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limnophila aromatica

jh81271

Member
Joined
26 Apr 2008
Messages
52
hi all
has anybody had success growing this plant in a medium light setup
i know it might not go red ,but will it grow!
many thanks jason
 
Hi,
L aromatica will grow under just about any light. What it will not tolerate is poor CO2, so I'd advise to focus on that. The light intensity governs the rate of growth, assuming all other parameters are satisfied. When fed plenty of nutrients/CO2 there are some colour changes approaching red and yellow but on the specimens I've obtained I've not been able to obtain the full mauve/red I've seen in some photos even under bright lighting so that might be a bit of a dream, although it could be down to the origin of the specimen. More in this thread=> Limnophila aromatica - The Rice Paddy Herb

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Cheers,
 
hi ceg
i am glad to here all is not lost with a medium light setup with this plant .I am actually looking forward to seeing it mature (hopefully fingers crossed)into what i hope is somthing like your photographs(stunning)
my plant at the mo is only about 2"/3" .i am using tpn and tpn+ on alternate days ,with dosing of easy carb everyday to compensate for no pressurized co2.would this still be ok!
many thanks ceg
jason
 
Hi Jason,
It's hard to say, but certainly, avoiding high intensity lighting will lower the demand for CO2 and works to your advantage so that Excel-only might do the trick. I've not tried it myself but I see no reason why it shouldn't. The plant responds well to Excel generally, but as it grows you may find that you need to increase the dosage - so that might become expensive depending on your tank size. Look forward to see how it turns out. 8)

Cheers,
 
hi ceg
the tank is 180ltr which as you say might be a little expensive long term !
i'l switch that gas back on.I had no kh for a while which was why i was only using easy carb .but everything slightly bettr as i now have a kh of 2.I presume tank is more settled now .4 would be better but hey!
cheers ceg
jason.
 
Hi justin,
I really wouldn't worry about KH or pH. Let these parameters fall where they may and concentrate strictly on CO2 concentration levels and consistent, ample nutrient dosing. These plants really don't care about KH or pH, and to a large extent neither do your fish. You can use both gas and a little less Excel simultaneously and they will work in unison allowing you to avoid gassing the fish while not being a burden on your wallet.

Cheers,
 
jh81271 said:
hi ceg
the tank is 180ltr which as you say might be a little expensive long term !
i'l switch that gas back on.I had no kh for a while which was why i was only using easy carb .but everything slightly bettr as i now have a kh of 2.I presume tank is more settled now .4 would be better but hey!
cheers ceg
jason.

Your KH level is inconsequential when adding CO2. I run all my tanks on pure RO water and simply add some remineralising salts to up the GH to 3-4dGH. KH is 0.
 
hi ceg/ed
I thought adding co2 to a system were their was no kh to stabilize co2 content was asking for trouble eg.ph crash and thus potentially a few deaths. at least thats what ive been told and also maybe less than ideal plant parameters! ( so the label says).
like i said before my kh was 0 but now is 2 after waiting for ada aquasoil to settle, which i believe it just might have, so i can turn on co2 tomorrow all be it maybe a slightly reduced rate to achieve green in 4dkh dropchecker.
this brings me on to somthing else chaps lol.eventhough i havn't been injecting co2 for about 3/4 weeks( maybe more )my dropchecker has been constantly yellow/limegreen with fresh 4dkh solution and bromide every week.so does easy carb effect this!.I know on a previous post ed you said you didnt think so .what are your thoughts on this ceg?
maybe an out of date bromide solution? or maybe plants dont need as much co2?
I am on a quest for knowledge so to speak so i am open to fresh ideas and thought processes,but i am slightly confused!
many thanks jason
 
IMHO a pH crash is a complete myth. pH is simply a symptom and adding CO2 will lower it. Adding 30ppm CO2 will cause the pH to drop by about 1 degree, regardless of the starting pH, and the fish are completely unaffected. What you want to avoid are huge, rapid changes in the TDS IMO.

