[rainbowfishes]

I've had Barclaya longifolia in my 7' 210 gallon tank for 5 years or longer, I've forgotten how long. At the base it is usually from 3-7" in diameter really depending on the season as it ebbs and flows. I get a decent amount of flowers that often disperse seeds around the aquarium. Leaves I think used to be on average about 1.5 inches across. I feed it Osmocote Plus root tabs and the tank gets pretty much all of the Seachem fertilizer products. Light CO2 on the tank.


The change: In mid January I switched from 600 watts of Compact Fluorescent lighting with A&H reflectors to 2 x 6' light bars (I think 96 watts each) of BML LEDs. I am wondering if I don't have enough light or maybe the light is now just so good that I am seeing these differences. I know when you get crappy light your stem plants get long and stringy, long spaces between the nodes as they stretch for the light. I am not seeing that with the stems, they all seem VERY happy and grow even quicker, it seems. The Barclaya leaves now average 2 to even 3" across and the leaf portion w/o the stem is 20". It's producing a very dense bunch at the base of at least 6 inches in diameter with many more leaves than I ever remember. The plant is taking up a 30" section of tank at the top blocking out light for several stems that I've now had to move to help them survive. By all accounts it "seems" very healthy and happy. Just a few of the leaves have small holes in them which I think is a K shortage, probably just because stuff is growing faster under the new lights. I'm working on keeping up now.


My question is: If this was a light shortage would Barclaya leaves act in this manner or would I end up seeing smaller leaves instead of larger leaves? I certainly don't want to wait too long if it's a light shortage and then end up having the plant do a melt down.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi rainbowfishes,

How are things in St. Louis?

I doubt if it is a light 'shortage'; I would think with the BML fixtures you are doing the equivalent of about 400 watts of CFL. I would be more 'suspicious' of the light spectrum (K) of the CFL's vs the LED. Knowing that most K values are approximate at best were you running about 6500K lamps in your CFL fixtures? How about the BML LED fixtures, did you go with 6500K or something different to improve the way the tank looks to you?

You'll be pleased to know that I have 26+ Melanotaenia boesemani 'Lake Aytinjo' that I raised from the eggs I got two years ago; also I picked up 5 of the Pseudomugil gertrudae "Aru II" at a GSAS auction that were originally Kathy's.

Pseudomugil gertrudae "Aru II"

 

[rainbowfishes]

Hi Roy, I went with BML's Nature Style (6500K) as the front lights and Dutch Planted (6300K) as the back light and the one that most lights up the Barclaya. The PC lights were 55 watt 5500K and 6500K lights from A&H Supply. I mixed and matched those two types of bulbs. Six of them over the 4' section with the Barclaya and then 96 watt & a lone 55 watt over the 3' section. So really not a real different look as it is to my eye. But do you think that the bigger and longer leaves is a cry out from the plant for more light or is it just showing me that it appreciates the higher quality light? Good that you are doing nicely with the bows. That strain of boesemani looks fantastic in a planted tank and only look better with age. At an average of 12+ years they should be around in your tanks for a long time to come.

 

[Grubs]

I'd say your Barclaya is happy and thriving. I grow them in a 4x2x2 and get leaves 3ft long and a couple of inches wide in summer. They are cyclical and will reduce in size in winter.

 

[Veritas]

I'd love to see some pictures of your Barclaya, mine isn't doing very well and any advice to have it flourish would be much appreciated!

 

[rainbowfishes]

Can't really show you a photo of the plant now without taking the lid off of the aquarium and just shooting down on the leaves . In a 2' tall aquarium they are pretty much all at the top of the tank. The photo attached is from July 2011 with about 1/2 of their normal amount, kind of a fade back mode. Kind of liked it better when I could see most of the leaves and they weren't smothering that side of the tank. Still putting out lots of "blooms" at least 6 that I can easily see.

 

[Veritas]

that is incredible. Mine is struggling despite using root tabs, pressurized co2, and Flourish + Macro dosing.

 

[Grubs]

Mine on the right side. Tank is 4x2x2. ..is now only 12 inches high (heading into AU winter). (The green plants on the left are Aponogetons).

We call this Barclaya "magenta" because it seems to be intermediate between the green and the red.

Rich substrate, CO2, and keep the temp over 27C or whatever the hell that is in F

P.S. Roy... I'm diggin' the gertrudae. I have a tank of Cadell R gertrudae and a soft spot for all blue-eyes.

 

[rainbowfishes]

Sorry Veritas that you are having so much trouble. Do you have enough light on the tank? I had several 55 watt PC's with A&H supply reflectors above the plant. Now I switched to 196 watts total over 6' of BML leds, which made the growth difference. Also I have laterite in the bottom and I use both Seachem Flourish and Iron, just a little CO2.

Grubs - Is that A. rigidifolius next to your barclaya? Haven't seen that for years. You guys have a few Aponogetons that I would love to get my hands on or at least into the hands of some of the tissue culture people over here. Blue-eyes - I think eventually when the Aussie scientists stop farting around you will find that the Aru II "gertrudae" and the "gertrudae" from Oz are going to have different names. All of the gerts in Oz will probably be renamed. The Aru II is a real beast compared to the other gerts. I lost my Cadell Rivers a few years back and just lost my Eubenangee Swamp gerts too. The Aru II's are probably 2x the mass of a normal Ozzie gert, perhaps a little over .5 cm longer. 27C = 81. That's a tad warm for my rainbowfish. Below Aru II, white form.

 

[Veritas]

Sorry Veritas that you are having so much trouble. Do you have enough light on the tank? I had several 55 watt PC's with A&H supply reflectors above the plant. Now I switched to 196 watts total over 6' of BML leds, which made the growth difference. Also I have laterite in the bottom and I use both Seachem Flourish and Iron, just a little CO2.

I *think* I have enough light - I have a 48" Ecoxotic along with a 48" Planted+ 24/7 over my 120. Maybe the floaters are depriving it of too much light?

My other thought is that I might have too much flow around it, as my spray bar from the Cascade 1000 goes the entire length of the tank.....Maybe I should point the section where the Barclaya is away from the plant?

 

[Grubs]

Grubs - Is that A. rigidifolius next to your barclaya? Haven't seen that for years.

You have a very keen eye but there is a mix. In those pictures ^^ In the front-on shot of the tank is A. tofus. In the top down pic left side top is A. rigidifolia. The leaf with the little "windows" in it is A. undulatus. The problem with rigidifolia is its way too big for most people. Here is one I prepared earlier!

(apologies for going off topic)