Journal Growing ‘difficult’ plants in a No-Tech?!

[PeerUnk]

I’ve read Sudipta's post on his non-CO2 high light aquasoil low pH tanks. I’ve came across Marcel G’s experiment on Rotala wallichii he reported that low pH was a success factor, even in non CO2 injected conditions.

They are similar reports. And got me very interested… Could I do this as well? I am switching a 40 liter tank to a setup similar as Sudipta’s tanks. But I thought, does these type of plants need any tech at all?

So for the fun of it, I set up a 4 liter vase. Added ADA Amazonia V2, topped it with gravel from my display tank. Added RO with a DYI macro mix with KH=0, pH below 6. Ordered myself some ‘picky’ plants:

• Ammannia pedicellata 'Gold'
• Bacopa salzmannii 'Purple'
• Rotala wallichii
• Tonina fluviatilis

I put the vase close to a window facing east and started like this:


I added daily some (unnecessary?) micros. Just before my holiday I've injected some laterite in the soil.
And after 7 weeks on the 10th of August it looked like this :


I admit it's is not as big and colorful as in the high tech tanks, but is actually growing healthy and definitely not stunting or melting.

During this period the pH was 5,5 +/- 0,5, conductivity around 200-250 uS/cm.
Today I had to trim the overcrowding R. wallichii and emersed B. salzmannii.
The experiment is not done yet, so I've created a journal for it.

Hopefully it's informative for you all.

 

[ElleDee]

Neat project! So, the lighting is just from the window? You might get better color with more light, though that could trigger problems also.

Do you plan to add supplemental lighting as we head towards fall/winter?

 

[PeerUnk]

Neat project! So, the lighting is just from the window? You might get better color with more light, though that could trigger problems also.

Do you plan to add supplemental lighting as we head towards fall/winter?

Hi ElleDee, thanks. Yes, the light is just from outside, only in the morning partial direct sun (when it shines...) I've got wallichii in my Sudipta-style tank (work in progress) as well, showing considerably more colors.

Given the latitude of the Netherlands (and seasonal cloudiness), in fall/winter light will become immense scarce yes. So thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Art]

Well @PeerUnk, thanks for posting this. It's very interesting. I'm especially impressed that wallichii is doing well as that has been one picky plant for me.

You may have seen we are discussing middle-energy tanks in another thread to see if there is a broad middle ground between low energy and high energy that most of us focus on. Would be great to see this progress through your winter and artificial light's impact.

 

[PeerUnk]

Well, unfortunately things went sour in this experiment. First of all, the pH was creeping up. Not fast, but probably the laterite contained some corbonate. That was not a big issue, weekly water changes (pH 4.5 - 5) could force it below pH 6. But the month September with lower light conditions didn't help. So in October I've put a desk light above it. Well, I forgot to change water for two weeks, the pH has risen too much and the Tonina deteriorated / melted. Water got cloudy... So I killed this project and might restart it upcoming spring without the laterite. We will see...

 

[Art]

Tonina has always been a tough plant for me even with all the gadgets going. Sorry to hear that it didn't go well but don't give up! You've learned something that will help on the next attempt.

 

[PeerUnk]

Well, I've learned that Tonina does likes:
- pH < 6 and/or 0 dKH.
- and a bit more light and/or temperature than the A. pedicellata and the R. wallichii.

I did another experiment in the hood of display tank with a 0.5 litre jar. Almost same conditions as the vase, but no laterite injected in the soil and the substrate is a bit thinner: not 9 cm but 5 cm. Temperature is 25 *C (5 *C higher than the vase last 6 weeks) and it's directly below the lighting, so PAR should be fairly high.

The no-tech jar did great with Tonina and Eriocaulon in it!


I removed the Tonina from the jar (and placed it in another 0 dKH tank), as it got a little crowded and I want to experiment with the Eriocaulon a little more.

 

[Art]

Interesting. The Eriocaulon seems to be doing great. Excellent color.