# emmersed culture of Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides



## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

This plant is grown in plain aquarium gravel with a little bit of flourite.

It is an open top setup
No fertilizer is added. 
Grown under a 10 watt coralife colormax screw in PC.
water depth is approx 1 cm above gravel. Water is added when it is around gravel depth
.75 - 1" deep gravel


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

That's pretty. Lookin' good EDGE.

Best,
Phil


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## Justin Fournier (Jan 27, 2004)

The plants look healthy Eric, how long did it take them to get to that mass? What are ya gonna do with them?


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I think around 4 months. I took it out originally because I can't keep it in place with the discus, cories and any fish that eat the beefheart off the bottom.

I took 1/3 of the portion out about 1 1/2 months ago. I was trying to grow it in a shallow tank with a sump attach to it. It grew slowly without co2 injection in that setup.

I might give this plant another try in the 75G, but I need to find a way to keep this plant in the substrate.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Try planting some with the leaf just at the surface of the substrate, like a large Glossostigma. By the time it's grown up higher there should be a strong root system below to keep it anchored. That's worked well for me with Glosso and Marsilea in my discus tank. 

Best,
Phil


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I am thinking of cutting the runners and plant it leaf by leaf like we would with glosso.

The long runners causes a lot of problem when the fish are looking for food to eat.


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## Aaron (Feb 12, 2004)

How large are the leaves on your plant? The reason why I am wondering is that there is a Hydrocotyle sp. that grows here locally and I have always thought it to be sibthorpiodes. The leaves are a quarter to half an inch in diameter. Your plant looks much larger. Perhaps we've got something special growing in the weeds over here.


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## Steve Pituch (Jan 25, 2004)

Edge,
I would suggest that you plant at least two nodes together with two leaves. I think you need at least one undisturbed runner between two nodes for it to grow well.

Steve


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Each piece was cut to have 3-4 nodes when I planted it at start. I took the whole thing out a couple weeks ago to untangle the mess it created. 

I replanted them again with 1 node this time. It has been a couple weeks since replanting. 

Without the tangle mess, the leaves stay closer to substrate rather than hanging in the air. I looked at it closely today and it is starting tangle itself into a mess again.

It is the same setup as before, no fertilizer is added, not a closed system, and very little light (10 watt screw in PC).

I will take a photo of it tomorrow when I take photo of an outdoor emersed dome. I am experimenting the BC weather to see if I can grow swords outdoor. It looks okay so far; I will soon find out if new leaves are developing on them.

Next time I do a replant, I will take photos throughout the development. 

Aaron: The largest leaves was 1/2 to 3/4" in diameter.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Taken on May 4, 2004


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