Anyone else have experience with or knowledge of DWARF SAG?

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T

tfish

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I found some plants at my LFS for dirt cheap since they were not labeled and the kid at the store had no clue what they were. I thought I would give them a try. I figured they were maybe lileaopasis or micro sword of some kind, but thanks to the identification skills of those here at AC, I have discovered that I have dwarf sag. I started with 5 bunches. The plants were only about 2" tall and dark green. I teased apart the bunches and planted them in my gravel substrate. After getting settled, they have really taken off. All of the dark green leaves have been replaced by bright green leaves at ~21/2" to 3" long. The plants are sending runners out and new plants are growing as well! I was very happy with them. Now that I know what they are called though, I decided to do some research and have found that dwarf sag can (given certain conditions) get quite tall. This is not what I want at all! My plants are all planted in the foreground! What is your experience with dwarf sag? Did your plants extend to 8"-10"? Does anyone know what I can do to keep it at its current, shorter height?

Oh, one other strange thing...Around the same time, I purchased some "giant sag" from a certain ebayer. When I got it, the plants appeared healthy and had dark green leaves of ~8" in height. Since I have planted them, the only new growth that I have gotten has been bright green at ~4". The leaves look identical to my dwarf sag except for being a tad taller. Hmmm, suspicious. I believe they are all the same plant. So if that is the case, does that indicate that with my given tank conditions, the dwarf sag should keep to the height of 2"-4"? I hope so.

Here are my tank specs if they help:
55 gallon
110 watts of light -- 2 watts per gallon -- duh!
DIY CO2
pH: 6.8
KH: 5
NO3: ~10ppm
ferts: kno3, k2so4, kh2po4, 2x per week and flourish trace ~4ml every two days

Also, I am planning a 10 gallon with just the 15 watts of light. I have had success with this before, growing crypts and java fern. IYO, how would dwarf sag do?

If this would help, here are some updated pics with closeups of the sag as well as my naked 10 gallon!

http://www.picturetrail.com/tmac96

THANKS TO ALL FOR READING THIS AND MANY OF MY OTHER INSANELY LONG POSTS! :D
 
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djlen

djlen

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Aug 19, 2002
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T, "dwarf sag." is a strange plant. I've seen it grow at a certain height and with the same characteristics for months, and then all of a sudden go wacko and produce long leaves. I always dealt with it by putting the ones that went nuts in the background. The problem is that I've also seen the long ones I've put in the background then turn around and start throwing short plantlets. It's all part of the fun of aquaria keeping.
BTW, sag. will grow in a 55, a 10, your sink, your tub....anywhere.
One of the easier plants, especially with your light(or even 1 1/2 watts/gal.) and CO2.
Len
 
T

tfish

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Len, that is actually something that I've been playing around with. Before I had the suggested 2 bottle but my pH went all the way down to 6.4! Way too low so I took off a bottle and so far it has been pretty steady at 6.8. I have to change the bottle quite a bit though. Kind of a pain in the butt. I am looking at getting a pressurized system soon.
 
djlen

djlen

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Aug 19, 2002
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Another suggestion......if you have hang on back filters that have an adjustable flow rate you can open them up to gas off a little bit of the extra CO2 rather than starting and stopping bottles. That gets old in a hurry.
I had two AquaClears on my 55 when I was running DIY and could pretty much adjust the pH to a tenth by lowering or increasing the water flows on them. It also helped towards the end of the period when it was almost time to change bottles to even out the CO2.
Len
 
T

tfish

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Len, I have a canister filter, so I won't be able to try your suggestion. Thanks though!

Starry -- I would love your recipe!! Please do tell! :D
 
125gJoe

125gJoe

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Jul 6, 2002
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Bubbles 'gas-off' CO2


From the above 2 posts, I'd like to mention that an air pump hooked up to a timer will 'gas-off' CO2. Mess with the timer to get the CO2 readings you want.
 
Starry

Starry

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Originally posted by tfish

Starry -- I would love your recipe!! Please do tell! :D
Click to expand...
It's not really MY recipe, but I do use it :) You can always tweak the amount of yeast. If you find that you're not getting as much CO2 as you want, just pop the bottle open, put in about 1/4tsp more yeast, then wait and see.

(I actually cut and pasted this from a previous thread at http://64.191.28.50/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6438)


2 packs of jell-o (any flavour - all that's gonna go into your tank is the CO2 either way)
2 cups boiling water
Mix really well until it's all dissolved.
Then add 1.5-2 cups sugar and mix well again (more sugar=lasts longer)
Then add 2 cups cold water and mix AGAIN

Now stick it in the fridge overnight, until it actually turns to Jell-O. Make sure the sugar was dissolved and it's not all collected at the bottom.

Then, add one cup room temp/lukewarm water and 1/4 - 1/2 tsp yeast. More yeast=more CO2.
Also add a pinch of baking soda. I can't remember what this is for.

So there ya go. It's good cause it lasts longer and more steady. The conventional way, you get a surge of CO2 and it tapers off quickly. But this one's genius.
 
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