Hi all,
Water Lettuce (
Pistia stratiotes) would definitely be my <"
floater of choice">, if it was "leaf green" rather <"
than silvery">.
I need a <"
green plant for the Duckweed Index to work">, but I still have
Pistia in all the tanks, partially because <"
of its great roots">.
cheers Darrel
Most definitely!
As I have pointed out: So far, the environment I have been keeping my floaters in is less than ideal. As a result, after my last post, I have been giving serious consideration to the topic and would like to make them my secondary plant. [My mosses being the primary.] Towards this end, I have set up control groups for my two current floater species by my kitchen window, and the water lettuce is far outperforming the red root floaters..... Remember though, the RRFs were really put through the wringer.
The floating pond idea seems to hold promise, and both species are showing new growth. With the object of providing the roots with protection from the high flow rate, I am thinking of attaching weeping moss to the underside of the ponds. I think this idea can be extended to growing weeping moss on small, 2cm radius pieces of neoprene. If I do it right, I should be able to get the moss to grow emmersed on the surface and immersed on the underside..
In truth, I like this idea. Way back in January, one of the ideas I considered was a fantasy type of aquascape with other-worldly floating structures, I think this getting closer to that original concept
On a related note: During water changes or routine maintenance, my para-cord liana is not only upsetting the floaters, but the moss is getting damaged from me brushing against it. I have arranged zip-tie pegs which plug through the mesh lid to hold my floater ponds in place, and use longer zip-ties to hold the ponds out of the road for maintenance. However, the real problem is the liana, and the fact that it needs to be moved regularly. I was thinking about "magnetic suction cups", when it occurred to me that what I really want is to make thin hooks from stainless steel artistic wire to replace the current airline cups. With this, I can either unhook an end of the liana to move it to a new position, or just let it drop to the tank floor.
Irvine