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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #36
Tom Brennan described "Bakers Dolomite-Sweet'NGrow on Jan 19:
This ground limestone sounds like a good source of both Ca and Mg. It will
be slow to dissolve, but additions every few weeks should keep your Ca and
Mg from getting too low. CO2 enrichment will help dissolve it. If your
wellwater has a GH of 3 to 4, partial water changes should also help to
keep your Ca and Mg levels up, or maybe only your Ca levels, depending on
what is in your well water. .
Lime is Ca(OH)2, and should dissolve as rapidly or more rapidly than CaCO3.
I added about two tablespoons of lime to a bare 55 gallon tank which I
recently filled with tapwater from our new house. This water is full of
sodium bicarbonate, but has virtually no Ca or Mg. Using the Tetra GH and
KH kit, the GH of this water is less than 1/3 degree (not detectable), and
the KH is 9 degrees. As an illustration of how slowly lime dissolves, I
tested the water in the 55 gal. one day after I added the lime, and the GH
was still not detectable. I may have to add CO2 to get it into solution.
Probably the high pH from all that bicarbonate is slowing down the
dissolving of the lime.
>------------------------------
>
Bob Dixon wrote, Jan 20:
>Subject: Crypt melt questions
>
>I got in some Cryptocorynes (wendtii and lutea) from Arizona Aquatic Gardens
>last Monday. I unpotted them, and divided them up, planting them in my
>substrate in three tanks. The wendtii in my 30 gal still look like they did
>when they came in. The wendtii in the 20 and the lutea in the 10 all started
>to melt on Friday. The lutea only went about half way, but the wendtii in the
>20 are complete slime.
>1) How long does it take for them to begin recovering?
>2) if the plants in the 30 have gone a week without problems, does this mean
>they will continue as they are, or can I expect them to melt sometime soon?
>3) If I suck out the scum during water canges with one of those siphon/vacuum
>things, will I pull up the roots? Or do I just work around all that until
>they recover and establish themselves?
You should see new leaves in a week or two, but it may take 4 months or
more for the crypts to get back to their previous size. There are so many
things that cause crypt melt, that it is hard to find any common thread.
The best thing is to try to keep conditions stable. Suddenly increasing
CO2 levels under low light conditions can cause drastic melt downs, but
suddenly increasing CO2 levels under high light conditions will only cause
a minor melt of some of the older leaves followed by much more rapid
growth. Suddenly adding a whole lot of fish to a tank that had none or
only a few can cause melt downs. You can expect to have a melt down after
planting crypts that you got in the mail. It is unusual when they don't
melt down. You have to have patience with crypts, and keep conditions
constant. Add nutrients only in small amounts. Don't make large water
changes. I would also leave the mulm in the tank and not try to vacuum the
gravel. Crypts do well with a fair amount of organic matter around their
roots.
>------------------------------
Matt Kowske <xc at innocent_com> wrote Jan 19:
>...........Any time I move the gravel to put a
>rock in or pot a plant, red clouds ooze up like some horrid ghost from
>the dead (perhaps a little too much duplarite? hmm I DID follow the
>instructions)..............
One thing you might try, if you start all over again, is to mix the
laterite with water until it is the consistancy of thick soup. Then pour
that into the bottom of your aquarium and put at least two inches of gravel
over it. You should be able to stick in your plants without going deep
enough to stir up the laterite.
>
>>Jos Liem wrote, Mon Jan 19:
>Did anybody try the Tropica chat (Java) ?
>
>It seems that there is nobody there when I log on.
>
>Anybody interested to chat at the http://www.tropica.dk (the news section)?
I just tried it and could never connect. I got the message, Trying TCP
connection to parachat.webpage.com:7779 ...
The remote machine has accepted the network request ... please wait.
I waited and waited and waited for about 15 minutes and then gave up.
Before they switched to a Java-based chat room I could connect and, most of
the time there was nobody there. On a couple of occasions, I found Claus
Christensen and had some good conversations. It is something like 6 hours
later there, compared to US central standard time, and so the time of the
day there has to be taken into account.
Paul Krombholz, in soggy, central Mississippi where we have seen the sun
for three days in a row.