Stupid Holidays!

[Themuleous]

Hi All,

Well like many of you Im sure, I went away over the xmas period and decided to turn all the lighting over my nano off and just have my 20w halogen desk lamp (Ikea styliee) on the timer. I wasn't going to be able to the EI dosing while away (obviously!) or more importantly the water changes, and having finally got on top of the thread algae I didn't want it back.

Well I came back from the hols yesterday, to find that my HC and riccia not in the best of health, I think I cut back the lighting a little to much! Doh! the HC in particular has grown upwards a great deal and the underneath is dieing back a lot, its also got small leaves and fewer of them. This means it is very leggy and not the dense HC is used to be. I will try and get some pics up this eve, but in the mean time, I'm wondering what my plan of action should be. Should I scrap the whole lot and start again with new plants, or battle on and save the HC and riccia I have. I dont have a huge amount of free cash at the mo so if I can save it, more so the better. This leads me to ask how I should go about saving it? Should I cut the HC back hard and risk cutting off all the green bits and hope that new leaves grow from the base or should I take it all out and replant the taller green shoots?

I should add that I'm switching over to my new T5 lighting rig so the plants will need time to adapt, just wonder if new plants from aquaessentials would be able to adapt faster and get me back on track sooner, given that the existing HC is probably going to struggle for the newt few weeks away? Or should I keep the existing T8's until I've got things sorted?

Put simply ->

Cut and run - get all new plants and just live with the cost
Battle on - try and save the stuff I have?

Sorry for all the questions!! One good point, very little algae in the tank on my return! Silver lining and all

Thanks people

Sam

 

[RadaR]

Oh no, sorry to hear that Sam.
What i would do is give the plants everything they need. Light, Co2, nutrients and they should bounce back. No reason why they shouldnt. I wouldnt trim either. Give them what they need, wait until they look healthy again and then prune/cut them back so they arent looking disorderly.
Getting new plants will be faster but if you can save these and save the money then why not.
Is the t5 going to be brighter? If so then Id wait until the plants are sorted out and then get it.
My thoughts.

 

[Themuleous]

Cheers Fred

Will re start the EI this eve after a large water change and see how it goes I guess. I was thinking the same as you re leaving the tank for a few weeks before cutting it back, give the plants a chance to recover.

As for the lighting, I'm going from 2x 18W T8 to 2x 24w T5 so more intense and being T5's the light is more powerful anyway! Think you're right, should leave it as it is. Shame as I really want to set up the new lunimaire! And I don't have the patients to wait!

Sam

PS - bring on the days of large tanks, nanos are so much bloody work!

 

[lljdma06]

As far as cutting the HC is concerned, don't cut and only plant only the bases. That is the weakest part of the stem, especially if it's not green. Remember, HC, despite it's tiny little size and carpeting tendencies is still a stemplant. The best growth will always be toward the top. If you do plan to cut and replant, plant the tops of the stems, don't discard them. HM grows in a similar fashion under good conditions, it's just a larger plant, and I treat mine like that. Discard anything that is not green or showing signs of decomposition. Hemianthus is a very strong genus and will usually pull through, though you will have to deal will leggy growth for a while before your tank stablizes.

llj

 

[Themuleous]

Remember, HC, despite it's tiny little size and carpeting tendencies is still a stemplant.

I had indeed forgotten this, in fact I never really thought it through enough to realise it in the first place! So thanks

Will see how it does over the next few weeks.

Anyone else got any words of wisdom?

Sam