Hey, All.
Earlier this month I tried an experiment with two species of plants. I took three pieces of Hottonia palustris from my 10-gallon tank (if anybody's really interested, I can post specs) and five pieces of Rotala indica from a 5.5-gallon tank in which the plants weren't really the main focus. Anyway, I planted these in two terra cotta pots filled with soil sandwiched between two layers of gravel. I put these in a bare-bottom 2.5-gallon tank and used an incandescent strip light that houses a single 10-watt screw-in PC bulb.
I was too lazy to put together another DIY CO2 bottle so I found an old bottle of Excel and dosed as recommended. I also kept the fertilization *approximately* the same as what was going into the 10-gallon tank. I scaled down a little because obviously, there weren't as many plants in the experimental tank.
I didn't think I was going to see a huge change, and granted, it was slow to happen. It could be due to my using Excel rather than CO2. But I'd say that the difference I'm seeing is of some significance. If you go to the link and click on the folder with the Hottonia photo, you'll see the results.
http://photos.yahoo.com/mizmo_naomi
The new growth in the Hottonia does appear somewhat "leggier" than before, but the leaf span is greater than I've ever previously managed. Also, the base of the stem isn't disintegrating like it usually does. The R. indica I started with was really puny. The tank I took them from was overgrown with algae and never received fertilizer or even CO2; however, the new growth in the experimental plants are much more massive than what's growing in my other planted tanks.
There's always the possibility that other factors are playing a bigger role in the results shown, but I've failed miserably with many plants enough to be reasonably certain that the soil is *really* helping things out, here. Just thought I'd share. No point. I hate it when people say, "so... what's your point?" I rarely have one. Just wanted to share.
-Naomi
Earlier this month I tried an experiment with two species of plants. I took three pieces of Hottonia palustris from my 10-gallon tank (if anybody's really interested, I can post specs) and five pieces of Rotala indica from a 5.5-gallon tank in which the plants weren't really the main focus. Anyway, I planted these in two terra cotta pots filled with soil sandwiched between two layers of gravel. I put these in a bare-bottom 2.5-gallon tank and used an incandescent strip light that houses a single 10-watt screw-in PC bulb.
I was too lazy to put together another DIY CO2 bottle so I found an old bottle of Excel and dosed as recommended. I also kept the fertilization *approximately* the same as what was going into the 10-gallon tank. I scaled down a little because obviously, there weren't as many plants in the experimental tank.
I didn't think I was going to see a huge change, and granted, it was slow to happen. It could be due to my using Excel rather than CO2. But I'd say that the difference I'm seeing is of some significance. If you go to the link and click on the folder with the Hottonia photo, you'll see the results.
http://photos.yahoo.com/mizmo_naomi
The new growth in the Hottonia does appear somewhat "leggier" than before, but the leaf span is greater than I've ever previously managed. Also, the base of the stem isn't disintegrating like it usually does. The R. indica I started with was really puny. The tank I took them from was overgrown with algae and never received fertilizer or even CO2; however, the new growth in the experimental plants are much more massive than what's growing in my other planted tanks.
There's always the possibility that other factors are playing a bigger role in the results shown, but I've failed miserably with many plants enough to be reasonably certain that the soil is *really* helping things out, here. Just thought I'd share. No point. I hate it when people say, "so... what's your point?" I rarely have one. Just wanted to share.
-Naomi
