# Looking foir Ceratopteris thalictroides



## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Looking for the fastest and hugest growing plant ever - Certopteris thalictroides.

https://www.google.com/search?num=1....3.0.73.666.10.10.0...0.0...1ac.1.DJ6ouRBdIFk

I've heard horror stories and actually seen a picture of a leaf that had grown to 80 cm (32 inches!) in a 5 ft. tank and it was not even showing signs of reaching the maximum leaf length. Here's the picture actually:










Let me know if you have the plant and can part with some of it. I've dealt with it before and trimming 1/2 of it every other day didn't scare me. Let me see if I can handle it now again.


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## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

I have one plant in my emersed setup. I could put it in to my high light tank and have some babies for you in a week .This way you can see how fast it grows. In the past I have had this plant growing to about 2 feet tall. It grew up and out of my 18 inch tall tank, went right past the lights and kept on going.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Alright, I will gladly take it!

For the headache I'm willing to pay you. Tell me the price when you are ready.


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## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

no problem I am happy to do it free. I have learned a lot from you. I really enjoy the way you encourage people to think. Do you want it right away or should I put it into the tank for a little while to grow. I don't know what the temperature has been like where you are so let me know what you want.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Oh I thought you were local to DFW. I see you are in California.

I got to pay you for the shipping at least. Let me know.

It's best to ship the plant when it's still emersed. Not that it's a finicky plant and it will die either way.

I'm PM-ing you my address now. And let me know how to send you $10 for the shipping.

Please use some kind of insulation. It is 20 degrees here tonight. Also I guess you know but here it is: Please do not put any water in the bag with the plant. And the plant needs to be wrapped in a moist paper towel.

Thanks!


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## freshyleif (Jan 9, 2008)

Ok I will get a box together and send it out. Yes I do know not to put water, thanks for the reminder. I usually use a damp paper towel. I will see if my brother has a heat pack, since I know the temps are a challenge.If I can't get that I will at least put some more insulation in the box. I will PM you this after noon when it is in the mail. I use USPS priority so it should get there by Saturday. Again I am very happy to do this so I will only take carma as payment or a picture or two. P.S. some time I wish I was in TX just so I could join your club.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Niko,

Did you get all of the Ceratopteris thalictroides you were looking for; I have some that was grown submerged. I gave away about 1/2 of what is pictured but you can have the rest. All my plants are snail-free.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Freshy,

Thank you for sending the box! I will certainly take pictures. The goal is to conduct an experiment. I got a 180 gallon tank without any plants. It has about 60 2 to 2-/12 inch fish. I can keep the tank clean only if I change 30% of the water every other day. Light is 160 watts, filters have 8 gallons of lava rock and no mechanical filtration. Flow is 1100 gph.

In that environment I get a little algae on the glass but Cladophora creeps up on the bottom. I figured out that there should be something eating whatever makes the Cladophora grow. That's how I got it in my head that a planted tank is one big Aquatic Plant Scrubber. If you keep it that way algae has no chance. Adding extra fertilizers in the water is very much a guarantee for the opposite. Nothing new, really.

So your Ceratopteris will go in a 6x2x2 foot tank. It will have CO2 and I will increase the light too to 320 watts. It will be interesting to see a series of pictures in which the Ceratopteris takes over and the algae dwindles away. This is an old video of the tank with some wood + Bolbitis in it. Most people have seen it but the way the fish move is truly amazing:






Seattle,

The Freshy already send me a box. The plant grows too fast for me to get all glutonous now and get more. Thank you for the offer. When I start trimming I can send you some for free if you want...


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