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Re: Diana Walstad's book
>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. ...... 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.
There may be a difference between plants that need CO2 and those that will
only grow with added CO2. Recall my post on "soft-water" plants. There are
other ways to provide sufficient CO2.
In 1992, I set up a "non-CO2" tank that grew luxurious chain swords and
rotala macrandra, as well as a number of crypts. It had a substrate with
50/50 peat and coarse sand. The substrate directly or indirectly provided
CO2 because of the acid conditions and slowly decomposing organic matter.
You can say this is a variation on Diana's soil substrate which she writes
is a helpful provider of CO2. My mimimalist's peat tank with moderate
lighting (1-1.5 wpg) ran VERY well "without added CO2" for over 5 years
until plant growth gradually slowed down. The tank quickly revived when I
added CO2 and it has been great since. The history of this tank is one of
my "alternative plant growing techniques" illustrated in my talk at the 1st
AGA conference, which you can experience on the AGA convention video.
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/convention.html
Neil