According to the British Bryological Society (naturally), Riccardia chamedryfolia, also known as ‘Jagged Germanderwort’ is a liverwort with a thalloid growth form and is naturally occurring in most parts of the world including commonly in the UK.  There is a lot more biology-talk about liverworts vs. mosses vs. hornworts that I don’t understand, but I […]

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Two months after the massive pruning of the Bucephalandra caterina and the Anubias nana ‘Pinto’ in an effort to control the black beard algae (BBA) that was colonising them, the battle is lost.  Further, inspection showed the BBA had thoroughly colonised the Cryptocoryne parva as well. I have come around to thinking of BBA as […]

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The Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, just outside of Kandy in Sri Lanka, is a beautiful horticultural site and a highlight of a visit to central Sri Lanka.   Emersed plant house video tour – Royal Botanic Gardens, Sri Lanka Of aquarium interest, the gardens feature an emersed-growth aquatic plants house, showcasing plants that grow with […]

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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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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 – […]

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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 […]

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