Tonina in harder water...

[Martin]

what's the 'max' GH & or KH for plants like tonina...

many people talk about softwater.. I read that TB kept tonina species @ kh3/gh5, but what about a kH of 10 & GH of 10?

I keep my pH pretty low, but I guess the real answer lies with GH/KH.. I've tried Tonina B. once, and it melted away..... but then I didnt keep my pH very low, due to inadequate Co2...

Any chance of tonina's with my tankwater?

 

[Tom Barr]

Re: Tonina in harder water...

Not sure what the threshold is, I'm sure it's higher than KH= 3, but as you get farther away, the more other issues become critical, eg CO2, NO3, K+, traces etc.

So while so and so might be well able to grow say Eustralis in rock hard water, most folks have trouble.
Same with R macrandra, it's quite easy to grow in softer KH waters and high GH.

But you'd like have some issues with it.

I have very hard tap, so I just blend it with RO.

I learned a lot over the years having very hard water, yours is somewhat in the middle from my prespective.............

But the point I'm making is that with good overall conditions, this will extend that range of tolerance much further and get the most out of the tank.

At some point, you might feel the trade off is worthwhile to use RO, I justify it by making my drinking water as well for the week.

Some folks justify it by using RO and not doing water changes/testing till they absolutely have to.

I've done both and I really think folks over time will agree that water changes do help the plants and maintain the tank better.
David Oliver, Amano, Jeff and Mike Senske, Jeff K among others have all tried to weasle out of water changes, I'm no different, but we suggest and do large weekly changes.

There are nearly 300 species you can use, stick with those rather than some wimpy stem plant of the month

Plenty of nice plants that do very well in moderately hard water.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Martin]

Re: Tonina in harder water...

since you mention P. Stellata. .. as I mentioned in an earlier post, I grow it like an invasive weed... I've given away stems to at least 5 other people here in Denmark, and each stem grows similarly fast, this is under different conditions of light, macro'n'micro's, Co2 aso.....

I know you've mentioned earlier that "There are nearly 300 species you can use, stick with those rather than some wimpy stem plant of the month"
I just like a few of the tonina's, regardless of it's softwater prefs.

I usually look at the plant first, then it's demands... those I cannot cater to, I write off as unavaiable....
Guess I'll do the same with Tonina's ... again... =)

Back in the cellar you old dawg....!