This is my 3rd bunch of egeria and I cannot get it to root or grow... >:(
I read in an aquarium magazine an article from a renowed specialist of aquatic plants and he said everyone (including himself) has a plant or so they cannot grow so you might want to admit it and give up. Well I am no quitter! :-)
Egeria is suppose to be one of the easiest plants out there to grow as I understand it. What the heck am I do wrong?
* twin tube fixture 1 month old aquca-flo fluorescent; other tube eclipse full spectrum 6 months old
* pH-6.8, GH 6 to 7, KH-3.5, PO4-0.5, NH3-0, NO2-0, NO3-10 to 20, Fe 0.1; have even added flourish tabs in gravel near the plant
* substrate is pea gravel 2.5" deep
* I use Phosphorous, Nitrogen, Potassium, & trace elements all from SeaChem; I use tank water and add the weeks dose of each in separate bottles for each tank; daily I add a little so the full weeks dose is added
* do 30% water changes once a week; I add water to a 25 gal. bin treat & airate it with a small air pump & sponge filter no less then a day before the change; once a month do a large change 40% to 50%
* vacuum gravel with each water change
* I have next to no algae; I clean the front glass every change; every 2nd change do sides too; once a month do back glass too...
Help, Help my Egeria they deserve better... :-[
Egeria doesn't really develop a strong root base, it's more of a floater. You will get some root "feelers".. but nothing substantial
Egeria doesn't do well in higher temps usually. It is similar to hornwort in that regard, in that it seems to do better in cooler water.
IME, it needs good current around the stems or else it jsut rots away. If its too dense or no flow it just dies off
thanks I never knew that... :) also it was suggested to float it... plus suggested it grows better at lower temps so I lower my tank 1 degree c... from 78 to 76
I have great success with Egeria with:
Nitrate: 5ppm
phosphate : 1ppm
iron: .9 ppm
I dose Fe and trace PMDD style for my Fe.
I grow all kind of plant well, crypts, Elodea (Egeria), Ludwigia, vals, Anubias, Rotala and others but fern refuse to grow????
I was pondering something today and I thought I would throw this out there to see what everybody thinks. I was reading some "Peter Hiscock" last night and it triggered some memories from plant science lectures.
Egaria is a temperate plant that has become naturalized in many places. Being a temperate plant it would be subject to cooler water temperatures for much of the growing season as has been mentioned. Now temperature controls "Respiration" and respiration is always happening in plants (24/7) regardless of lights ect. When photosynthis exceeds respiration we get a buildup of energy in the plant, but in the case of Egaria sustained higher aquarium temperatures are driving the respiration harder than the plant had adapted to and we would need to increase the photosynthetic activity, to exceed respiration, in order to build up a good reserve of stored energy.
So if any of that makes sense; then placing a cooler water plant in higher temperatures would require greater light, co2 and nutrients to max photosynthetic activity in order to exceed the unnatural rate of respiration experienced by the plant?
Or am I breathing in too many fumes from cleaning the BBQ this afternoon? ???
A most excellent hypothesis kennyman, you clearly should clean barbeques regularly in order to have all of your synapses firing in good repair. I think you are approaching an area of the science of aquarium planting that has been previously elided.
Sounds a lot like a few tanks are required to do perform some testing to provide some empirical evidence, better get on it. :)
If I am following along... mine is sufficating? cold water has higher oxygen content and warmer less... so to compensate fertilize more balanced... I actually lower the temp from 78 to 76... it is not dying... I am flaoting it tied with fishing line... it is near my CO2 diffuser now...
Respiration in plants is the utilization of the products of photosynthesis. Plant biology and animal biology are related in a distant way but they are distinctly different.
I am do remeber my photosynthesis from my Biogoly and understand it (I think)... just trying to get my head around it step by step... I really like planted tanks... have success with easy & moderate plants so far only one is egeria densa... my one tank is heavily planted and does very well... can't plant egeria in there my flag fish love it... I tried... my other tank has some CO2 but less and different disfussion... it is 29 gal. I have to stop & go with my ferts to control alage... the tank does well except... you guessed it egeria... :'( my passion is fish of course but almost as mush are plants... love the look and think the fish love it too... besides easy algae control...
My Temp is 77-79
Hi Dan. I necroed your thread because I was hoping you could share what changes you made that have helped you grow this plant. Every time I try it the stems rot near the base, it breaks away, and starts floating.
Kennyman I had the exact same issue. I moved my bunch to a cooler tank 74-75 degrees. There was no CO2 in the tank so the water had a higher KH around 6 & pH 7.4. Lighting was low with 1.5 wpg with higher light they grow faster. I trimmed the brown ends then floated all the stems until there were roots sprouting & new growth starting. It took almost a month - I think. Then I moved them into the substrate making sure the white root sprouts were in the gravel. Also the gravel in that tank was deeper 2.5" approx. When they start growing across the top with more sprouts I did it again.
Since the summer I sold a batch at the auction plus gave a batch away.
What is your lighting, pH & temp?
I keep angelfish in the tank I want to grow it in so It has to be warm I have to keep that tank at 78-80. :-\
1.5 wpg / dkh 14 / ph 7.8.
I don't add co2 and there is enough light and other ferts that the plants strip the water of co2 faster then it comes in. This one of those Walstad style "Natural Planted Tanks" So there is that biocalcification thingy going on. You mention letting the plant float to form roots. Thats a lot like growing houseplant cuttings by letting the cut callous over and start growing new roots. Thats a great idea Dan I'm going to try that. Thanks :)
Hopefully I find some at the giant auction ;)
Quote from: kennyman on February 21, 2008, 06:53:26 PM
I keep angelfish in the tank I want to grow it in so It has to be warm I have to keep that tank at 78-80. :-\
Everything else sounds good but I doubt you'll have much success at that temp. But maybe... :) floating them did work for me it is a tough plant to root...
http://www.tropica.dk/productcard_1.asp?id=058
I had a bit of trouble with the Egeria until I "planted" it in a decoration under the filter output. The decoration is just a small elevated plastic slab with a hole in it that creates a little grotto for my loach and cories. The slad rests horizontally, parallel to the bottom of the tank, partially buried in the sand. I put the plant in the hole with the botton just underneath the sand and it's been doing fine since then.
That's in my parent's SA tank (tetras, danios and 3 angels) temp around 77 F, pH around 6.5 and water very soft, filtered on peat. I brought clippings into my tank that I'm currently cycling to see if it'll grow.
Hope this helps, good luck to you!
mine too is under the filter and its been growing nicely ;)