11 December 2016

newest batch of aquarium plants!

I received a gift certificate (for my birthday) to use at an aquatic plant supplier online, so ordered some new plants last week. This is what came in my box:
Two new anubias: 'congensis' and 'afzelii'. Afzelii is the one with the reddish stems.
Tissue-cultured cryptocoryne walkeri. It's the second time I've bought tissue-culture plants and I don't know if it's worth it for me, having the absolutely snail/disease free guarantee. They grow in these weird lumpy clusters with thick knobby rhizomes- I noticed this significantly with the anubias nana petite I got once, too. When I separate them all out to be able to plant, there's tons of little individual plants. That's great if you want a lot of mass right away- but it's hard to plant such tiny things. I think I'd rather have one larger plant in a pot... Also, this plant had an awful smell. I didn't put it in the tank. I rinsed it and kept it in a jar of tank water temporarily. More on that later.
Hygrophila pinnatifida- a plant I've always wanted, but I'm a bit leery about it because lots of people fail with this one in a low-tech tank. I was amazed at the size of these cuttings. Other plant in the picture is Ambulia or limnophila indica.
So here they are just planted. The hygro pinnatifida is beautiful immediately.
I know it won't stay like this- it's going to melt and grow back in a different form- probably smaller thinner leaves darker in color- but right now I'm really enjoying it. And I will like its other appearance too (as I've always seen in pictures) if I can keep it healthy.
I have most of it on the left side of the tank, one stem on the right just in front of the apono capuroni.
The anubias I got are varieties with tall, upright leaves. I put them in the back of the tank where they will get some shade and provide background color to some lighter plants. Also brought over the other half of anubias barteri (it was just too big in there) and put it in the background here. One little bit of it growing from a rhizome piece still in the tenner.
It's hard to see them because they are behind the screen of brighter, fine-leaved plants. This picture you can see anubias behind the hygro compacta on the left, and ambulia just behind it on the right. I'm not sure I like this plant. It has very fine foliage- finer than hornwort- and looks like a fluffy crumpled mess right now. Will have to wait for it to recover to see what I think.
Most of these plants are probably too big for my tenner, but I put a few short pieces of hygro pinnatifida in here, to try.
And small pieces that broke off the rhizomes of the new anubias. There were here in midground until I realized later it will make a mess to uproot and move them into background. So when I took out anubias barteri, I put the new ones in the back, behind the fake skull. Won't see them again for a while, until they grow taller.

1 comment:

Jeane said...

And now I seriously won't be getting any more new plants for a good while! But I could not say no to a gift.