HC Emersed

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:08 pm

I'm going to give this a spin. Was going to use Flora Base as a substrate. It and flourite are all I have. I could get some AquaSoil, but I'm not

It's not worth it.

Thoughts?
Ben

Post by **krisw** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:16 pm

I've never done it, but if you're growing emersed, why not consider regular soil? or better yet, try 3 little dishes - 1 soil, 1 florabase, 1 flourite, and let us know which grows more.

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:29 pm

You're trying to make a bunch of work for me aren't you?

I thought about soil but decided not because I will probably give it away or sell it and people (including me) don't want to have to wash the dirt out of it before they can use it. It would be a mess.

I'll try Flora Base and I'll let you know. Then you can make more work for me trying something else.

Ben

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:36 pm

The soil washes away very easily. To tell the truth it grows so fast underwater there isn't any reason to grow it emersed.

Post by **krisw** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:36 pm

Ha! Well, obviously, I'm just trying to have you propagate more HC than you can use!

So, what do you think of Flora Base as a substrate? Particularly compared to aquasoil... Any experiences?

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:48 pm

SCMurphy wrote:To tell the truth it grows so fast underwater there isn't any reason to grow it emersed.

My problem is that to get it to grow, it needs to sit stable for a week or so it seems and when I feed my shrimp, the MTS snails come from everywhere. As they stir up the substrate the HC floats to the top. Also, emersed takes up no tank space.

As far as Flora Base as a sbustrate, I have not tried AquaSoil yet to compare. I think it does give out after a few months like people claim, but in the tank I have it in, the plants got off to a great start because of how fertile it is and now I have started adding a few ferts, but I haven't had algae problems (in my opinion) because of the good start the plants got. I like the look of AquaSoil better, but if you don't have MTS snails!!!.... then your HC will cover the whole tank and you can't see it anyway. I like my MTS snails, but I've decided Clown Loaches like them better.

I wonder if emersed HC will tolerate shipping better than submersed.

Ben

Post by **krisw** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:54 pm

Starting to agree on the MTS bit. I just planted a bunch of ultricularia in aquasoil in a tank that has been without snails predators for some time. The MTS' in this tank are HUGE, and consequently, rip up everything when they bury themselves in the substrate. You'd think that after 7 days of constantly throwing them from the foreground to the background, that they'd learn to stop rummaging thru the foreground at night!

As I'm still a novice with HC, besides light and CO2, does it need anything more than regular dosing? (Loves nitrate? Needs lots of K, iron, etc...)

SCMurphy · Post by **SCMurphy** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:03 pm

HC loves Excel.

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:05 pm

krisw wrote:As I'm still a novice with HC, besides light and CO2, does it need anything more than regular dosing? (Loves nitrate? Needs lots of K, iron, etc...)

I have gotten it to cover the tank once... and then the MTS snails grew up and I haven't had luck with it since. I think it is pretty much a high nutrient kinda plant but others will have more experience.

Ben

Ben Belton · Post by **Ben Belton** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:07 pm

SCMurphy wrote:HC loves Excel.

I love Excel. It make my algae go bye bye.

My KH out of the tap is around 2 and BBA loves it no matter what you do with CO2.

Ben

HC Emersed

HC Emersed

Sponsors