Hard water & Soft water

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

My recent trip to Houston to the DFWAPC Plant Fest,
was very educational. I, along with the others, came
back with information and ideas. Loads of them.
One of the things that struck me was the simple comment
by Luis.. '...just look at where that plant comes from'.
That just set my mind reeling! I realized with amazing
clarity that I have, in my tank, plants that are
from the softest waters in the Amazon, as well as
plants that originate from the hard waters of Austrailia.
Yet, I'm trying to grow a zillion plants which orginiate
from so many different locations in the same tank
with the same water chemistry.
Yes, plants are adaptable, but to what extent?
I'm sure that the capability of a plant to adapt
will also differs from one plant to the next. Some
will adapt - others will die.
You can distinctly see issues some plants have with
water chemistry - I can't grow Rotala macranda in
water with high NO3. Likewise, Elatine triandra
seems to like NO3 rich water. Toninia species
enjoy softwater, whereas it seems that the
Eusteralis species thrive in harder water.
Growing all these in the same tank will be a
tricky balancing act. Trying to figure out
what that moderate range of water chemistry is
in which all the plants grow well will take months.
And then - you add remove some plants and start from
square 1 again.

I think I need to pay more attention to where the plant
orginiates from. Use plants that are from regions with
similar water chemistry and then aquascape. Some plants
seem to thrive no matter what the water is like, but
I think I'm beyond most of those plants. There's no
point in aquascaping when I'm still stuggling with
trying to grow plants.

[Archie]

some people need a challenge <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0">

[RTRJR]

And for those not looking for a challenge? We need a good word, and no, "lazy" is not acceptable even if it has some justification.

[Ben Belton]

This is why I told you I didn't buy that Downoi stuff. I was told it came from hard waters and I have really soft water right now for the Tonina.

You said it came from soft water... ugh... we need to find out and maybe I can still get some. I would have to say I don't really know what kind of water it comes from.

Ben