Chain Sword Carpet Project

[Dan]

I just picked up a 4 chain swords plants from a fellow forum member. I read up on them and apparently in the right conditions they can turn into a carpet .

Just for fun, I am going to be keeping track of their progress on this post with weekly pictures.

95 Gal
Substrate: EcoComplete
PH: Reading at 10:00PM - 7.2
Dosing: 1.5 capfulls of Flourish every Sunday
Co2 System
Lighting: AquaGlo 18000K 40W
Lights and Co2 on from 10:30AM to 8:30PM

[blueknight0303]

they will carpet in no time even with minimal care. careful on algae tho.

[wrm130]

lookin good.  Can't wait to see updates and progress!

[exv152]

I like the boesemani rainbows.

[Dan]

So it's the end of the first week and I did not notice any change (which is great as new introductions usually go a bit down hill the first week - I was especially worried because they came out of a dirt substrate tank) until I compared the tank to last week's picture!

Check it out!

1: It's actually reaching out with new growth - 7 days! I am impressed.
2: Two new stems on that plant.



I was told it was a rapid grower but did not expect to see anything for a few weeks!

Today's PH reading was 7.0 which is a .4 drop from last week. I had slightly increased the Co2 last Sunday which might account for the drop. I have added about two golf balls worth of crushed coral to in filter to see if that will bring it up and level it off. I have many snails so I try to keep the PH around 7.2/7.4). Contrary to what I have read, the Cardinal Tetra's (I have 21) don't seem to mind (colors are vivid as you can see).

[blueknight0303]

they will not grow as fast as the regular swords but they will spread out real quick like in the next 2 weeks once their roots are really settled you will see many extensions of them growing.

[Dan]

Things are progressing well! New shoots from every plant. blueknight0303 was right!

Had my PH issue under control until I ran out of C02 on Friday (PH went through the roof). Going to get my tank refilled tomorrow. Last time this happened the tank developed an algae problem which took 2 months to fix. Crossing my fingers...


New shoots are highlighted:


BTW - The tanks is 90 Gal and in the picture we are about 8 inches from the left hand side of the tank. The white specs on the driftwood are Zebra Snail eggs (won't hatch because water is non brackish). I got the SA you see in the PIC at one of our monthly meetings  . This tank has been running for 1.5 years with various plant experiments.

I now have five visible plants (4 mothers and 1 daughter). I say 4 new daughter plants by day 21 if all goes well (I will see how accurate my guesstimate was in two weeks)

[ceci]

Where did you get your rainbow from?? Beautiful colours and healthy looking.....I'm looking for some to house with guppies. My piranha's ate my last rainbow.....(lesson learned the hard way)

Ceci

[charlie]

Things are progressing well! New shoots from every plant. blueknight0303 was right!

Had my PH issue under control until I ran out of C02 on Friday (PH went through the roof). Going to get my tank refilled tomorrow. Last time this happened the tank developed an algae problem which took 2 months to fix. Crossing my fingers...

New shoots are highlighted:


BTW - The tanks is 90 Gal and in the picture we are about 8 inches from the left hand side of the tank. The white specs on the driftwood are Zebra Snail eggs (won't hatch because water is non brackish). I got the SA you see in the PIC at one of our monthly meetings  . This tank has been running for 1.5 years with various plant experiments.

I now have five visible plants (4 mothers and 1 daughter). I say 4 new daughter plants by day 21 if all goes well (I will see how accurate my guesstimate was in two weeks)

Dan whenever you run out of CO2 reduce your lights dramaticly until you get it back on line, palnts will be fine for a few days.
Regards

[Dan]

Well I left this post vacant for a few months but wanted to give an update. 10 month's later and the initial plants have turned into this!



It took some time but I am quite pleased with the result. 20 octo keep it clean  

If anyone is interested, I can bring some at the next meeting (I need to uproot and dispose of mature plants on a monthly basis or I will get over run!)

[charlie]

Hey Dan, not sure if it`s just me , but I`m unable to see the picture.
Errol

[ajm1961]

Can't see it either...
Anxious to see how you tank is turning out Dan!