditional” Echinodorus size…
I got it as a TC labeled as Aflame Purple Knight. Aflame can get pretty large supposedly (I’ve never grown it), but purple knight maxes out around 8”/~20cm. Based on my experiences with it over the last year +, I believe it is indeed purple knight.
I recall an old post on from Mick.dk where he said Tropica considered producing it but decided against it in the end. I think it was because it is always so twisted and sickly looking. I wouldn't be surprised if its also slow and hard to grow, it seems a little bit different, maybe not a very vigorous mutation?'s a tough plant to grow (even tougher to source in the UK) - mine are growing, and doing better in soft water than hard, but they are growing very sloooooowly, and look largely the same as yours and @Hanuman 's. I've not seen any pictures of them looking particularly large, mainly a similar size to yours.
because it is always so twisted and sickly looking
Lovely… thank you for the reply. BTW do you use kno3+urea mix for N? how are your levels running for the week?Purple knight and normal aflame are distinct different varietals per Barr.
Here’s a picture of aflame (creds to Kyle Duhn) - View attachment 208187
And here is mine at what has to be close to max size after 7 months of growth in April of this year before I reset my tank from this -
(September 2022)
View attachment 208188
To this -
(April 2023)
View attachment 208189
Additional size comparison -
(October 2022)
View attachment 208190
I’ve not yet tried using some urea. I definitely will at some point. I know a couple people that grow some really nice plants that swear by it. FWIW - I was recommended to start with a very low amount of urea, like a ratio of 1-10 nitrate from urea to nitrate from KNO3.Lovely… thank you for the reply. BTW do you use kno3+urea mix for N? how are your levels running for the week?
I’ve not yet tried using some urea. I definitely will at some point. I know a couple people that grow some really nice plants that swear by it. FWIW - I was recommended to start with a very low amount of urea, like a ratio of 1-10 nitrate from urea to nitrate from KNO3.
Right now I’m running my tank on daily dosing of about 2.28 NO3 - 1.14 PO4 - 3.86 K (16 NO3 - 8 PO4 - 27 K divided in 7). Either going to lower K or use some alternative source for it besides K2SO4 because I’m having a bit of solubility issues with it dosing at these levels.
That’s really nice of you to say, thank you! But I’ve still got a ways to go, both with scaping and growing plants haha, and that’s part of what makes the hobby awesome. For example, in that most recent full tank shot I gave, I was having issues with the Buce, hygro 53b, meta, AR mini variegated, and mermaid weed. Eventually ended up giving up on the hygro 53b for the time being.You already have perfect tanks… don’t think is necessary to test for improvement. I do have a small tank now and a big one. Nowadays I only run tests on the small one… doing some tests for 1ppm Nitrogen (0.5ppm KNO3 and 0.5ppm UREA) for the week. Dose the mix of ferts only at sundays. Bigger leafs and deeper colorations have shown at rotala Hras that were green for a while until this lean regime in sand… but still not a solid result (red color is changing to green and red between waterchanges LOL).
That’s really nice of you to say, thank you! But I’ve still got a ways to go, both with scaping and growing plants haha, and that’s part of what makes the hobby awesome. For example, in that most recent full tank shot I gave, I was having issues with the Buce, hygro 53b, meta, AR mini variegated, and mermaid weed. Eventually ended up giving up on the hygro 53b for the time being.
Also, for the first time since I set the tank up in 2020 when I was still very much a noob, I’m having legit algae issues again. I messed with the reactor I was using and caused a leak, so I had to do a quick switch to an inline diffuser to hold me over. I had never used an inline diffuser until then, and I had to mess with the CO2 so much to get it in an okay spot that I triggered some hair algae that I’ve been having some trouble with. Currently trying API Algaefix for the first time, because I’ve heard it is great for hair algae, and going back to at least 2 water changes a week. Also have more GSA than I’d like. Just some insight to illustrate I’m still learning a lot haha. Luckily I know so much more now so I’m not too worried, and I’ve kept the hair algae under control. The main thing that worries me is a couple people I know who also are also in the US got a very strange type of hair algae that wouldn’t go away without resorting to bleaching the tank. So fingers crossed it isn’t that weird hair algae.
Just to be clear, you’re dosing only 1ppm total nitrate a week in sand? 1ppm nitrogen would be 4.46 NO3, so just clarifying.
What about the iron +micros dosing for the week here? and what compunds/brand do u use?Purple knight and normal aflame are distinct different varietals per Barr.
Here’s a picture of aflame (creds to Kyle Duhn) - View attachment 208187
And here is mine at what has to be close to max size after 7 months of growth in April of this year before I reset my tank from this -
(September 2022)
View attachment 208188
To this -
(April 2023)
View attachment 208189
Additional size comparison -
(October 2022)
View attachment 208190
Things are looking pretty dang good ATM.
View attachment 195503
Substrate's looking a bit more purplish than I thought, so I'm going to increase the green and/or white in my color spectrum.
Also, for those who are interested, checked in on my PH drop since I just refilled my CO2 tank. After 1 day degassed - 7.06. When lights come on - 5.52. So PH drop is about 1.54. Probably what would be considered nosebleed levels lol.
