[niko]

Aponogetons have a dormant period that I'm not very familiar with.

All I know is that one sunny day the plants refuse to grow and stay short and seemingly stunted, no deterioration but no growth either. I speak of an experience with A. crispus.

For a long time I have been reluctant to get any A. madagascariensis, Madagascar lace exactly because of the dormant period that these plants have.

Please share any experience/knowledge on keeping the Madagascar lace. What to expect, what to do, temperatures or other conditions needed for the dormant and the active phase.

--Nikolay

 

[HeyPK]

My experience with the Madagascar lace plant is that it does not like a rich soil with a lot of ogranic matter. Instead, use some subsoil mixed with gravel and a half inch of gravel on top. The so-called dormant period may be just a result of running out of nutrients for this species. Lace plants have always done poorly for me if grown by themselves, but they do much better if they have other plants growing near them. Small crypts are nice. Perhaps the roots of these "companion plants" help the lace plant in some way.

I once had a lace plant grow continually for five years without any dormant period.

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

Are the bulbs you can get at Walmart the same Aponogetons you are discussing?

 

[niko]

Sir,

The bulbs at WalMart are Aponogetons but I don't know what species they are.

You can see the Madagascar lace here. I'm pretty sure that is not what one can get from WalMart

--Nikolay

 

[HeyPK]

I have established that Madagascar lace plant bulbs do not tolerate being dried up. I had a tank with several lace plants dry out on me, and none of the bulbs recovered.

 

[tsunami]

Are there other companion plants that can be used with Madagascar Lace such as hairgrass or glosso?

It's a very elegant plant that I have never seen used well in an AGA contestant's aquascape. A shame.

Takashi Amano's Lace Garden:

Carlos

 

[HeyPK]

Probably anything that gets its roots down there with the roots of the Lace plant. Without companion plants, the older leaves of the lace plants tend to die back. They get dark brown dead spots that grow until the whole leaf is dead. Lace plants also like lots of iron in the water.

 

[cS]

It's a very elegant plant that I have never seen used well in an AGA contestant's aquascape. A shame.

My two favorite aquascapes that include the A. madagascariensis are that of Amano's discus tank and Koah Fong's tank.

Amano's Discus Tank

Koah Fong's Tank - this is the best picture of the tank I could find. There's another updated picture of this tank that's much prettier but I can't locate it.

 

[Robert Hudson]

For many years this plant was considered an aquarium "annual" because after a year it would go dormant and then rarely come back. When more attention was paid to this plants needs, it lasted much longer.

It has long been know that this plant like most Aponogetons does not tolerate high temps for very long, which is why I am very surprised to see Amano use this plant in a Discus tank. Kasselmann describes the needs of this plant as quote " should only be kept by specialists who can consistently meet the high requirements of this species in the long term: a low temperature level, strong water movement, soft, acidic water, nutrient-rich substrate, medium light intensity and regular rest phases (no dry period)"

I grow them in non heated, room temp tanks with strong water circulation. My water is pretty soft.

HeyPaul, send me some undulata!