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Thailandia Sunset

Hi @Hanuman, I struggle with the same green hair algae. Can you confirm they have gone when you minimised ammonia as a source of nitrogen?
Yes definitely. Removing urea from the equation completely eliminated GDA. Hair algae is still present but to a far much less degree. I would say maybe 95% less. In fact I can't see any on the plants. Only on the glass. I attribute this to the higher lighting.
APT3 works fine in my experience and I wouldn't worry about the ratio. It has worked fine for 100s and 100s of people. This said I recommend using APT3 with a rich soil. If your soil is deficient or you are using some inert substrate it's better to either add root tabs and keep using APT3 or use a liquid fertilizer with higher N in it.
 
I've got Tropica Aquarium Soil (4 monhts old) and while my tap water is generally very nice 2dKH/3dGH it has around 3.7ppm of NO3 and 2.5ppm of PO4.
I'm testing now APT3 Complete in my nano cube (27l). After first two weeks of using manufacturer recommended doses I'm getting completely green glass couple days after WC and BBA on a hardscape. I'm trying now half doses.
 
Lowered the light by about 15-20% and will see if helps.
Do you think I could start using APT3 Complete once my Tropica bottles are gone? I think I could slightly lower its dose adjusting it to PO4 which I've got from a tap.
 
Lowered the light by about 15-20% and will see if helps.
Do you think I could start using APT3 Complete once my Tropica bottles are gone? I think I could slightly lower its dose adjusting it to PO4 which I've got from a tap.
Apologies. I realised I never answered this. I would just dose as per the manufacturer's dosing regime.
 
The plants thank you sir for flattering them.
There is a story to those bucephalandra. The bigger bunch in the center is supposed to be Browni Ghost 2011. I got it 3 years ago but the plant never really expressed the color which is supposed to (iridescent purple), like the ones you can see on the right and left. The early rhizome I acquired was always grown in heavy NO3 so I always assumed that the higher nitrate prevented the deep purple from coming out. I am now 85% sure that this is not the case and that this is probably Browni Ghost TC. Many people have had the same experience with BG TC. The plant genetically mutates and then fails to show the deep purple it is recognized for. The one on the left comes from Dennis Wong himself and the one on the right comes from another local plant seller. You can see how they both produce deep purple leaves.
You may ask why I said 85%, well that's because bucephalandra sometimes takes quite sometime to adapt to new environments and to fully express itself in terms of color and form. I have been growing it with around 10-12ppm of NO3 for the past 4 months and I am giving it maybe 2-3 more months to make a final call on it.
Here is a picture from the top
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Not much updates on the tank but just to share I got lucky and was able to sell the Browni Ghost "Bronze" a.k.a Browni Ghost TC clump for 350 USD. It's largely discounted as the retail price of that bunch would be double at least. I just have no patience to sell one rhizome at a time which can take many months.
This will now open space for me to grow the real Brownie Ghost 2011 which we can see flanked on both sides of the bunch. With luck it should take a good 10-12 months to cover a similar area than the current bunch but less bushy.
 
Rotala indica seems to me to be a very difficult species. At first, I've got tissue culture plants - after some nine months, many died and the rest hardly grows. Then I've obtained 'normal' plants and they fare better. Still, they tend to drop lower leaves and don't look very attractive. I still haven't found my way to this species. :(
 
Rotala indica seems to me to be a very difficult species. At first, I've got tissue culture plants - after some nine months, many died and the rest hardly grows. Then I've obtained 'normal' plants and they fare better. Still, they tend to drop lower leaves and don't look very attractive. I still haven't found my way to this species. :(
That plant is a weed for me. It's already the 3rd time I have to fully uproot and trim in the past 4 months.
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Usually a case of co2 deficiency.😉

Hope you see the funny side of this.

My thinking is that there is actually some truth in this. For Rotala Indica dying lower leaves is might be an indication of poor flow and insufficient CO2 getting to the lower leaves.

My experience is the same as Hanuman - Rotala Indica 'bonsai' is a weed. Whenever I pulled out a stem to replant, I usually find multiple new plantlets starting to grow from the base. However, I removed Rotala Indica from my tank and replaced it with Tonina Lotus Blossom because they are sort of similar and the Tonina Lotus Blossom is a slower grower than Rotala Indica (easier maintenance) :)
 
My thinking is that there is actually some truth in this. For Rotala Indica dying lower leaves is might be an indication of poor flow and insufficient CO2 getting to the lower leaves.
Yes it's a CO2 issue. The plant can actually be grown in low CO2 ~10 ppm or so but it requires some good light and no shading in the lower parts. It will considerably slow down its growth. If grown in higher tech it does grow moderately fast in my opinion. Every week I trim 1/3 of the bunch to keep a nice appearance. Growth of the trimmed stem will slow down as it will branch out 2 new stems, but that's just temporary. Once they both have grown enough, growth will speed up. To keep the best appearance it's best to trim them low. They are very resilient to trimming IME.
 
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I was away from my home for 3 days. Came back to some nasty GSA on the glass and a few of the Xyris had melted. BGA has also been proliferating for the past couple of weeks on top of the S. macrocaulon and L. Meta.
All this is due to higher temps and consequently fluctuating CO2. This happens every year around the same time when summer arrives.
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Looking at all this spectacle, I decided to remove all the plants and did a deep substrate vacuum. Last time was over a year ago, so it was about time. Unfortunately no pics of the process since I wanted to do this as quick as possible. I just took a few pictures of the Xyris and E. Quin I uprooted and split prior replanting.
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All replanted and still fuzzy but ready for a new year! I added the APT jazz root tabs I had but had barely used before. I shoved quite a few as the soil is really old and depleted.
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It's still holding together really well though.
Yeah im continually amazed by Hanuman's soil. It always looks absolutely immaculate as well, which I have attributed to frequent cleaning. I imagine that he uses a straw to suck up each soil grain like boba tea, sucks all the loose dirt off and then puts it back into the tank one by one. But I might be the only one 🤷‍♀️
 
It's still holding together really well though.
That's what I thought... What brand Is it @Hanuman ?
That’s because I vacuum it every year so looks brand new 😅 but it’s pretty exhausted already, except the part where the E. Quin and Xiris are. I partially changed the soil 2 months ago.
The soil is MasterSoil. It’s quite similar to Amazonia in terms of ammonia content except it holds its shape better with time.
 
That’s because I vacuum it every year so looks brand new 😅 but it’s pretty exhausted already, except the part where the E. Quin and Xiris are. I partially changed the soil 2 months ago.
The soil is MasterSoil. It’s quite similar to Amazonia in terms of ammonia content except it holds its shape better with time.
Ahh, id love masterline but the cost is quite high... 50 pounds shipped for one bag. What soil would you recommend?
 
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