# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Ammania gracilis



## imported_Ghazanfar Ghori

_Plant name_: *Ammania gracilis*

First a close up: 









Second the plant only 









Third: a pic that shows the potential: 









*Some Information:* 
_Light_: Medium - High
_Growth_: Reasonable. Not as fast as most stem plants, but not too slow either.
_Demands_: Moderate, needs CO2 and high light to bring out its best. 
_Pruning_: Just cut the tops and replant and let the rooted parts regrow.
_Water hardness_: Grow better in KH range of 4-8 dKH.
_Specials_: Gorgeous plant, with its best brought out with highlight & CO2.
_Propagation_: Each stem normally grows without branching or 
offshoots until its reaches near the waterline, at which point several
side shoots develop. To propagate, simply top and replant.

_Experiences_: This plant has found a permanent home in my tank.
I go through a LOT of different species, trying them out and only the
best stay. This is definitly one of them. Leaves get several inches long
so it does better in a low water current spot.

_Planting_: Can be used in a cluster of individually planted stems or
as a single stem accent plant.

*ORIGINAL POST BY GHAZANFAR GHORI*
http://www.aquabotanic.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1521

[This message was edited by Ghazanfar Ghori on Fri February 07 2003 at 07:54 AM.]


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## JaredtheAquamaniac

Have had some problems with one. New leaves that are being produced are crinkled, like a piece of paper left in your pocket all day. Darker in color too. Instead of being a lime green/pale pink they are much closer to the photos you have posted here.

The crinkling and smaller shape concerns me, as the plant appears to be trying to grow but somethings holding it back. My DIY CO2 is still questionable as to how good my sats are...after that Ive been following the dosing amounts from the Chuck's calculator with large (50%) weekly water changes.

Gave it a substrate tab underneath the stalk to see if that helped. Stalks look great though they are about as thick as my pinky finger just the new growth leaves a lot to be desired.

4.4 watts/gallon, no shade, I would think it would look superb....suggestions?

Stay Safe....Specs in profile


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## Ron Nelson

I have what I think is Ammania gracilis in my tank also. I'm having the same problems with crinkled leaves Jared is but mine also refuses to turn pink. It's always greenish in color...

Ron


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## gpodio

Nice pics! Here's a "not so nice" picture of mine during some nutrient problems, besides the algae it shows a good example of the wrinkled leaves. I found that it grows dull when shadowed by taller plants and the wrinkled leaves seemed to go away when I increased my phosphate level.

http://67.89.4.174/aqua/photos/04_2003/Image3.jpg

I love this plant, it really does have a distinct color to it.

Giancarlo Podio


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## Guest

Here is Ammania Gracilis in "Absolutely Fish" store in New Jersey. More pictures HERE










Join as at www.njas.net


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## gpodio

Jay I don't know if it's his plants or your photography skills, but what a nice picture you took.

I wanted to add something that I know is obvious but I've never seen it first hand quite like I did last night. I picked up some lighting fixtures last night for some new tanks I'm working on. I was able to not only compare the twin T12, trio T8 and 110W PC strip lights from All-glass but I was also able to see my tanks under many different combination of bulbs and temperature ratings. It's surprising just how much color changes, the ammania gracilis for example looked green, rusty/brown or pink depending on the kelvin of the bulbs or combination of different bulbs. This is the first time I've been able to see what my tank looks like with many different combinations of lighting, it made me re-think my lighting all over again









Giancarlo Podio


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## Ron Nelson

p-lvp,
The clipping was very pink not orange when I got it. I got it from Dustin known as Platy in these forums. At one point I thought it was going to start growing right, new growth was pink and it looked like it had rebounded. But then it just went right back to looking like a wrinkled green bunch of yuck. And unfortunatly I have no clue what changed. One thought I was having is does it prefer root feeding or water? The rest of the plants look better than ever...


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## Phil Edwards

I've had some going CRAZY lately in a tank using Seachem products exclusively. I just measured the pH and it's at 5.2! I guess it likes the acidity.......


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## tsunami06

> quote:
> 
> Originally, it drove me insane when my stand of Ammannia refuses to take on any color aside from green. In fact, when I temporarily upgraded my lighting from ~2.5 wpg to ~3.5 wpg, the Ammania became even greener. You can imagine my frustration. No one I knew at the time could tell me what the problem was, but they did give me a few stems of their Ammannia so that I can grow them side by side for comparison. Sure enough, their stems immediately took on this flamboyant pink color, not much different from Mr. Luto's picture. Naturally, I concluded that my Ammannia was either a different species or a completely different plant altogether. It wasn't until I joined this forum and read the above linked conversation did I discover that what I originally had was Ammannia senegalensis instead of Ammannia gracilis.


Ammania senegalensis is not green. In fact,
it can even be more intensely colored than
Ammania gracilis. The difference is mostly
in the leaf shape. Ammania senegalensis
has leaves shaped almost like hooks -- very
strongly downcurved. Ammania gracilis looks
more robust, becoming a very large plant
with very long, flat leaves. Nesaea pedicellata
is like a green Ammania gracilis... with
orange and yellow hues flushed in with
the bright green leaves and cherry red stem.

Carlos

-------------------------
"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." -- Van Gogh


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## Justin Fournier

I too had the problem surrounding the crinkled leaves. At first I thought distorted growth = calcium deficiency. Even though none of my other plants had any troupble, I assumed the gracilis was just more sensitive to calcium levels. Adding calcium to double my normal levels did not help. My PO4 is extremely low however. Keeping it low while I experiment with lighting, and don't want huge algae problems. I will double my P04 and I will see if this helps!


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## countrymouse

Phil Edwards, 

Next time you have some ammania cuttings available, I'd really like to buy some. I'm near Mooresville, and wouldn't mind driving to Charlotte for them.

________________________
Still a work in progress


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## Paul Higashikawa

Just thought to add some more pictures and data of this great plant based on my own exp. Growth can be fast or slow, depending on the CO2 and lighting. Both should be at least medium-high to high to very high(>4WPG). Daily dosing of ferts will help tremendously too! All in all, a great plant to have that can act as a center-piece or as an accent in medium to large tanks. Not recommended for small tanks(<20 gallons, and even this is pushing it) because of its slender and long leaves. It just wouldn't look right proportionally.


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## Paul Higashikawa

And one more:


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## Robert Hudson

Wow, it looks striped!


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## Paul Higashikawa

Robert, I'm not sure why it looks that way. It could be my camera's over exposure. But the actual plant does look pretty close to what the picture shows. I hope I really do have the right plant, haha


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## Wahter

From the water's surface.


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