Weeds

Tom Barr

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Well, some folks seem to think these are hard to grow, I call them weeds:
ADA aqua soil + EI dosing.
No powersand, not EC, Green gain, Penac, none of that.
 

Tom Barr

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Re: Weeds

More photos

redpantresized.jpg
 

Tom Barr

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Re: Weeds

TF grows about 3" weekly
Erios, well, they are weeds, 2-3" and many branchings
L pantanal, this is a weed, grows 4-5" a week
I tossed it out due to weediness.
I keep a small piece now.
L cuba grows 5-6" a week, grows more in a client's tank that gets basic EI.
T manaus grows slower, about 1-2" a week, it's a nice plant.

Even Crypt nurii does well.

I'm not sure why folks think the ADA liquid ferts are blessed with some magical properties. The Aqua soil is great stuff, but IME, the ferts are not particularly great in terms of growth rates, which is what plant preferences are defined by.

Clearly the color and tougher species do very well with EI and ADA AS alone.
Slowing things down is easy, you reduce the lighting.

Instead of 4" a week, you get 1-2"

I've also been very agressive in uprooting and moving plants around, seems to work very well, like gravel in terms of mulm, algae etc.

I'll measure the contents of the liquid ADA fert line later this or next month.
Then you will know what is in them and will be able to DIY them. You cannot hide the chemistry.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 

Wet

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Re: Weeds

Not Tom, but I believe L-R in the first pic is Tonina Manaus, Ludwigia inclinata var verticillata "Pantanal," Eriocaulon setaceum, and Tonina fluviatilis. These are all accepted as high difficulty plants by most of the planted tank community.
 

Tom Barr

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Re: Weeds

Or "weeds" by me:)

There's no secret, I tell folks how to grow this stuff.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

Tom Barr

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Re: Weeds

Well, folks think that EI is so bad etc and needs fine tuned, that maybe for most cases, but at high light, CO2, it seems to do about anything you can ask for.

Seems all anyone respects is a pretty pic of lots of weeds etc.

So there it is:)

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

Sintei

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Re: Weeds

With high light and fast growth, does the distance between the nodes increase? I like stemplants (weeds) to be abit bushy if you know what i mean :cool:
 

Tom Barr

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Re: Weeds

No, spacing is fine.

High light I've never associated with internodal spacing. Nor low light.

I've got some extremely wide ranging client tanks, going from 1.5 w/gal of NO FL's in a 28" deep tank to about 8-9w/gal in a 48" deep tank to a 4 w/gal in a 28" deep tank to 2.1 w/gal in 22" tank, to 5.5 w/gal in a 16" deep tank, to 2w/gal of NO FL'2 in a 16" tank.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 

Sintei

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Re: Weeds

Well, my internodal spacing is very high (2-3 inch) on most fast growing stemplants (as cabomba etc).
What do you think could be the reason?
I use 3*18w on ~30g aquarium. There is plenty of CO2 and nutrition.
I thought it could be heat, but people tell me i got too low light and should seek other weedplants like tonina sp.
 

Tom Barr

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Re: Weeds

Cabomba grows pretty fast, I just prune it aggressively and tends to maintain shorter spacing.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

rrguymon

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Nice plants. I think I have read they need soft water? I think I have the light, CO2, and ferts down. I just use tap water at this time however. My water is fairly hard in both kh and gh about 8.
 

Tom Barr

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Red Cabomba does fine with CO2 and hard water.

If you top it, it'll brach and get bushier also.

Pruning has a lot to do with it as does light.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

phanmc

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Hi Tom,

What kind of lights are you using in those pics?

My ludwigia sp pantanal is growing very well in ADA AS and has alot of color but nowhere near that red, it's more pinkish. I'm guessing the lighting is playing a role in it.
 

Tom Barr

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Around 350 micromols at the water surface, Pc bulbs, 5000K and an 8800K.
2x55w on a 20 gal at 6" above the water's surface.

All this does is make things grow faster.

regards,
Tom Barr
 

Tom Barr

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You can see the color is quite good, the bulbs can make a bit of difference.
I use a warmer redder bulb.

The plant is very nice though and quite rapid growing.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

David Hui

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Tom,

Which bulb brand and temp did you use? Mine were True Aqua 6700k.