Madagascar Laceleaf Frustrations

[Fishnut]

I have no luck with this plant...I love them and this is driving me NUTS!!

So far, I haven't managed to kill this bulb for 6 months plus...maybe closer to a year but it's growth has been pathetic.  Here's where it has been living for the past 4 months:

40gallon long (48 x 13 x 13)  Yes, I know how big this plant can get...I want it to fill the tank.

2 inches of gravel on the bottom that I never vacuum which consists of fine silica gravel, regular aquarium gravel and some of those larger aquarium gravel stones on the top for looks.

Lighting: 2 x 48" bulbs...one is a Zoo-Med Ultra Sun and the other is a Lightning Rod Flora Plus.  I do have some duckweed floating on the top but I scrape if off before it gets to the point where it's covering the surface.

Livestock...CPD's, Mosquito Rasboras, cherry shrimp and a livebearer that I got at the GA, which I don't remember the name of.  There's got to be about 30 teeny fish in there.  Oh yes...lots of MTS's.

The tank is room temp.

When I put it in initially, I stuck a sea chem root tab about an inch from it's bulb.  No effect it seems.  It grew 2 leaves that maxed out at 3" in 2 months.  Pathetic.  Now I moved it to a different spot in the tank...the 2 leaves are dying and it's sprouting a third...that took a month.

This thing should be growing!!

[fischkopp]

I remember there was a guy from the east coast who grew lots/loads of it for a scientific project. He had a post about it on the east coast aquarium society forum, and I am pretty sure there is a thread about it here on OVAS too.

Hope your lights are T5HO, CO2 will help a lot for obvious reasons, the duckweed is not good as it competes for light and nutrients. The plant does like a bit of flow as well.

[Fishnut]

Ok, I'll have a look for it. 

I read about the flow, which is what prompted the move to the new location in the tank.

I guess I'll have to do some daily duckweed removal to get rid of it once and for all.

[exv152]

You have the right lighting for that plant. Those bulbs are T5HO at 54w each which works out to about 2.7wpg, which means the plant could benefit greatly by adding CO2. But lace plants are native to streams and waters with lots of current so the water should be very clean. Also, algae or detritus can also hamper the plant from getting its requirements. Just my two cents.

[touchofsky]

I believe that I read that they like cooler water (which is what you have with the room temp), and they may slow down in the warmer summer months.

Good luck with it.  I have been brave enough to try one yet.  Maybe this winter when I revamp my 66 gallon planted tank

[Fishnut]

I bought a nice small net at Critter Jungle today to leave next to the tank for duckweed removal.

What bugs me is that YEARS ago I impulse bought a plant from a LFS in another city.  I got it home, realized that I had nowhere to put it, so I filled a 10g put a desk lamp over it with a standard 60w bulb and left it...no filter, nothing.  The things grew so much it filled the 10g before I new it.

That was the last time I had success.

Maybe I'll break out the old 60w bulbs and see what happens?  

[touchofsky]

Isn't that always the way? 

[Fishnut]

Sunday was water change day so I moved some plants around.  The laceleaf and the aponogeton boivinianus which is doing equally badly got moved to a more central location in my tank.  More light I hope PLUS I put a root tab between them.  I got 90% of the duckweed out as well.  Lets see how this works.

Here's a pic of the pathetic new leaf and one of the tank's inhabitants.  I wish I had 100 of them in there!  I only bought 20.

[exv152]

Sending pm.

[sas]

Discussion of Chili raboras moved to Freshwater section, so it doesn't get lost
in the Plant section.

Please try and stay with original post subject, I know it's exciting stuff but..........

Thanks