# Growing Soleirolia Soleirolii Immersed



## Coconutboy

Hey guys, just thought you'd be interested in a little experiment I've got going.
I've been doing some gardening around my pond. and for awhile now have noticed that my soleirolia loves to grow over the edge of my pond and into the water. 
This of course led to an idea: Would it grow in an aquarium?

Anyways, I've looked it up, and so far, it hasn't been tried... I thought I'd have to do it my self.
So here we go:
I cut off some of the more vigorous looking stems and filled a pot with coconut fiber topped with Flourite. I then threw it into my new 6.9 gal. To-Be-Nano (which I'll start a Journal on soon)

Tank specs:
Two 15 watt T8's @ 6500k = 30 watts total 1500 lumens total
Flourite Substrate
DIY canister filter rated at ~59gph (which means it prolly running around ~35 gph right now)
Dosed micro nutrients + flourish excel + KNO3[potassium Nitrate] (every now and then)









Decided to have one planted and one floating bunch









Day one: No change. Both the float and planted are pearling. (Don't mind the HC)









Day two: Again no change (besides me adding drift wood and knocking a few stems out of the planted pot)









Comments and criticism welcome.
I like feedback. =]


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## Darksome

I was just looking up whether Soleirolia soleirolii is aquatic...and I found this post...cool! How is it doing so far?


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## Zapins

Hehe, yes, give us an update!!


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## Coconutboy

*Update*
So 11 days later, to my utter delight, my Soleirolia has began to sprout roots!
Everything still seems green (the brown is algae)
I took the potted Soleirolia and put the stems in the ground. So far so good!


Will post pics tomorrow!


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## Zapins

It will be particularly promising if new leaves start to sprout that look different from the old leaves.


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## Coconutboy

Zapins said:


> It will be particularly promising if new leaves start to sprout that look different from the old leaves.


It has new leaves, but we'll have to wait a couple more weeks for them to mature to see if they're any different. =]


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## Coconutboy

Unfortunately, my camera ins't good enough to capture the roots all that well. =[

They are there though... you can kinda of make them out if you look hard enough. =]


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## Coconutboy

Updates!
Almost a month now, and the Soleirolia is still thriving!
The bunch has almost doubled it's size, and the new growth appears to be more vertical than when emmersed.

Here are some new pics. I apologize for poor quality!









Full tank









Close-up [front]









Close-up [back]









[top]


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## Darksome

could it be semi/fully aquatic after all?


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## Coconutboy

Darksome said:


> could it be semi/fully aquatic after all?


I would assume so...
So far, It seems to be growing quite steadily in my aquarium a month later. =D
Which excites me very much. =D


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## Coconutboy

Update- More than a year later!
The soleirolia has died. 
It lasted a good 6 months in water though.
I think its more suited for a paludarium-type setup.


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## Cavan Allen

Oh well, thanks for the update anyway. You can't win 'em all.


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