Attaching plants to rocks / driftwood.

YAL05T

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May 22, 2009
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North of Sydney
Okay, so a topic I just responded to on another forum got me thinking, why on earth did I spend days and days tinkering and farting about with an idea and not share them so here is one of my success stories.

Back when I had time to burn I set up a shallow tank and grew plants emmersed.

I used an old 4ft with upside down nursery pots (plastic ones that had been well rinsed).On top of these I had driftwood/rocks etc with anubias (primarily) attached with fishing line.

I had an old pond pump that I rigged an inline irrigation setup to with the misting watering nozzles set to spray across the entire tank.

I always kept the water level at a height that kept the pump covered but prevented the plants from being submerged or immersed. I still used a heater in the tank to keep it nice and humid and added plenty of aquatic plant ferts to give them the best growth. I also had a ridiculous amount of cherry shrimp that just cruised about and bred like rabbits in there.

Apart from the huge reduction in attaching time by the rhizomes/roots I was also rewarded with more flowers than I have ever seen before or since.

Once they were attached they ran the gauntlet in my African tanks.

I have been thinking about doing it again when I buy a house and set myself up properly.
 
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dw1305

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May 5, 2009
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Hi all,
It is a really good idea.

This sort of emersed approach is quite popular amongst aquascapers now, they call it the "Dry Start" (DSM) method.

It is also the way that Tropica etc grew all their plants.

cheers Darrel
 

YAL05T

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Staff member
May 22, 2009
378
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North of Sydney
I don't unfortunately. Back then I was buzzing from one "good idea" to the next. I should do a sketch when I can.