Cyperus helferi

[naturalmystic]

Hi Folks,

Anyone ever tried this beautiful plant before?
Just wanted to know roughly how long is its acclimatisation period.
My LFS said 2 months

[torque6]

yes, cyperus H. have been known for its long acclimate periods. It is this difficulty which had this planted rated as medium on most planted websites. If you want a simplier plant, you can choose the vallisnera genre. Looks about the same to me.

[FishSoup]

I've had this plant in my 1 foot cube for about a month, and they're still acclimatising. Noy dying though, for that i am thankful enough

[yappeyap]

yes, cyperus H. have been known for its long acclimate periods. It is this difficulty which had this planted rated as medium on most planted websites. If you want a simplier plant, you can choose the vallisnera genre. Looks about the same to me.

Mate,

Where can i get the plant you mentioned Vallisnera Genre? Is it found it Teo's farm, but even its found there, unless we can quote them the chinese name, else they wouldn't know what the ***k we are talk about .

Cheers
Alex

[naturalmystic]

Hi Yappeyap,

I think it is not a plant name but a genre, Vallisneria.
I think what Torque meant was the var Rubra?

I'm having my C Helferi for 3 weeks now, some leaves are browning.
2 months? Patience...

[FishSoup]

Vallisneria is not a "genre", but a genus, i.e. all the plants in the Vallisneria genus will have scientific names with Vallisneria as the first word.

There are many species of vallisneria readily available in the hobby; its important to read up on the maximum sizes of the species you are interested in, as some (eg. V. americana) can grow pretty large. Also, vals often melt in tanks dosed with Seachem excel (personal experience ) so be careful there

[yappeyap]

Mate,

Where can i get the plant you mentioned Vallisnera Genre? Is it found it Teo's farm, but even its found there, unless we can quote them the chinese name, else they wouldn't know what the ***k we are talk about .
Cheers
Alex

Hi Torque6,
Let me re-phase my question, which plant do you think fit closest or looks similar to Cyperus helferi?


Hi Fishsoup,
Agree you must read, to have basic understand of the growth, requirements and limitations for the plants.

But only by actually growing it, let you have a better understand the characteristic of the particular species in "our control environment".Information provided on book can only merely serve as an indication of the plants in their natural state.

A good example is as mentioned Vallisneria genuscommonly called "tape glass" in natural environment it can grow up to as long as 1m or even longer but in our "control environment" it can only stretch some where around 60cm or slight longer.

So plant more, made mistake, re-plant, if fail do it again. And that's how a lot of the guru here started. And that's also how their landscaping are always so amazing, reason is they can imagine the shape and form in their mind before actual planting because they have the experience in planting that particular plant before and tell the "real" characteristic and the needs of the plant to shape it to the intended form.

So start your rojak tank now!

[Mizu World]

Substitutions for Cyperus helferi will depend on what sized tank you have.

For small tanks (under 2ft), Echinodorus angustifolius is a good alternative.

Vallisneria americana var natans has the thinnest leaves from the Vallisneria genus and can be used to good effect in small or large aquariums. Take note that they do grow tall as well if conditions are favourable.

[Shadow]

sorry off topic a bit ... talking about Vallisneria americana var natans and var nana. how tall can they grow? What is the different between natans and nana?

[Mizu World]

It's the same plant. Able to grow up to 2ft tall in most regular aquariums. Frequent maintenance is required.

There is nothing that is close to really replace C.helferi, mainly due to its slower growth and lower maintenance requirements.

[Shadow]

natans and nana are the same plants? is natans the new name for nana?

Yeah, I try C.helferi before beacuse of it slow grow, it is prone to the green spot algae. By the way in my opinion C.helferi not suitable for 1ft hight tank, it is just grow too tall until it roll and cover the front glass

[Mizu World]

C.helferi is a naturally tall plant. They are not suitable for placement in small tanks.

It is best recommended for 3ft and above tanks. They can then spread to their full glory and you can see the wavy effect that is highly sought after.

[Verminator]

C Helferi in a tank with the current passing through is one of the best visual displays i have ever seen. Exact placing and flow from powerhead can result in a messmerising display. I found it to be quite well adapted in my tank. It took about 3 months to start growing new leaves and reach the top of my tank.

I killed mine off when i rescaped my tank, moving it whilst fully rooted seemed to kill mine, i was gutted. Since then i havnt bought another...may do soon though