TRyan
Active Member
Looking good! I really like that tall blyxa. Where did you find it?
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Journal Experiment Tank || 90x50x36cm, 39gal, Horizontal Reactor High-energy Aquascape Journal
- Thread starter Naturescapes_Rocco
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- Thread starter
- #162
I saw Blyxa octandra for the first time on Reddit from a user who had it imported from india/indonesia, I believe. I reached out and he was willing to sell a few plantlets! It's been in the hobby before (see this post from @bradquade) but never got popular, and is extremely hard to find now.
I won't lie, I spent $120 (total+shipping) just to get TWO plantlets from this guy, and I killed one of them while messing with micros and macros in the last few months. I'm soooo glad this one not only survived, but began thriving.
I love this blyxa because it stays green under super high light. Other large Blyxa species (Blyxa aubertii, or Blyxa novoguineensis) are similar sized but get bronze/red under high light. This one has great olive and green shades 24/7, even when the tips are under 200umols of PAR!
This one is almost large enough to split and sell the babies, but not quite. Maybe this summer I'll have some extra available, just let me know if you're interested! I can't promise it will be cheap, but I won't charge $60/tiny plant
TRyan
Active Member
Yes, I'd be interested! Let me know when/if you have any available.
- Thread starter
- #165
In my research I discovered that @Burr740 reached second place in the AGA 2020 Dutch category using Blyxa octandra:
I love this tank. Many species I'm trying to replicate.
It's a pretty cool plant for sure!
I love this tank. Many species I'm trying to replicate.
It's a pretty cool plant for sure!
TRyan
Active Member
I just set up a 30 gallon rack that I'm going to scape with a manzanita stump. It's going to be an island with mainly green plants and grasses.
I think blyxa octandra would be a perfect addition.
That's a gorgeous tank... Love it!
I think blyxa octandra would be a perfect addition.
That's a gorgeous tank... Love it!
- Thread starter
- #167
Did some removal, trimming, rearranging, and planted a few new species!
Removing Crypt wendtii Bronze: This crypt (in front of Blyxa octandra) has great color/texture, but it lies completely flat under high light. It's basically a foreground-height plant, but it takes up a massive area. Flat and wide, and unfortunate combo in a tank with limited real estate!
Removing Limnophila aromatica 'mini' on the right side: This is another great plant, but difficult to trim/shape and likes to grow more horizontally than vertically in this high-light setup, so it's gotta go. Plus, it's too close in color and leaf texture to both S repens and P sedoides. It's out!
Removing Buce species: They're growing well, but I'm not loving the look in the foreground so I'll move them to a different tank and grow them out there. Some of them are flowering!
Removing Echinodorus parviflorus (dwarf sword) from the bottom-left: This sword was worth a try and it's sparked my interests in swords, but the leaves are just not what I'm looking for at this time. It's out!
Trimming Crypt parva carpet: All of my constant experiments and resulting fluctuating levels took a toll. The new growth is green and algae free, but the old growth is all algae-covered. Let's see what happens when you raze it to the substrate!
Before:
After:
Added Lagenandra meeboldi red to replace the crypt wentii in front of the blyxa. This tank is missing a large, oval leaf plant, and especially one with darker coloration. Hope it works out!
Added Elatine triandra 'Fluorescence' to the foreground (front right). It's a tiny little stem plant, but I'm hoping it can make for a colorful bush in the foreground! Hard to find plants that do that.
Added Myriophyllum roraima behind the blyxa. This tank is also missing a fine-leaved stem plant, and especially missing orange color!
These shitty iphone photos don't do the colors justice; the Bacopa colorata is true salmon color, so the Myrio roraima adds a true orange to the tank.
Lagenandra in front of the blyxa
Elatine triandra flourescence in the front. AR mini leaves are really coming in.
Trimmed Crypt parva carpet. Might not work out, we'll see!
Specs (ferts, water change, lights, CO2, etc) are unchanged since last update.
Removing Crypt wendtii Bronze: This crypt (in front of Blyxa octandra) has great color/texture, but it lies completely flat under high light. It's basically a foreground-height plant, but it takes up a massive area. Flat and wide, and unfortunate combo in a tank with limited real estate!
Removing Limnophila aromatica 'mini' on the right side: This is another great plant, but difficult to trim/shape and likes to grow more horizontally than vertically in this high-light setup, so it's gotta go. Plus, it's too close in color and leaf texture to both S repens and P sedoides. It's out!
Removing Buce species: They're growing well, but I'm not loving the look in the foreground so I'll move them to a different tank and grow them out there. Some of them are flowering!
Removing Echinodorus parviflorus (dwarf sword) from the bottom-left: This sword was worth a try and it's sparked my interests in swords, but the leaves are just not what I'm looking for at this time. It's out!
