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Re: Non CO2 plants



 
> Well if you can grow glossostigma, Rotala macrandra, Rotala wallichii,
> Rotala magenta and several other stem plants, without CO2, I'd really like
> to hear about it. Seriously. I have tried several time to grow glosso under
> various conditions without CO2 and it just doesn't fly. In fact I am putting
> together a list of plants for use with only added CO2, but before I make
> that statement I would really like to know if anyone has done this
> successfully.
> 
> Robert Paul Hudson
> http://www.aquabotanic.com

I just said I'd worked with Gloss, A reineckii and hairgrass, not these
other plants. Haven't tried but other's have. See Neil's post.

You need a mature tank, dense planting from the start, decent
lighting(2-3watts/gallon) some floaters, good algae crew. Deep flourite.
Good regular fish feedings.

Another "trick" is to use CO2 in the very beginning, after the tank is
established, yank the plug. This gets you over the first month hump and
established the roots good.

Many folks are CO2 junkies here. Try a non CO2 tank out....... but adhere to
the principle notions outlined in Diana's book. There's flexibility but the
method does work for more plants than many think. You do need to be able to
work with the easier plants first before trying the more exotic.

Try a 10 gallon tank with 2 x 15w, 4 inches of flourite, a small HOB
filter(like a Hagen mini), 2 SAE's, 4-5 shrimps, a few fish, add lots of
fresh mulm from another tank, some ground peat, add CO2 for about 2-4 weeks.
Have some Egeria najas etc(something that likes to use HCO3), a floater(I
like water sprite @10-25% surface coverage) and plant to the gills from the
start. Do water changes only when doing a a big pruning, add water for top
off(tap, not RO!). Don't add much if any liquid fert's and if you do, make
sure the plants are doing very well and the algae is nowhere to be seen.

You might have to pull out some algae, trim a leaf etc. Not much work
really.
Using the Egeria will soften the water allowing more CO2 in(but it still
gets low in the latter part of the photocycle) as time and pruning
pass(Removal of HCO3 slowly). After awhile your KH drops(recall your not
doing any water changes).

The methods outlined by Neil, Paul, Diana and Steve all work very well.
There's some variation but not a large amount(namely substrate).
Try it and enjoy.
 
Regards, 
Tom Barr