Pygmy Chain Sword

I think your aquarium is a bit too tall for your provided lighting. Tenellus grows decently in my low shrimp tank but in my taller discus tank the growth is pretty weak. I'm pretty sure there are lots of other factors involved but dwarf sags did do better in my taller discus tank.

Pic: tenellus in shrimp tank H: 12in

tenellus.JPG
 
dwarf sag works in almost all conditions, but it may not spread rapidly in lower light conditions. it's a great plant though.

it doesn't really form a carpet as much, since it's leaves spring up and over, but it can form a sort of canopy 2" off the substrate that a lot of small fish love swimming through.
 
Chains and sag don't mix well may be the growth issue. Chemical blocks sent out by one stop the growth of the other. Walstad lists this in her book regarding plants protecting themselves via growth inhibitors. Chains and dwarf sag were specifically listed as used in tests.

I'd have to be home and open the book to quote the $5 words used in the study results and water chemical analysis.
 
Allelopathy in aquatic plants.

I'm home and opened the book to page #35 to quote the $5 words.

Allelopathic behavior has been reported in 97 species of aquatic plants. Allelochemicals primary function is to protect the plant. Included in two studies were common aquarium plants Cabomba, Hornwort and Vallisneria.
Allelochemicals isolated from aquatic plants have been shown to inhibit a variety of organisms.
:omg:
In a closed environment such as the aquarium where allelochemicals could accumulate, allelopathic effects are further increased.
:jaw:
Ecology of the Planted Aquarium
A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquaruarist.
By Diana Walstad

Sorry folks I'm out of $5.00 bills so I'm out of words.
Had the book for 3 months and find theres way more than NPK, CO2 and light to play with.
 
wkndracer said:
I'm home and opened the book to page #35 to quote the $5 words.

Allelopathic behavior has been reported in 97 species of aquatic plants. Allelochemicals primary function is to protect the plant. Included in two studies were common aquarium plants Cabomba, Hornwort and Vallisneria.
Allelochemicals isolated from aquatic plants have been shown to inhibit a variety of organisms.
:omg:
In a closed environment such as the aquarium where allelochemicals could accumulate, allelopathic effects are further increased.
:jaw:
Ecology of the Planted Aquarium
A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquaruarist.
By Diana Walstad

Sorry folks I'm out of $5.00 bills so I'm out of words.
Had the book for 3 months and find theres way more than NPK, CO2 and light to play with.
Click to expand...
???? Am I dumb or am I just tired but I don't understand what this has to do with what I am asking.
 
^basically, what that says is some plants will chemically attack each other to prevent the other from growing/reproducing. the point: don't have swords and sags in the same tank.

I had e. tenellus in a 20g std (16.75" tall) with 1.4wpg. It didn't die but it didn't spread. it just lived. I upped the lighting to 2.8wpg and it took off, pretty much taking over the whole foreground.
 
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If allelopathy worked that way, there would only be one or two plants surviving at a time in our tanks. I think the real reason dwarf sag and E. tenellus don't mix well is because the sags can out compete the swords more readily since the swords are a little more demanding. In the other direction swords will do better in soft water than sags, so they might win in a tank with softer water. I think allelopathy is used more on organisms that might do the plant harm than just plain old competition.

Back to the original post, you will not get a thick carpet of E. tenellus (or most other carpet plants) without higher lighting which of course means more ferts and CO2.
 
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