Trimming Crypt parva carpet: All of my constant experiments and resulting fluctuating levels took a toll. The new growth is green and algae free, but the old growth is all algae-covered. Let's see what happens when you raze it to the substrate!
Before:
After:
Added Lagenandra meeboldi red to replace the crypt wentii in front of the blyxa. This tank is missing a large, oval leaf plant, and especially one with darker coloration. Hope it works out!
Added Elatine triandra 'Fluorescence' to the foreground (front right). It's a tiny little stem plant, but I'm hoping it can make for a colorful bush in the foreground! Hard to find plants that do that.
Added Myriophyllum roraima behind the blyxa. This tank is also missing a fine-leaved stem plant, and especially missing orange color!
These shitty iphone photos don't do the colors justice; the Bacopa colorata is true salmon color, so the Myrio roraima adds a true orange to the tank.
Lagenandra in front of the blyxa
Elatine triandra flourescence in the front. AR mini leaves are really coming in.
Trimmed Crypt parva carpet. Might not work out, we'll see!
Specs (ferts, water change, lights, CO2, etc) are unchanged since last update.
JayP
Valuable Member
Yep. Agree with this 100% fastest grower of any plant I have.
I saw Blyxa octandra for the first time on Reddit from a user who had it imported from india/indonesia, I believe. I reached out and he was willing to sell a few plantlets! It's been in the hobby before (see this post from @bradquade) but never got popular, and is extremely hard to find now.
I won't lie, I spent $120 (total+shipping) just to get TWO plantlets from this guy, and I killed one of them while messing with micros and macros in the last few months. I'm soooo glad this one not only survived, but began thriving.
I love this blyxa because it stays green under super high light. Other large Blyxa species (Blyxa aubertii, or Blyxa novoguineensis) are similar sized but get bronze/red under high light. This one has great olive and green shades 24/7, even when the tips are under 200umols of PAR!
This one is almost large enough to split and sell the babies, but not quite. Maybe this summer I'll have some extra available, just let me know if you're interested! I can't promise it will be cheap, but I won't charge $60/tiny plant
Back story on Blyxa octandra. Originally Vin brought it back from India 7-8 years ago, whatever year my AGA tank was, the year before that. He found it in a ditch across the street from the motel he was staying at, lol. He gave it to me and over the next couple years I sold maybe 20 - at $65 a pop. Thats the first time the US hobby ever saw it. Theres a good chance your reddit guy got it from me back then, or from somebody that did. It does come from India
Then eventually, as Im prone to do, I oversold down to just a little scrap that wound up not making it. Only one I could remember selling it to still had it but I didnt really pursue it. If Id known it would practically disappear from the US hobby I would have! lol
It really is an awesome plant like you said. Perfect size, tops out around 16-18" and stays nice green under any level of light
PS; I swear that meeboldii red I sent you had 4-5 leaves on it. Looks like it only has a couple now? Did it drop a few during the trip that you noticed?
Last edited:
JayP
Valuable Member
I'm not gonna tell, but aren't there rules governing transport of plants from other countries into the U.S. like that? I going to assume the necessary custom steps were taken.
There would be but id almost bet money that Vin took the correct steps to bring it back.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #174
Yeah very weird, all the leaves except the 2 freshest ones weren't just damaged, but melted lol. Not a big deal, I just removed the melting leaves and the remaining two were super robust and healthy. All the other plants in the order were totally fine with no melting, so I figured it was just this plant's style of tantrum.
JayP
Valuable Member
Yeah I was being lighthearted. From what I've seen posted here, I take it Vin is pretty sharp when it comes to aquatic plants. I just thought it was interesting that he gathers plants from ditches while traveling
.
@HardeeParty So does this goon, he’s not posted in a bit but he’s always grabbing stuff locally and trying it out.Yeah I was being lighthearted. From what I've seen posted here, I take it Vin is pretty sharp when it comes to aquatic plants. I just thought it was interesting that he gathers plants from ditches while traveling
- Thread starter
- #177
Tank re-scape: Selling some extra plants!
Final shots of this setup/planting. Gonna re-scape for a more true dutch layout, really emphasizing contrasts! So I'm' selling some plants, don't let me throw them out
For sale Shipping Available Don't let my plants go to waste! Plant package available. AR Mini, Lagenandra, Pogostemon, Eriocaulon agumbey, massive Hygro 53b portion
Don't let my plants go to waste! Plant package available.
- Naturescapes_Rocco (+0 /0 /-0)
- Views: 135
- Reaction score: 3
- Category: Plants for Sale
$20.00 to $105.00
- $15 - 8x AR Mini plantlets, fully converted to submerged growth
- $20 - 11+ Pogostemon deccanensis stems, super healthy!
- $20 - 2x Eriocaulon agumbey (like Eriocaulon cinereum, with flower stalks, but larger and faster growing!)
