ammania gracilis help needed please

[Momotaro]

Mine have always been wierd and are always one scoop away from being yanked and flushed, but they look so "gracilis" when they grow well...I'm giving them one last chance!

Same here. I bought this plant off the "scrap heap" at the LFS. I have had it bounce back, and subsequently slip away and come back. Really frustrating, yet beautiful plant.

Funny thing. I have had it in a bunch in my 75G for almost a year now. The plant seems to do its best when its roots grow through the Riccia and into the substrate than when it is just bunched and growing without rooting in the substrate. That could justify Gill Man's reference to Kasselmann.

Mike

[Overfloater]

Charlie welcome.

Mike, I rubberband 3 stalks of the gracilis together and haven't had any issues. It grows just as fast and healthy as ever. I do find it to be an extremely brittle plant for having stems so thick. Have you had the same observation?

[Momotaro]

The stems have never really seemed that way to me, they always seem a bit on the rubbery side.

Funny how the same plant grown under different conditions is so variable!

Mike

[shalu]

Originally Posted by Momotaro

The stems have never really seemed that way to me, they always seem a bit on the rubbery side.

same here.

[Overfloater]

Weird. Now when I say brittle, I mean sort of stiff. They don't bend much at all and if you push them to far they will snap with a satisfying "crunch" like a fresh stalk of celery.

[Ibn]

Sounds just like mine. Really thick and brittle stems.

[Overfloater]

Brittle but healthy looking. The inside of mine are completlely white with a red core. The solid snap when they break can only mean they are healthy. At least in my eyes. Mine looks pretty good I would say.

[Gill Man]

WOW! What perfect specimens! What and how old is your substrate? Just curious. Mine is depleted as I've had it for over a year. I've been adding a top layer onto it here and there where it's become shallow and I added a single root tab to the plant grouping. I've noticed an improvement this week but it's still too soon to tell. I still think Dr. Kasselmann's assessment on this plant is worth investigating, that they are root feeders.

I also found this paragraph from Water Plants 101- A basic introduction to the physiology and ecology of aquatic plants by Dave Huebert at: http://www.aquabotanic.com/wp101.htm

Aquatic plants, unlike their terrestrial counterparts, can absorb mineral nutrients both from the water through their leaves and from the sediment through their roots. Unfortunately, it is often assumed that rooted aquatic plants can obtain all their mineral nutrient requirements through their leaves. This is, however, incorrect. As early as 1905 a researcher by the name of Raymond H. Pond stated that, " ... a soil substratum is requisite for normal growth." and that, " [rooted aquatic plants] make a better growth on a good loam soil, just as many land plants do." Since then, the dramatic and consistently superior growth of plants rooted in soil compared to plants rooted in sand has been shown repeatedly for many different aquatic plant species from many different types of habitat.

Again, given that many of our manufactured substrates get depleated of their nutrients over time, it might be wise to supplement a rooted plant once they begin to show a decline, even when supplementing the water column as we are doing. Time-release root tabs are not as archaic as I once thought them to be.

[Overfloater]

I have PFS that is about 6 months old. If you want to try the substrate ferts I suggest you try a jobe's stick for NPK.

[observant_imp]

Myabe it's related to hardness. I'm nocticing that Bob's gh and kh are about double what mine is. I've upped the gh a little and tried putting a sera florenettte A tab under it (minerals plus trace--no phosphate or nitrate). The 2 newest leaves are looking better.

[shalu]

Mine look the same, with thicker stems. I can bend the stem 180degrees without snapping

[Overfloater]

My stems have gotten pretty thick but it's hard for them to get really thick since I cut half the plant off every week. You can bend your stem 180* and it won't break? Mine snap at about 40*. Interesting. Do you have any photos of your plant?

[shalu]

I am now also throwing away the tops to get smaller branches:


Yep, the stem can bend 180degrees, I paid for its Yoga lessons
What's a root feeder? Take care of the water, and the water takes care of ALL the plants, not just the ones with root tabs underneath.

[BlueRam]

This is a worst case plant I obtained less than a week ago. It is flowering from emersed growth, is floating with a weight strip with no roots to speak of. Looks like the new growth is great though. GH 6* KH 2.5*

[sugar]

Ammania gracilis is typically a plant that will deteriorate when it does not find enough nutrients in the substrate. It can use roots above the surface to overcome the problem, but once the plant deteriorates it doesn't do that any more.

I have experienced exactly the same problem in my tank, it is the only plant causing me problems (it did quite well the first two years http://home.scarlet.be/~tvelst/sugar22.JPG). I added nutrients in the substrate and is taking a new start at the moment. ..



sugar