DrNo
11-12-2008, 7:36 PM
After much internal debate I've decided to try planting of a blyxa sp. in my 125 gallon SE Asian. I'm hesitant, as I have not been thrilled with the performance of my crypts (wendtii) but am still willing to at least try a 'more sensitive' plant.
Someone at this forum (OK, it was Bk) suggests I get both japonica and aubertii sp. I think I'd rather try to identify the one that might perform better with my tank setup first. My intent is to get one or two specimens, see how they do, and then get more if they thrive. I need some guidance from our planted experts:
1) Any vendors here at AC who sell both species of blyxa? I'll likely post in the classifieds as well, but might as well mention it here.
2) Which sp. is likely to respond better to my tank set-up? Here's the summary:
125 gallon planted w/ dwarf hair grass, Hygro corymbosa, Indian rotala, weak crypts ~1 month after planting... didn't melt but not thriving, either.
T5 lighting at ~2.2 watts per gallon: 10 hours per day.
KH: 7
GH: 5
pH: 6.9-7.0 (pH Controller CO2 injection)... out of tap at 7.8
Injected CO2 at 3-4 bps (drop checked CO2 level ~ 30 ppm)
Regular fert schedule (Barr's estimation method):
Flourish NPK 3 times weekly.
Flourish Iron once weekly.
Flourish Comp once weekly.
Excel daily (despite CO2 injection, my tank responds to it)
Root tabs for appropriate specimens.
Twice weekly ~50% water changes
Nitrate: 5-10 (hard to get it much higher with those water changes)
Specimens: The gold gourami and loaches forage hard through the vegetation for food, so a more robust sp. (relatively speaking) would be preferred. ~10 trapdoor snails.
The goal is to use the planting between as a mid-ground plant between the dwarf grass and the taller rotala/hygro species.
Any ideas? Thanks, as always, for the advice :D
Someone at this forum (OK, it was Bk) suggests I get both japonica and aubertii sp. I think I'd rather try to identify the one that might perform better with my tank setup first. My intent is to get one or two specimens, see how they do, and then get more if they thrive. I need some guidance from our planted experts:
1) Any vendors here at AC who sell both species of blyxa? I'll likely post in the classifieds as well, but might as well mention it here.
2) Which sp. is likely to respond better to my tank set-up? Here's the summary:
125 gallon planted w/ dwarf hair grass, Hygro corymbosa, Indian rotala, weak crypts ~1 month after planting... didn't melt but not thriving, either.
T5 lighting at ~2.2 watts per gallon: 10 hours per day.
KH: 7
GH: 5
pH: 6.9-7.0 (pH Controller CO2 injection)... out of tap at 7.8
Injected CO2 at 3-4 bps (drop checked CO2 level ~ 30 ppm)
Regular fert schedule (Barr's estimation method):
Flourish NPK 3 times weekly.
Flourish Iron once weekly.
Flourish Comp once weekly.
Excel daily (despite CO2 injection, my tank responds to it)
Root tabs for appropriate specimens.
Twice weekly ~50% water changes
Nitrate: 5-10 (hard to get it much higher with those water changes)
Specimens: The gold gourami and loaches forage hard through the vegetation for food, so a more robust sp. (relatively speaking) would be preferred. ~10 trapdoor snails.
The goal is to use the planting between as a mid-ground plant between the dwarf grass and the taller rotala/hygro species.
Any ideas? Thanks, as always, for the advice :D