- $10 - 1x Lagenandra Meeboldii 'red' (love this plant, but I want to try a tiger lily instead)
- $40 - MASSIVE Hygro 53b portion (the entire portion pictured, at least 40-50 stems)
Or best offer! Let me know if you just want some of the plants, and not the whole package. I'm open!
- Thread starter
- #178
Going dutchy-er
I decided to do a pretty large rescape to practice a slightly more dutch-inspired layout. Still not a true dutch really, but pretty close!
12 days ago:
10 days ago:
Today:
The bubbles are from plants pearling. Upside down rain!
I'm just amazed at how the Red Tiger Lotus (Nymphaea zenkeri) grows. I've never tried a nyphaea before, and it's insane. Grows SUPER fast, and pearls more than any plant I've ever seen in my entire life. The leaves literally become buoyant by 1pm, pulling up towards the surface, because of the oxygen they're producing:
Insane.
Myriophyllum sp. 'Roraima' grows insanely fast like Kwyet said, but I love it. Beautiful plant, beautiful contrast.
Blyxa octandra had some older leaves melt and die from the replant, but the new stuff is coming in rapid and green. It's constantly flowering, too. Just a killer plant, maintenance-free green olive colored bush. Love it so much.
Bacopa 'colorata' finally getting some decent color. Not sure why it's so green in this setup, lighting is pretty high. But so are nitrates I guess...
I received the absolute TINIEST Erio ratnagiricum, here's hoping it will survive!
Thanks for reading!
Water Change: 67% weekly WC (2/3rds removed, replaced with fresh RO water). I used to do 73%, trying 67% to save water and keep things a bit more stable over time.
Lighting+CO2: ~110 PAR at the substrate level for ~8 hours a day. CO2 on at 5am, lights reach full 9am. CO2 sits about 40ppm for entire photoperiod.
Temp: 75F via Chihiros Inline Heater Pro (a few degrees warmer to stimulate plant growth)
GH: I reduced the GH, and now I remineralize the GH of the incoming RO water to 27ppm Ca, 9ppm Mg via CaSO4*2H2O (Gypsum) and MgSO4*7H2O. Previously I was using MgCl2, but I like working with this Mg source better. MgCl2 is 'sticky'!
KH: I currently raise the dKH of the incoming water to ~0.8dKH via KHCO3 (also adds K for Macros). Less than I was previously, so KH is still <1.
Macros: After the 67% WC, I dose the incoming fresh RO water to 24-7.2-30 as NO3-PO4-K via a Macros solution of KNO3 and KH2PO4. I also include the K added from KHCO3 (KH riser). This is basically a single weekly front load. I then dose 1-0.3-0.75 ppm every morning via GHL Doser 3. Think of it as a single weekly macro front load, and a small dribble of macros every morning to help keep levels fairly stable.
Micros: Running a solution of modified Burr V63 micros (no Fe gluconate). After the 67% WC, I dose 0.07ppm Fe-worth Micros. I then dose 0.07ppm Fe every morning via GHL Doser 3. Total weekly Micros are 0.56ppm Fe, with 67% WC.
- Thread starter
- #179
I just can't stop messing with this tank's parameters. I just love tweaking my dosing and finding out how plants react!
I like to aim for less than 10ppm NO3 swings per week, and similarly I try to maintain 1-2ppm PO4 swings per week. My macros solution added 0.3ppm PO4 for every 1ppm NO3, which meant that with daily dosing, my PO4 levels were fluctuating quite a lot through the week. I recently decided to reduce my daily PO4 dosing from 0.3-0.6ppm PO4, to 0.1-0.2ppm PO4. To account for the lesser daily dose, I'm now front-loading some KH2PO4.
Separately, I've been having pale growth despite dosing 25-30ppm NO3 each week, and continuing to see some signs of trace toxicity. I was interested in how pH affects nutrient availability, because in my tank with 40-45ppm CO2 I'm consistently sitting at ~5.2pH during the photoperiod due to how acidic my water is from CO2.
Before anyone gets angry: YES I know these charts don't always track to our ionic water column scenario, but at least in soil, my macros wouldn't be very available at 5.2pH:
I've been curious as to whether my super low pH has made it a bit more difficult for plants to get my macros, and specifically Mo as traces.
Mo is a paired nutrient with NO3 for creating green growth, so maybe all of it combines to make it difficult for plants to get all of what they need at my super low pH?
Also, my substrate has ZERO cation/anion exchange capacity, unlike aquasoil. Even 'spent' aquasoil will help plant roots "grab" nutrients from the water column, so I suspect users running zero dKH with aquasoil (or less than 40ppm CO2) wouldn't see the issues I've been having.
So I'm experimenting with raising the KH of the incoming fresh water to 3dKH via KHCO3 and NaHCO3 (baking soda).