Took out the nymphae dwarf lotus, going to be trying some Erio Lineare there. Not looking forward to dealing with the buoyancy, but I'm planning on trying some sponge filter + plant weight shenanigans to help with the planting.
Went with some AR Mini Variegated where the hygro araguaia was. It's converting from emersed. This is what it looked like almost 2 weeks ago. So far in my experience with this and several times with the normal AR mini, AR seems to convert pretty quickly.
View attachment 195504
I'm officially growing some Downoi. I've wanted to grow this plant for at least 2 years, but had issues converting from emersed and tissue culture specimens in the past due to Amano Shrimp and false SAE wrecking it before it could convert.
View attachment 195505
The two outer plants totally abandoned all old growth and have thrown out new healthy side shoots adapted to my conditions, which is pretty cool to see. Wondering if it's normal for normal downoi to have some coloration in the middle, or if I may have gotten at least one portion of red downoi on accident?
View attachment 195506
The syn lago grande has grown a ton and is pretty close to being ready for its first trim. I've read that Syns do much better with uprooting and replanting than just trimming like a hedge, so not looking forward to that process too much lol. This is what it looked like on August 26th.
View attachment 195508
To the left of the lago grande is what I bought labeled as Macrandra Mini Type 4 Red. This is what it looked like pretty soon after being introduced in my tank. You can see the new portions growing in yellowish, which wasn't surprising because it was while I had the Finnex on the tank while waiting for the Chihiros.
This is what it looks like now. I've mowed it once, but I expected better color. Either it isn't Mini Type 4 Red (which I think it is more likely than not due to its colors when I put it in my tank), or it isn't getting enough light and possibly the trimming has caused it to lose color. Someone recently said to me that Macrandra can lose some color when it's trimmed like a hedge, which I've noticed on other species like Blood Red SG.
View attachment 195510
Going to try replanting tops this next time around to see what the color and leaf shape looks like after that. If it needs 200+ PAR at the substrate level to be red, I'll swap it out with something else. People who have grown macrandra, how much PAR does it need to really color up?
There’s a hobbyist in the US named Joe Harvey (burr740 on plantedtank forum) who makes his own batches of ferts out of DTPA Iron and Gluconate (mostly DTPA) and then the unchelated sulfate compounds for the other micros. I was using his for most of this journal. I ran out a few months ago, so I picked up CSMB and mixed up a batch with added DTPA and Gluconate at a 2:1:1 or 3:1:1 ratio of EDTA iron to those which lasted me up until this week. I just mixed my own micros for the first time yesterday based off of Joe’s recipe and am using that now. Daily dose of:What about the iron +micros dosing for the week here? and what compunds/brand do u use?
I believe it was related to light levels and the fact that I was dosing heavy through the water column rather than mainly feeding them through the substrate in this case.View attachment 195509
I paste this photo from your post above. This is a very interesting phenomena… think should had more time and question dedicated around this issue… what folks think or report cause this issue? right now I have something similar on my own rotalas HRAs… the colors changed from green to sunset orange and now to green again. Is this related to some kind of nutrient levels adaptation? nutrient type adaptation? I have one H. chai and C. Flamingo that are not showing their pink colors too (more like green or original colors of H. araguaia in the case of H. Chai.
Very, very, very interesting…
Cheers from Brazil Pantanal.
Your plants are looking good man. Thing is that we want to keep a bunch of different plants coming from different parts of the world in the same tank, in top condition. Sometimes that is just quite difficult or simply not possible. I have a list of plants that I know I can grow but not at their best when doing a ducth type/farm tank with high ferts. Some plants are better off being grown in slightly different conditions than the rest.For example, in that most recent full tank shot I gave, I was having issues with the Buce, hygro 53b, meta, AR mini variegated, and mermaid weed. Eventually ended up giving up on the hygro 53b for the time being.
That’s what I have been doing for over a year now or so. Works well. You can check my journal for the details of the recipe.There’s a hobbyist in the US named Joe Harvey (burr740 on plantedtank forum) who makes his own batches of ferts out of DTPA Iron and Gluconate (mostly DTPA) and then the unchelated sulfate compounds for the other micros.
There’s a hobbyist in the US named Joe Harvey (burr740 on plantedtank forum) who makes his own batches of ferts out of DTPA Iron and Gluconate (mostly DTPA) and then the unchelated sulfate compounds for the other micros. I was using his for most of this journal. I ran out a few months ago, so I picked up CSMB and mixed up a batch with added DTPA and Gluconate at a 2:1:1 or 3:1:1 ratio of EDTA iron to those which lasted me up until this week. I just mixed my own micros for the first time yesterday based off of Joe’s recipe and am using that now. Daily dose of:
*Fe DTPA .06
*Fe gluc - .017
Mn - .012 ppm
B - .011 ppm
Zn - .0098 ppm
Cu - .0001 ppm
Mo - .00047 ppm
Ni - .00021 ppm (Ni is optional)
I still having this behaviour in Rotala Hras… it’s very funny. Always after a 90% waterchange and water fertilization for the week. Did you still had seen that behaviour in your tank? Or anyone here in this forum guys??I believe it was related to light levels and the fact that I was dosing heavy through the water column rather than mainly feeding them through the substrate in this case.