I'm having a hard time with this plant, it seems to of just shrunk a lot since I've received it a couple months ago. It doesn't seem to grown any roots at all biggest i've seen is about 1/4 inch in length. It has split quite a few times but they are much smaller then the ones I've received initially. I'm not sure if its being shaded too much from other shade plants so I just moved one to the front glass of my tank see if that will help at all.
Grown in High light Co2 injected with Safe-T-Sorb sub.
Would this plant benefit from root tabs or something?
I find that hard to believe as blyxa is by far the most successful plant in my high tech. Also using inert substrate (BDBS) but I supplemented with a lot of root tabs at the beginning. Still don't think that makes a difference though. My mother plants have HUGE roots. It will even turn rust/orange color in parts under high light.
Pics of your tank? What other plants do you have? Are they successful? I'm assuming you are dosing ferts along with CO2?
Yeah that's wild it's not growing. I put two plants in my tank and in a month I had about 8 and they were just too large. I'm actually removing them from my scape again now because they grow too large too fast.
Mine grow well too. Even after I recently changed out my substrate to the black diamond. I don't run c02. Hope it does better for you because it's a nice filler plant.
Grows like a weed for me too (my water is not particularly soft ~ KH 8 GH 9)
Stuck some in my Mom's no tech beta bowl and it's also doing great. Obviously doesnt grow very fast but it's very healthy. Turns a bright green under low light.
It does not require CO2 but it will stay healthy and grow slowly (at least for me). It will be a bright green. With CO2 and higher light it gets a little 'rust' color in it and grows stupid fast
ive had issues with blyxa also. there just not doing much in my tank and one just straight out dissolved into nothing. i would touch it and it would just fall apart.
yeah if i just bump mine or anything it just floats up, it also has a very brittle stem, the plantlets just fall off almost.
I just uprooted 2 by pressing a osmocote+ tab near it. my GH and KH are 4 and 5.
Like I said these seem to be shrinking rather then growing but are all green/redish.
It is one I grow successfully too and I am far from a high percentage plant man. It seems to need plenty of light. The only pieces I had trouble with had been shaded some.
So wanna give a little update since I moved 1 of the blyxa to the front of the tank. Little to no new growth, I just don't no what is wrong with this thing. I even put a Osmocote tab under it.
Everything else in tank is doing great, need to do a trim actually.
Front BML 10k is set to 55% at 18 inchs so should be getting somewhere around 85 PAR, lighting isn't a problem. In the right corner under stem plant is some more in a more shaded area, no growth there either.
Don't feel badly, I just went through an extended period of several months where my Blyxa japonica just sort of sat there. When I first set up my 75 gallon with Safe-T-Sorb, CO2, EI ferts my Blyxa was like a weed - but since last spring it just grew slower and slower as were several other species in the tank. A month or so ago I did a little research. My water here in Seattle is very soft with very few minerals. I routinely dose Equilibrium for Mg, Ca, and K along with my EI ferts but my dKH is always about 1-2 and my dGH 3-4. So I decided to increase my Ca, Mg, and K dosing along with my CSM+B. Low and behold the Blyxa (and the other species) responded within two weeks and a growing great again with new leaves and roots.
Now which nutrient was it that made a difference? I don't really know but I suspect the K (Potassium) or Ca (Calcium). The plants had a 'burnt' look to the leaves and the leaves were drooping downward at the ends. The roots just were not growing or spreading. K is necessary for good root development and a deficiency can cause the 'burnt' look I described. A Ca deficiency can cause the drooping leaf tips.
Safe-T-Sorb #7941 (STS) starts with good levels of Ca, K, and Mg to begin with. In addition when I set up the tank I 'pre-charged' the STS during the initial rinse withk NO3; KH2PO4; MgSO4; CaCl; and about 6 tablespoons of Seachem Equlibrium. I suspect the levels of one or more of my nutrients dropped to a level where growth was affected.
I used to have the same problem with my blyxa and also moved one up towards the front of the tank, It wasn't growing at all so it seemed to me and I kinda just ignored it and then I had to move it towards the back because it started growing like crazy and was covering all my carpets plants. I saw just wait, the fact that its turning red and not melting means its healthy.
Keep in mind you can have a moderate dGH and still be deficient in Ca or Mg. It is possible to have an overabundance of one (i.e. Ca) and be deficient of the other (Mg). Also I try to dose my CSM+B to achieve 0.5 ppm Fe or higher.
How do you dose ca or mg with out increasing gh? I can't use csm+b i get extreamly bad diatoms. Or brown hair algae idk. Ive tried 2 different sources for csm+b
If you add additional Ca or Mg the dGH will increase. If you can't dose CSM+B what are you using for a source of micronutrients? You could use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive but it will be more expensive.
I too have always struggled with blyxa and never knew why. In my original tanks, I assumed lighting was the issue, but I've got it in a much brighter tank now, and it's doing exactly what the OP described - it's small, not really showing any growth, no roots, but splitting into multiple plantlets. Somehow though, I never knew this was a soft water plant! My kh is 19, gh is 9, and ph is 8.3. Guessing that's why I can't grow the stupid thing! lol! Hate that, but at least I can stop beating my head against the way trying to figure out why I can't grow this supposedly easy plant!
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