Echinodorus sp.

[Raf]

Hi all,

I need some advice on how to grow Echinodorus. I have some plants from the bolivian amazon (don't know the full name, sorry) and they don't seem to be growing very well as no new leaves appear and the old leaves are turning brown. Any rules of thumb to get them going?
My tank's water is: temp. 24ºC, PH 6.7, KH 2º and DH 3º

thanks,

Raf[/i]

[|squee|]

Generally I find that Echinodorus requires a rich substrate most of the time. From what I see, your tank specs are allright. Do you have any form of base fert?

If a rich substrate is not available, good fertilisation through the water is needed.

[Raf]

Terence,

The only base fert I have are some clay balls. For the moment I'm not adding any fertilizar to the water and there are few fish in the tank, 7 killies in a 250 liter tank.
As we don't have any commercial fertilizers here, what can I use as a base fertilizer?

regards,

Raf

[timebomb]

Raf, I believe clay balls should work just as well as commercial fertilisers. The farms here all use clay as a substrate to grow their plants. One other point about growing Echinodorus though, many hobbyists simply shuff the plant into their substrate, burying most of the crown. The plant shouldn't be buried but planted at the level of the crown. It is also a good idea to snip off part of the roots and tear off the old leaves before planting. How big an Echinodorus grows is also directly proportional to the depth of the substrate.

By the way, if no one reponds to your request for Riccia, let me know and I'll see if I can get some to you. Riccia is cheap here but I don't have it in my tanks.

Loh K L

[FC]

Raf,
For the base fertiliser, other than clay balls, you can use the fertlizer made for house plant. Try to find the pallet or stick type. Place a piece under the root is enough. The gravel used should be fine (1~3mm), without sharp edge and inert.
Do you inject CO2?
What light you use and how many watts in total?

[strung_0ut]

Sounds like either too much lighting or your tank isn't established enough yet. In avoiding the hassle of changing the substrate, the clay balls will do fine. I use coral sand barely an inch off the tank bottom, some with, some without root tabs and all my swords do fine. Echinodorus are very easy to grow. Here is the evening sun:



I took a couple of nice echinodorus photos I would like to show you, but I sent them to AFM, hoping they'll put one of the pictures in their magazine. So I'll hold on that.

Regards,
Dennis

[Jrustandy]

dennis, can you tell me what kind of echinodorus is that??

[strung_0ut]

Hey Jimmy,

That is the echinodorus 'evening sun'.

Regards,
Dennis

[keehoe]

Loh, I am sending my Riccia to Raf. Need some guidance so that the riccia will reach there alive though.

[Raf]

Thanks all for your replies,

Tan pointed me out something important, that my plants come from the wild and grow there emersed. As I keep them submersed, all the leaves will rot away. So I guess that for the moment my plants are adapting to their new environment. Actually all the Echinodorus that we get here in Bolivia come straight out of the jungle, so maybe there's a new species in there.
To make sure that they will adapt well, I will give them some extra clay and hopefully in some time they will be OK.

best regards,

Raf

[timebomb]

Loh, I am sending my Riccia to Raf. Need some guidance so that the riccia will reach there alive though.

Kee Hoe, I would send Riccia the same way I send moss, that is, in a sealed plastic bag in a padded envelope. Click here to see how I do it.

Loh K L