SOME PLANT GROWING TIPS

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If we consider what an aquarium plant is, well it is simply any wild aquatic plant that Man has found he can cultivate under captive conditions. Wild aquatic plants have evolved in specific environments across the globe and where one or more species is particularly favoured by local conditions it quickly becomes dominant. Some benefit from the presence of another, like shade loving Anubias which might fall foul to slime algae if not shaded by a surface light lover like Salvinia or Lemna, yes even the dreaded duckweed can have its uses. Species found in the tropics are of most interest to the aquarist because these are often most suited to aquarium life and the warmer water it probably involves if tropical fish are kept. Many common species like Cabomba, Amazon swords and Ludwigias are cultivated on huge open-air farms in Singapore & Indonesia. I am told there is 17 hours of daylight, 86 F in the day and a low seldom below 63 F at night year round apart from the typhoon season when much damage can be done to the farms and even the most common species can be scarce for some weeks. Much of your success will depend upon my choice of stock supplier for a species. If you get good quality specimens to start with they will travel better and ultimately grow into a success story rather than a wilted had been. I use good clean farms in Singapore & Malaysia (with D.E.F.R.A. plant hygiene certificate) and obtain Cryptocorynes direct from Sri Lanka which have been grown in slightly harder water and fair better under aquarium conditions where there is nearly always some Calcium present in the water. Most customers I think are happy with great looking trouble free plants that help to balance the ecosystem within the captive aquarium environment and give certain fish something to munch on from time to time. However I find there is a growing market for the more serious plant collector and to this end I have sourced a good supplier Rare and unusual species from all over the world. As most are supplied potted I have labelled them P codes and MP codes indicating a larger specimen or Mother Plant Pot.

Having mentioned conditions in the wild state, let’s think about the problems a plant coming into the aquarium might have.

Firstly there will be a considerable drop in available light, the plant may increase its chlorophyll (green pigment) content to increase photosynthetic efficiency or grow different shaped leaves etc. The plant at this stage often requires a massive uptake of essential minerals such as Magnesium, Manganese, and Iron and of course Nitrogen. Minerals often severely lacking in new aquaria but washed down from the land during rainy seasons when there is likely to be more water available for the plants to grow in. With minerals sadly lacking in new set ups most of the plants start to go brown and decline and at this point the new hobbyist gets disheartened and decides to settle for plastic substitutes which I find quickly gets boring in itself.

WATER CONDITIONS

It is necessary therefore to provide these vital nutrients in the first place. One option is the addition of many liquid feeds available but with all the best will in the world it is easy to forget regular additions plus some are just liquid versions of NPK fertilisers and the Phosphate excess quickly encourages algae. There are some good sub-substrate slow release fertilisers on the market but they tend to be expensive and once exhausted in a year or two difficult to replace without major tank disruption. At Green Line Aquatic Plants we have the ultimate answer in the form of PRO-aqua-PLANT feed bags which are fully disposable tea bag like sachets about 3-4” across on average that are reasonably priced and only need replacing every 3-4 months. Self contained and easy to use they really do work in situ feeding your plants 24 hours a day.

There is a detailed product leaflet on the rear cover; the colour version is supplied with the product.

At this point it is worth a mention that no matter how many minerals are present, for some species a change in conditions is just too much and the only way they can adapt to the new conditions is to shed leaves and re-grow from tips or rootstock.

Strictas, Wisteria, Eustralis and some Cryptocorynes often do this, some take many weeks to regenerate so unless it is obviously soft & rotting BE PATIENT AND GIVE THEM A CHANCE.

For a number of reasons, pH, hardness and temperature differences for instance make it unlikely for every species listed to be able to thrive in any one aquarium. The collections I supply will give you at least 20% extra plants to that needed to adequately fill the size of aquarium listed so that a few losses at the start will not appear to be a disaster. There will be a wide variety of plants to play with, most will be almost full size when you receive them and so fairly obvious as to where they should be planted in your aquarium. If you are new to planting then one of the New PRE SET LABELLED collections code 700 to 770 might be better as each species comes with labelled positional instructions etc.

FILTRATION

Some kind of filtration will need to be employed especially if fish are to be kept alive. While external filters coupled to a reverse flow under gravel filter, (where clean warm out flow water is recycled beneath the gravel & down the uplift where a power head would normally sit) will remain in my opinion the best for growing plants where fish are present. Do not be put off by out dated books which are anti-under gravel because while it is true their use slows plant growth a little they do provide the most cost effective option for maintain a stable aquarium environment.

