Microsorum pteropus ‘Windelov’ also known as Leptochilus pteropus is one of the many varieties of Java fern. I picked up a pot from Pro Shrimp in an order that also included Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’. Developed by Tropica, the ‘Windelov’ version I received was grown by Aquadip. The ‘Windelov’ arrived totally overgrown and just a touch […]
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Aquatic plants, either submersed or emersed: species notes, growth, trimming, planting, algae/plant interactions, and care.
After an unsuccessful go with Alternanthera reineckii (didn’t thrive) and another with Alternanthera reineckii ‘Rosanervig’ (eaten by Amano shrimp), I’m giving it try with Alternanthera reineckii ‘Mini’. This AR ‘Mini’ came from Pro Shrimp, and was grown by Tropica. I have had mixed results purchasing aquatic plant tissue culture cups before, but this AR ‘Mini’ cup […]
Read more →It’s been more than four months since the Alternanthera reineckii ‘Rosanervig’ got planted in the Fireplace Aquarium, and whilst it seemed to be doing well initially, after 11 weeks things weren’t looking so great. I thought lack of light from overgrowing Bucephalandra caterina might have been contributory, so I did a massive epiphyte trim to […]
Read more →It’s been around 18 months since the Bucephalandra caterina and Anubias nana ‘Pinto’ were planted in the Fireplace Aquarium so time for a massive trim! Ephiphytes on the mountain before and after trimming The bucephalandra and anubias have both done really well, overachieved in a some ways in fact. The caterina at the top of the […]
Read more →After repeated struggles to grow emersed plants on the Shrimphaus river using a variety of substrate set-ups, I’ve switched over to actual LECA – lightweight expanded clay aggregate. For this experiment, I’m going with two reputedly robust to low(er) humidity emersed growth anubias: Anubias coffeefolia, and Anubias gracilis. This is the second attempt with Anubias […]
Read more →I’ve been looking for a red plant to replace the Ludwigia palustris mini ‘Super Red’ which is an awesome stem plant, but which comfortably exceeds 50 cm in length and so is really too large for the Fireplace Aquarium – keeping it trimmed was just too much hassle. Previously, I had a go with Alternanthera […]
Read more →There are several species of vallis available in the trade: spiralis, australis ‘curly’, spiralis ‘tortifolia’, australis ‘gigantea’, nana, tortifolia and asiatica, with leaf lengths ranging from the longest at 1.5m (gigantea) to the shortest at 20 cm (tortifolia). Vallisneria asiatica, also known as twisted vallis, is the second shortest topping out at 30 cm and […]
Read more →It’s been difficult with the emersed plants on the Shrimphaus shelf. Some descriptions of the tribulations below. Growing on the slate surface directly (doesn’t work) First I tried simply tying Chirstmas moss down in the flow on the riverbed to see if they would grab onto the river bottom, but that didn’t really work – […]
Read more →I’m becoming more fond of Cryptocoryne as submersed aquatic plants. They come in a wide variety of colours, sizes and textures, tolerate low light and are pretty much maintenance free. I always plant these after cutting off the emersed leaves to promote faster Cryptocoryne adaptation to submersed form growth whilst avoiding ‘crypt melt’. Cryptocoryne walkeri […]
Read more →‘Pangolino’ from Dennerle is thought to be the anubias with the smallest leaves and thereby very suitable for nanotanks. I’ve been looking for this plant for a long time but it has been consistently unavailable until very recently when I noticed some in stock at Horizon Aquatics. As a bonus Horizon is also a sponsor […]
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