Monsterous Growth Nymphaea Japonicus (low Tech)

[Underwurlde]

I ripped up and re-planted my tank because I wanted to make my own substrate. Bit of an experiment really.

Tank is low(ish) light, NO CO2, low maintenance... Dose once a week KNO2 KH2PO4.

So, 2 weeks ago:

Notice that I have planted two bulbs of Nymphaea Japonicus (by the Gourami).

And now? Now I have a triffid! One of the Nymphaea Japonicus has gone NUTS!

(BTW My Gouramis have not shurnk!)

Andy

 

[Squid]

Nice work chap..

quick general question.. how do change the settings to auto shrink the images - i'm sure it does it in some forum sections.

Alternatively... any chance of using slight smaller images. It's so big and zoomed in I can see your friendly bacteria munching on ammonia.

Squid

 

[Underwurlde]

Hit 'F5' to refresh... or the 'options' pull down at the top of any post

Andy

 

[john starkey]

I ripped up and re-planted my tank because I wanted to make my own substrate. Bit of an experiment really.

Tank is low(ish) light, NO CO2, low maintenance... Dose once a week KNO2 KH2PO4.

So, 2 weeks ago:

Notice that I have planted two bulbs of Nymphaea Japonicus (by the Gourami).

And now? Now I have a triffid! One of the Nymphaea Japonicus has gone NUTS!

(BTW My Gouramis have not shurnk!)

Andy

Hi Andy, that is some growth in such a short space of time, i must say it will need some reg pruning at that rate, very nice setup regards john

 

[Underwurlde]

Yeah it's wierd. It is almost like I have an EI set up.

But the fact of it is I don't.

What I was hoping to achieve was a budget setup (which it is) but also low maintenance: 15% - 20% water change monthly, 1x week dosing, no CO2 or excel, little but steady growth = less pruning = less maintenance = one of my goals with this tank....

But as you can see, not only has the lily exploded (this is the exteme example), but so has everything else.... (bar the anubias of course).

Who know's perhaps this is a good thing, but I'm wondering if this tank will now burn itself out (regardless of the 'brakes' I have purposefully put on things)... I hope not...

Andy

 

[Azaezl]

Wow that's amazing! has given me a few ideas for my new tanks

 

[Underwurlde]

Thanks.

Cheapo, low maintenance, great results is what my goal is here.

By cheapo, I mean:

60L Jewel Rekord 60 tank (internal filter remove & sacrifically burnt at the stake).
Eheim Ecco external filter added (£45).
A small number of plants that I hope to propogate out - £35
'Home brew' substrate - mixture of things, but mainly soil from my back garden! - less than £5
Lights - £20 (one replacement bulb for extisting one, added 2nd one via DIY).
Lighting timers - I found a packet of 2 digital timers for £10 in pound saver!
Ferts - dry: big pinch of KNO2 & KH2PO4 (£5 per bag that should last about 10 years) + a 5ml(ish) squirt of Seachem Flourish once per week (£7 bottle - should last 1 year).

So, equipment, substrate and plants @ about £100 (not including the bare tank).
On-going expense: initial spend of about £20, but should last > 1 year.
Beat that!

Loads of fish & shrimp. Probably (hopefully ) overstocked, but then again I over filter & have loads of plants: Idea here is to feed the fish well - uneaten food + fish poop goes into the substrate via gravel layer and keep the underlying substrate fed and thus the plants fed at the roots (as well as water column dosing).... So.... no I DON'T gravel vac either - shock horror. Even less maintenance!

Andy

 

[lljdma06]

Beat that!

I've probably setup tanks for around the equivalent or less in US dollars. It is easy, especially if you have spare parts. I have a whole section in my closet that is comprised of nothing but old T8 and T5 fixtures that work great, and some extra tanks stands. I also have extra filters running in some tanks. You just never, never know, when Boom! Your cherry barbs breed and you have like 34 growing fry. So you become an expert in instatanks! My 2.5g pico was around $40 to setup. My 8g was around $110 for everything, including plants, substrate, and hardscape. Budget setups have always been my thing, and I firmly believe that while all the fancy gadgetry is totally awesome and I wish I had the money for it, it isn't always necessary, nor is it a guarantee for success.

The Nymphaea will grow like crazy for about a year, then it will gradually produce less leaves and it may or may not go dormant. After a dormant period, it then starts up again, but it can also die. At least this has been my experiences with the bulb plants (Nymphaea, Barclaya, etc). Mine did not recover well when I moved and when they became dormant, they died. But the water quality change between the two locations was pretty extreme. If you don't allow leaves to reach the surface, you can actually train it to grow closer to the ground so it doesn't become quite so obnoxious. It has a great color and looks lovely with the anubia, which I almost picked on you for, until I saw the rhizome sticking out of the substrate. I have a soft spot for anubias.

llj

 

[Underwurlde]

I've probably setup tanks for around the equivalent or less in US dollars.

I knew someone would rise to the challenge, lol.
$ price in US = £ price in UK. Everything in UK is over priced, always has been. God knows why, probably because we're too polite to complain. Or too stupid.

f you don't allow leaves to reach the surface, you can actually train it to grow closer to the ground so it doesn't become quite so obnoxious.

So how do you 'train' a plant. Keep cutting it back? I am reluctant to cut off such beautiful massive leaves! (Mainly because at last all my learning and now applying has actually got me somewhere...)

Budget setups have always been my thing, and I firmly believe that while all the fancy gadgetry is totally awesome and I wish I had the money for it, it isn't always necessary, nor is it a guarantee for success.

Do you know what? My kind of thinking... you & me are gunna get on just fine!

 

[Themuleous]

That's quality!

I think you'd find that if you pruned the leaves off as soon as they began to get to big the plant would 'learn' to keep them smaller

Sam

 

[Underwurlde]

Notice at the mo' no 'foreground' plants, that is to say no traditional carpeting plants... for now...

I am currently taking Tom Barrs emergent idea with some HC & ET... but not going as well as I'd hoped..
http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/21...-Without-Algae/

Hopefully my recent 'tweak' will kick start things.

Andy

 

[Underwurlde]

Just got my tape measure out (like you do). At least two of the leaves on the Nymphaea Japonicus are now 200mm across. Yep, that's EIGHT INCHES!

Unbelieveable!

 

[fluffycabbage]

wow fab tank! i think i need to talk to you about thrifty spending!