Unlike a marine tank there is no need to fit power head the size of a swimming pool pump to the under gravel in fact this will as the books state damage plant roots. Just run a trickle of water up the uplift, even air operated is good for this just ensuring enough oxygenation for the fish at night when no oxygen will be coming off the plants. If you cannot use U/G filtration a heater cable 50W or greater will be beneficial

This prevents long-term stagnation and chilling of the base, which will lead to general degradation and foul gases. However while under soil heaters help they seldom produce enough convection to correct the problem entirely. If you do not intend to keep fish and just want to see plants grow I have had terrific results using an unfiltered tank in part natural daylight & part artificial light to extend day length in winter. Under such conditions free-swimming bacteria and algae will soon be a problem but the tip is to buy a bag of Daphnia (water fleas) from your local shop, and put them in after 3-4 days when the tap water effect has worn off. These will consume millions of algae & bacteria keeping the water crystal clear and with increased levels of Carbon Dioxide present in these conditions the plants should really take off especially Floaters, Crypts and Stellata bulbs etc. Do not allow direct sunshine or your plants will get covered in static algae and filamentatious forms will choke everything. Peter Bradley who writes in PFK magazine is getting great results like this only using base heater mats in bulb growing aquaria.

PESTS, DISEASES & OTHER PROBLEMS

Lets start with snails, like the garden varieties they can be just as troublesome in your aquatic garden. However some species like the Malayan mud or cone shell snails that eat detritus in the substrate and the Ramshorns that graze slime algae can be of benefit if not allowed to over populate. The little brown ear shelled snails are the worst as they quickly over populate punch little holes in your plants leaves and in bad infestation obscure your view through the glass. Don’t treat with irritants or copper based remedies, they strip the protective outer skin from many plants leaving them prone to bacterial attack and so called melt down syndrome. Although it should be a very rare problem no company dealing in plants can guarantee never to supply a rogue batch of eggs, undetected deep in the leaf crown at source etc. The best action is to remove any that hatch by hand that 1^st appear before they reproduce or better still buy a couple of Clown Loaches, any Botia will do but these are often the most peaceful and indeed attractive, snails next to worms are their 2^nd favourite food, keep them a bit hungry and they will polish the snails off in days, they really are the hedgehogs of the aquatic garden and a great preventative remedy. There are two other less common pests worthy of mention one is several species of China Mark Moth which in spite of its name is native to all of Asia, Europe and much of the British Isles too. The moth is common around garden ponds and the aquatic larvae are pinkie brown maggot like grubs often with a black heads that live in leaf tents of aquatic plants. The moth can fly in the window attracted by the aquarium lights any time from Early spring to late autumn and lay eggs on any floater or plant leaf in touch with the surface. One or two larvae are not a problem, they give themselves away by chewing holes in the leaf they are hiding on and can be removed and dealt with. Several dozen hatching unnoticed from an egg batch can destroy an amazing amount of plant in a short time I had some devour a load of water lettuce in my outdoor pond one summer and they were no joke.

The other occasional pest mainly seen on the floating plants or leaves are the house aphids, the type that fly in the window in spring and set up home on your window sill plants. Usually reddish brown they suck the sap of plants like frogbits and can reproduce at frightening speed. For obvious reasons you CANNOT USE ANY PESTICIDES ON THE AQUARIUM so the best method is to carefully remove the plant and wash in a tub of very weak soapy water for a few seconds, rinse and put back in the tank taking care to use a fine net to capture any floating bugs you may have missed.

Lastly I’ll deal briefly with Algae and fungal moulds. There are many types of Algae, Blue Green can be toxic and occur in summer boil ups when the tank gets to 90 degrees or more, Diatoms are free swimming protozoa often present in under lit or new aquaria that have not matured and often just need some algae eating fish to rasp them away. Moulds thrive in dirty tanks that have often been neglected, feeding initially on dead matter and then spreading to good plant tissue, some carbon filtration and a good spring clean up is usually all that is required. The more troublesome filamentaious algae are often introduced on cheap bogwood dug out of the soil or very possibly from some types of frozen food where the spores have survived the irradiation process that killed the bacteria. Bloodworm, Daphnia and Tubifex should all be washed through a net before being fed. Remember algae have a shorter photosynthetic light cycle switching time than plants and often thrive in short bursts of bright light. I often think it is better to give a long duration 12-15 hours of only medium light than just 8-10 hours of high intensity stuff but much of it is by trial and error

GOOD LUCK VERY BEST REGARDS & SUCCESSFUL PLANT GROWING - ANDY GREEN PROPRIETOR

Like any author opinions expressed are just that and no liability can be accepted for consequences arising from these tips