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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V4 #915
Gabriella wrote:
> So Roger, do you think that perhaps the cryptocorynes have a different
> nutrient requirement than the vals? They are growing choc a block with one
> another, the crypts look fine but the vals are small.
No doubt different plants have different nutrient requirements.
Probably more to the point though is that different plants more
effective tactics to obtain nutrients that are in short supply and show
different visible responses to a nutrient shortfall.
My tank with the stunted val had C. wendtii and C. crispatula v.
balansae in it as well as val. The val became obviously stunted, but
the crypts just grew more slowly and stayed smaller than their natural
size but looked otherwise healthy.
This latter point about Crypts staying small is a little difficult to
see unless you actually know how big they can get. At that time the C.
wendtii was 6-7 inches high and the C. crispatula leaves were 8-12
inches. It wasn't until somewhat later when C. wendtii in another tank
reached 16 inches and the leaves of C. crispatula (in fact, the same
individuals) reached 36" and 1.5" across that I suspected that some
nutrient shortage might have suppressed their growth.
Roger Miller