blyxa japonica like a popsicle in july

[Peekay]

I was gifted several clumps of blyxa japonica.  It is now in the process of slowly melting away. 
Is this plant sensitive to being moved, will it likely grow back, or is it just incompatible conditions?  Any insights?

Low/medium light, eco-complete, it's placed in a high flow area, nothing else added to date.

Thanks for any help, I really loved how this looked. 

[Stussi613]

I tried some in my medium light tank when I first set it up (no c02) and it melted within weeks as well.  My tank has discus in it so the higher temps may have contributed.  Charlie is the king of Blyxxa...he may have some advice for you.

[charlie]

I tried some in my medium light tank when I first set it up (no c02) and it melted within weeks as well.  My tank has discus in it so the higher temps may have contributed.  Charlie is the king of Blyxxa...he may have some advice for you.

Don`t listen to this guy , i know not of what he speaks
I think Stuart has hit it on the head, it could be the transition form high light & CO2 to a tank where the conditions are different, BTW there are more plants that will do this.
Regards

[Peekay]

Can i hope for it to grow back after the transition period? 

[pm]

I too got a batch from a not-to-be-named-guru  .  ALL of it is gone now (melted to nothing).  Mind you, this was before my current lights and pressurized co2, but just wanted to let you know that you are not alone on this one.

Everyone seems to have a list of plants that die on them. Blyxa japonica is number 1 on my list.  I just added three small plantlets to my big tank today (to see if I can grow it now)... time will tell if my luck has changed.

[fischkopp]

Blyxa can be quite fuzzy sometimes. If you get the conditions right it will grow like weed, if not then it will have a poor existence. Any plant will take some time to adapt to a new tank if the conditions are different, and with blyxa that means it will loose a lot of their old leafs.

I find that blyxa does need a fair amount of light, medium (low tank < 16") to high (tall tank) at least. It hates being shaded. High CO2 levels are preferred, as with most plants, just keep an eye on your fish. And keep an eye on your calcium, with Ottawa water being very soft it tends to deplete quite quickly.

[bizfromqc]

I am having the same thing happening to my Blyxa Japonica.

Dan (DaWolfe) picked some up from Errol and I got his leftovers I think the plant is just angry at me for having it taken away from The Ritz (Errol's tank) to living on the streets (My tank) LOL

It's in my 10G now with 5 pesky little creatures (zebra danios) and I pick up 4-5 leaves daily floating at the top of the tank. The Danios do love to play in there so it's probably not helping...

In any case, here's to hoping they adjust to my 15$/night hotel of a tank 

[Peekay]

bwahahah!  Nice analogy.  The plants I got from Peter were temporarily ticked too, but have adapted to the ghetto nicely. 

Interestingly, my blyxa only melted in the highest flow spots.  The rest is still here!  I thought it would all go when those first clumps vanished, but nope.  Luckily, my fish leave it alone for the most part.

[bizfromqc]

Mine are straight under the output of the HOB filter.... maybe I need to change this.

[charlie]

I am having the same thing happening to my Blyxa Japonica.

Dan (DaWolfe) picked some up from Errol and I got his leftovers I think the plant is just angry at me for having it taken away from The Ritz (Errol's tank) to living on the streets (My tank) LOL

It's in my 10G now with 5 pesky little creatures (zebra danios) and I pick up 4-5 leaves daily floating at the top of the tank. The Danios do love to play in there so it's probably not helping...

In any case, here's to hoping they adjust to my 15$/night hotel of a tank 

You are the best 
As mentioned Blyxa Japonica is known to melt especially when moved from one envrioment to another with totally differnt enviroment there are several other plants like this.. here are a few links of many that talks of Japonica melt down.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plants/101346-how-save-blyxa-japonica-melting.html
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/7395-Blyxa-melting-at-center-cause-fix
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/7058-Blyxa-japonica
Just google blyxa japonica melting
Errol

[Peekay]

Mine are straight under the output of the HOB filter.... maybe I need to change this.

YES!  That's where the ones that melted were in my tank too. 

[sylros]

I too got a batch from a not-to-be-named-guru  .  ALL of it is gone now (melted to nothing).  Mind you, this was before my current lights and pressurized co2, but just wanted to let you know that you are not alone on this one.

Everyone seems to have a list of plants that die on them. Blyxa japonica is number 1 on my list.  I just added three small plantlets to my big tank today (to see if I can grow it now)... time will tell if my luck has changed.

I've got some of those too although I didn't know it at the time. lol Because I didn't know what they were, I left them floating for a little while and yes there were some leaves that melted but not extremely, some were even growing but the fish were pecking at them too much for my liking. Anyway, they all got planted last weekend and so far so good. There is no shade where they are...and are actually replacing the riccia moss which died after it grew to its maximum height and the weather loaches were having way too much fun rumaging through it, cool to see but it made for a whole lot of bits floating about, and eventually....it was all gone! Anyway, I am trying to get some type of grass look in this particular area of the tank and love the look of the blyxa. From what I've read, it is supposed to adapt and CO2 is only benefical not a necessity...but i do add liquid CO2 as my DIY CO2 remains a mystery on making it work. LoL