I've never heard of an authenticated case of a pH crash really causing problems (and I've run 0dKH tanks for years, often with pretty slack maintenance if I'm to be honest and even down to pH values of 4.2) but heard plenty of people blaming a pH crash of killing their fish. When you look beneath the surface something has happened in their tank like something being added, too much food being fed, not enough water/filter cleaning or similar. The thing is the first thing people do is reach for the test kits and the most common one is a pH test kit and something goes wrong, they test their water, find the pH has changed so blame the 'pH crash' as killing their fish! That's like saying 2 + 2 = dog!!!! There's no proven link.
 
Yes, I agree with Ed. pH crash is a boogie man story told to keep little kids in line. Change your water frequently and keep the tank clean and this will avoid a lot of problems. As Ed says, there are so many reasons for fish deaths, such as ammonia poisoning due to overfeeding/poor maintenance, not to mention disease brought on by stress or poor husbandry it's absurd to blame pH crash especially when most of the fish we keep originate from low pH waters to begin with.

Excel does not form CO2 in the water column, only when it is metabolised inside the plant so I can't explain why your dropchecker is green without your adding any gas. What you can do as a preliminary test is to take a cup of the tank water and measure it's pH & KH. Then let the water sit for an hour or two and measure the pH again. If there is a significant level of CO2 in the tank water then after the hour or two waiting period it would de-gas and you would measure a pH rise of one unit or so. The water sample would become more alkaline as the CO2 evaporates. Therefore if you measure a significant pH/KH rise in the tank water sample then this means that there is something in your tank generating CO2. Other than the fish exhalation and bacterial action there aren't any other natural sources of CO2 in the tank so this might mean some hardscape material dissolving and possibly releasing CO2. If there is no significant pH/KH rise then I would have to question the validity of your bromothymol blue reagent or I would question whether your 4dKH water was contaminated with something acidic, i.e had you been eating fish & chips with gallons of vinegar prior to handling the water?

There is no chance whatsoever that somehow plants don't need as much CO2 just because they are exposed to low KH. In fact, quite the opposite is more likely to be true. It is estimated that 50% of plant species can utilize the carbonates (CO3) from the water column when there is low ambient CO2 levels. KH is a measure of the CO3/HCO3 levels in the water column so a non injected tank can benefit from a high KH (and therefore a high CO3 level) depending on the species. Vallis is a typical CO3 usage capable species.

You also haven't actually stated the origin of your low KH water. Is it 0 KH from the tap or are you using RO? Is the reagent you use for the dropchecker a different brand or bottle than the reagent you use to measure the tank pH? If so be sure to measure the pH using both reagents to see if they give you the same readings.

Cheers,
 
TDS= Total Dissolved Solids. This is a measure of the level of solutes in the water. It can be measure in terms of parts per million or in terms of electrical conductivity. The higher the level of TDS the more conductive the solution (like the acid levels in the liquid in your car battery for example). Conductivity may allow electrical currents or voltage fields to affect the functioning of various systems in fish which are accustomed to waters of low conductivity.

Cheers,
 
hi and thanks for the replys guys
mmmmm fish and chips lol
seriously though i can see what you say . i can understand about the boogie man ways and his trappings so to speak!
i will do what you said and see how things go from there.My hardscape only amounts to one piece of driftwood and it was ok in previous setup so i dont think it could be that.i use 50%tap water kh3 gh5 ph7 to 50%ro which i remineralize, 13ltr of each,each week.I dont use ei method so no 50% water change .I have got no algae so i must be doing somthing right(touch wood)well maybe a bit of greenspot algae on glss and a few leaves .nothing to bad though to warrent disaster mode.I have increased tpn+ to try and curb this small problem.
My ph test kit is API and reagent for drop checker is JBL
jason
 
think i might of sussed why drop checker stayed yellow
i was using same syringe for dosing easy carb aswell as dosing 4dkh water to drop checker without flushing clean first.hopfully thats sorted know
i think mine might be on the same lines as yours superman lol
thanks
jason
 
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