So far so good, it appears after only a few days of raising my pH/KH via these carbonate sources that certain deficiencies are improving??
Daily CO2 rate/min is the same, which is reflected by the similar height from max to min of all peaks (I have a ~1pH drop from the early morning to late afternoon. If it were a degassed sample, it would probably be a 1.5 drop).
Point is, same CO2 injection, but instead of happening between 6.3pH to 5.3pH every day (probably a 1.5 "pH drop", remember), it's happening at/around 6.7 to 5.7pH.
Pearling is crazy strong after raising the tank's KH from <1 to ~3. It's too soon to tell anything, but I think I'll hang here at 3KH for a few weeks and see how the plants fare.
Things are starting to look lush!
Tank info:
I like to aim for less than 10ppm NO3 swings per week, and similarly I try to maintain 1-2ppm PO4 swings per week. My macros solution added 0.3ppm PO4 for every 1ppm NO3, which meant that with daily dosing, my PO4 levels were fluctuating quite a lot through the week. I recently decided to reduce my daily PO4 dosing from 0.3-0.6ppm PO4, to 0.1-0.2ppm PO4. To account for the lesser daily dose, I'm now front-loading some KH2PO4.
Separately, I've been having pale growth despite dosing 25-30ppm NO3 each week, and continuing to see some signs of trace toxicity. I was interested in how pH affects nutrient availability, because in my tank with 40-45ppm CO2 I'm consistently sitting at ~5.2pH during the photoperiod due to how acidic my water is from CO2.
Before anyone gets angry: YES I know these charts don't always track to our ionic water column scenario, but at least in soil, my macros wouldn't be very available at 5.2pH:
I've been curious as to whether my super low pH has made it a bit more difficult for plants to get my macros, and specifically Mo as traces.
Mo is a paired nutrient with NO3 for creating green growth, so maybe all of it combines to make it difficult for plants to get all of what they need at my super low pH?
Also, my substrate has ZERO cation/anion exchange capacity, unlike aquasoil. Even 'spent' aquasoil will help plant roots "grab" nutrients from the water column, so I suspect users running zero dKH with aquasoil (or less than 40ppm CO2) wouldn't see the issues I've been having.
So I'm experimenting with raising the KH of the incoming fresh water to 3dKH via KHCO3 and NaHCO3 (baking soda).
So far so good, it appears after only a few days of raising my pH/KH via these carbonate sources that certain deficiencies are improving??
Daily CO2 rate/min is the same, which is reflected by the similar height from max to min of all peaks (I have a ~1pH drop from the early morning to late afternoon. If it were a degassed sample, it would probably be a 1.5 drop).
Point is, same CO2 injection, but instead of happening between 6.3pH to 5.3pH every day (probably a 1.5 "pH drop", remember), it's happening at/around 6.7 to 5.7pH.
Pearling is crazy strong after raising the tank's KH from <1 to ~3. It's too soon to tell anything, but I think I'll hang here at 3KH for a few weeks and see how the plants fare.
Things are starting to look lush!
Tank info:
New 67% WC dosing
(actual tank volume is 34 gal, I change 22.7gal aka 2/3rds, or 67% each week)- Macros solution:
- 30mL after WC
- Front loads incoming 22.7gal water to 22.5-2.25-15, then daily 2mL dose adds 1-0.1-0.67 every day to full 34 gal tank volume each day.
- Front loads incoming 22.7gal water to 22.5-2.25-15, then daily 2mL dose adds 1-0.1-0.67 every day to full 34 gal tank volume each day.
- 30mL after WC
- GH, KH, K, PO4 (to incoming 22.7gal):
- 10g CaSO4*2H2O (27ppm Ca),
- 7.8g MgSO4*7H2O (9ppm Mg, 3:1 ratio),
- 0.708g KH2PO4 (5.75ppm PO4 (total 8ppm), 2.38ppm K (tot. 17.38ppm K)),
- 2.78g KHCO3 (0.9dKH, 12.62ppm K (tot. 30ppm K)),
- 5.4g NaHCO3 (2.1dKH (tot. 3dKH), 17ppm Na),
- Micros solution:
- 6mL after WC
- Then 7mL/day (0.07ppm Fe, then 0.07ppm Fe daily)
- Then 7mL/day (0.07ppm Fe, then 0.07ppm Fe daily)
- 6mL after WC
- Total weekly front load:
NO3 - 22.5 ppm
PO4 - 8.0 ppm
K - 30.0 ppm
Ca - 27 ppm
Mg - 9 ppm
KH - 3.0 dKH
Na - 17 ppm
Fe - 0.07ppm
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #180
I also realize that I'm not quite at dKH 3 yet, it'll take another water change or two to properly approach that level. Maybe I'll add a bit of NaHCO3 over time this week to get there a bit faster.
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