I would take Kasselmann's growing recommendations with a grain of salt. She mentioned that Blyxa aubertii is an annual and must be propagated every year by seed...
I grew this plant last summer rather successfully in my 55 gallon. It had 3.75 wpg, pressurized CO2, KH 4 and GH 6. I ran the tank rather lean on the N and P, but dosed high amounts (35-40 mL weekly) of Flourish and Flourish Iron into the aquarium.
It was a pain to get it to root at first, however. The entire plant nearly completely disentegrated. Out of about half a dozen plantlets, about three survived floating on the surface of the aquarium. I carefully planted these (all Blyxas are very buoyant, by the way, so they will float to the top in the beginning). Within a month, they started growing rapidly and bud several daughter plants. I noticed that when shaded, these plants became less bushy and taller. With direct lighting, they remained shorter, bushier, and more colorful.
I am a bit suspicious that Blyxa japonica may in fact be an obligate aquatic. I tried growing it emersed this summer to no avail. It relentlessly tried to grow leaves in the film of water on the surface of the growing media.
I didn't try this with my Blyxa japonica, but when I grew Blyxa aubertii, it absolutely loved to have a piece of jobe stick placed at the roots. The extra boost from fertilizing at the substrate caused my B. aubertii to go from a small, miserable looking, rootless stem to a monster within three months. Here is an old picture of mine in the corner of my 55g:
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Carlos
I grew this plant last summer rather successfully in my 55 gallon. It had 3.75 wpg, pressurized CO2, KH 4 and GH 6. I ran the tank rather lean on the N and P, but dosed high amounts (35-40 mL weekly) of Flourish and Flourish Iron into the aquarium.
It was a pain to get it to root at first, however. The entire plant nearly completely disentegrated. Out of about half a dozen plantlets, about three survived floating on the surface of the aquarium. I carefully planted these (all Blyxas are very buoyant, by the way, so they will float to the top in the beginning). Within a month, they started growing rapidly and bud several daughter plants. I noticed that when shaded, these plants became less bushy and taller. With direct lighting, they remained shorter, bushier, and more colorful.
I am a bit suspicious that Blyxa japonica may in fact be an obligate aquatic. I tried growing it emersed this summer to no avail. It relentlessly tried to grow leaves in the film of water on the surface of the growing media.
I didn't try this with my Blyxa japonica, but when I grew Blyxa aubertii, it absolutely loved to have a piece of jobe stick placed at the roots. The extra boost from fertilizing at the substrate caused my B. aubertii to go from a small, miserable looking, rootless stem to a monster within three months. Here is an old picture of mine in the corner of my 55g:
Carlos
