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Re: Hornwort & anacharis don't grow
>Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 15:48:37 -0800 (PST)
>From: Jay Dike <jjdike at yahoo_com>
>Subject: Hornwort & anacharis don't grow
>
>This is sort of an abbreviated post of one I made Jan. 11 about plant
>growth. I'm wondering specifically if there is something hornwort and
>anacharis especially don't like - because they don't seem to grow at
>all in my tank. Other plants seem to doing ok. Water and tank info
>are in the Jan. 11 post so I won't repeat here.
>
>
>
>==
>Jay Dike
>Livermore, CA
>
First, I have to say that I missed your original post, so I don't know a
thing about your tank or your water, and have no idea whether what I'm going
to relate will work for you. However, I don't know a thing about my water
chemistry either.....
I added potassium gluconate (available in the vitamin section of
supermarkets or drugstores) at the rate of about 100mg per 10 gallons once a
week. Although I haven't tried it with hornwort, I got explosive growth in
anacharis by adding potassium to the water column. As I understand it,
anacharis and hornwort are similar in their ability to draw nutrients from
the water column, so they should react similarly. I didn't get any algae
growth, and none of the "rooted" plants seemed to react they way anacharis
did. I stopped after a while because the anacharis started to take over the
tank, despite getting eaten pretty steadily by my Flagfish.
My tank is a thirty gallon "regular" with two 30" 40 watt HO daylight bulbs.
BTW, I don't see much discussion of "HO" bulbs when lighting is discussed;
it seems as though folks either use standard flourescents, or SHO or VHO,
but not HO. The thirty inch size is perfect for thirty (or maybe 29) gallon
tanks, and a pair of 40 watters is about right, too, at least if CO2 isn't
added. Any thoughts?
Lewis