Plant Growth

[chimera_786]

Hi there! I have a 20 gallon tank with some fish, java moss and a didiphilis diandra. Im using a DIY co2 reactor and my diandra is growing like crazy. I have a 17watt light and so far it looks good. I have two questions: Im seeing very fine brownish hair on the diandra leaves and was wondering whether that was algae and how to control it. Also, since my diandra is growing alot , i was thinking about taking out a few stems and planting them else where in the aquarium. Is that how its done or do i have to cut the branches and plant them?

Im using seachem pottasium and complete plant supplement. (liquid fert) ----is that safe for shrimp caz i just added one ghost shrimp in the tank.

THANKS!!

 

[aaronnorth]

the algae is BBA (black brush algae) caused by low and/ or fluctuating CO2 (why DIY CO2 kits are bad )

cut off the top - plant produces side shoots and bushes out

uproot & cut off the bottom - plants grows upwards

Ferts are fine with the shrimp.

 

[pippoodle]

Amano and cherry shrimps will eat this algae if you have it
I only know this cos some of my planted bogwood i got had this algae on the leaves and the shrimps cleaned it up nicely

 

[chimera_786]

hmmm so the BBA is okay? I mean the fluctuating co2 can explain the algae but how do i get rid of it? I cant really get a mechanized co2 generator (do plan on getting it by January) right now. Also, as for spreading the diandra..should i just cut the top off and wait it to bush out ? It would look cool though. Do provide some suggestions

Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

the algae is BBA (black brush algae) caused by low and/ or fluctuating CO2 (why DIY CO2 kits are bad )

cut off the top - plant produces side shoots and bushes out

uproot & cut off the bottom - plants grows upwards

Ferts are fine with the shrimp.

And if some of the cuttings look good, you might let them float on the surface for 2 to 4 days and see if they sprout some roots. As a stem plant this is a good way to potentially get a stem going and have another stem to plant. Just adding this to the bottom of Aaron's as he may know diandra well enough to give a yea/maybe/ney to this idea for this particular plant.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[aaronnorth]

to get rid you need to fix the problem which is improve the CO2, but for now all you can do is keep cleaning it off, and remove dead leaves.

Another option is to overdose easycarbo or excel daily by 3x until it has gone. This will kill the algae.


There is no point in floating it, stem plants can survive without roots, they will eventually produce some once planted. Doing that way can also mean that the stems will grow in a random shape, rather than straight like they are supposed to, because they are constantly trying to reach for the strongest light point so they will bend over to do so. Just simply replant the cuttings once you have trimmed them.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree, seems like excel/easycarbo would be a good way to go, with perhaps careful confirmation on chimera's part that the communications about what amount actually constitutes 3x and that there are not any confusions over amount per day/week etc. since too much can get toxic for some plants it seems.

The bit about floating for a couple days was a tip from some of the old experienced planted tank fellows at the AGA conference this past weekend. The advice was that a couple days is not long enough for the odd bends to amount to much and that giving a fresh cut or newly acclimating stem a little starter chance like this would result in less tissue break-down of the bottom stem part once it is stuck in the substrate. I don't think its much of a deal one way or another but just wanted to mention it wasn't just a comment I dreamed up as a beginner.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[aaronnorth]

the only plants that i know s/he has are java moss, java fern & didiplis diandra which are fine with a carbon supplement. Thre is also the option of dosing to the reccomended intructions but this obviously takes longer.

It isnt a bad idea but plants are fine without it, IMO i dont think tissue break down is a bad thing, the plants would use it as a source of nutrients anyway, and using some sharp quality scissors also lessens the damage!

Evryone has their own ways of doing things though