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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Rooting stem plants

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17 Feb 2012 15:15 #1 by kilyth (De Burke)
The usual problem; cabomba and elodea just won't stay down, though the goldfish probably isn't blameless.

Anyway I heard of a way of planting them so that they're horizontal at the bottom with an inch uncovered, the next inch buried, and so on. The idea being that the unburied bits would put up new shoots, while the portions under the substrate would root and anchor the plant. Has anyone tried this? The only other thing I can think of is to superglue them to rocks.

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17 Feb 2012 16:24 #2 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Kilyth,

The normal method is to use the lead strips to weigh them down. Bunches of Cabomba or Elodea are usually supplied by the LFS in this way.
I have also recently seen clear plastic clips for securing plants in substrate or gravel. Last seen these in Seahorse.


Greg

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17 Feb 2012 16:33 #3 by kilyth (De Burke)
Thanks for the reply. I currently have them bunched in the, I think, ceramic weights they came in. However these only hold them down for a maximum of 24 hours before they come out of the weight again. I'm looking for something more permanent, but I think I may just have to scrap them and go for some sort of Val or Crinum to give the same look with more stability.

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17 Feb 2012 17:08 #4 by davey_c (dave clarke)
i used them clips for holding down stemmed plants as instructed and found them useless in gravel myself, you could get stones and put them over the stems in various places to hold them down. have you them tight enough in the rings? i have plants in ceramic rings and i've no probs with them unless, as you said, something pulls them out... the other thing is do they look to be rotting at the bottom?

you say you have them in coldwater with goldfish?? :huh:

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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17 Feb 2012 17:08 #5 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
I have had the same problem in the past but can't remember if I ever got it sorted.

Could you try something like this:



Just thought about it and it could work.

Sry for my crappy drawing skills B)

Melander

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17 Feb 2012 19:08 #6 by kilyth (De Burke)

i used them clips for holding down stemmed plants as instructed and found them useless in gravel myself, you could get stones and put them over the stems in various places to hold them down. have you them tight enough in the rings? i have plants in ceramic rings and i've no probs with them unless, as you said, something pulls them out... the other thing is do they look to be rotting at the bottom?

you say you have them in coldwater with goldfish?? :huh:

I've heard from several people that it's not unusual for stem pants to rot from the bottom if kept in weights.

Because I wanted the tank planted I'm keeping it at 22C, which is just warm enough for plants. I have camomba, Amazon Swords, Elodia, anubias and a couple of vals. They've been in there a couple of months and are all doing fine, though they don't grow as fast as in warmer water.

I have had the same problem in the past but can't remember if I ever got it sorted.

Could you try something like this:



Just thought about it and it could work.

Sry for my crappy drawing skills B)

Melander


Oooooh, that could work.

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17 Feb 2012 19:25 - 17 Feb 2012 19:39 #7 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Rooting stem plants
No, you will have 100% success if you follow my advice, remove all weights etc, separate all of the stems but line them up alongside each other and float on top of the Water, the bit at the bottom of the stem will rot off but at this point , new roots will develop, leave the stems to grow plenty of roots and only then, plant them, they will rocket away, I hate saying this but I have a degree in Horticulture so it's my thing so to speak. Cabomba is a cool water plant and high temps turn them to... ehm... Snot...

All stem plants should be treated like this, ie. allowed to develop roots on top of the Water, or floating etc.


This was discussed before.. here's a link...

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/fforu...6520-cabomba-queries


Kev.
Last edit: 17 Feb 2012 19:39 by stretnik (stretnik).

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17 Feb 2012 20:02 #8 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Interesting one Kev getting the Cabomba roots to grow using the method described and then planting.
Cabomba is on of the most beautiful display plants when say bunched over some wood or rocks
Like you say this plant does not like the high temps such as in a Discus tank.

Greg

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17 Feb 2012 21:11 #9 by davey_c (dave clarke)
i agree with kev, his method is tried and tested... i recently got alot of plant cuttings off a member on here and they are floating and rooting perfectly in 1 of my tanks... if mine don't come with weights or in pots (which usualy have an established root system) if i can i float them ;)

you'll have them done that way in no time :)

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

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18 Feb 2012 13:13 #10 by Melander (Andreas Melander)
Good to have learned something today too!

Melander

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18 Feb 2012 20:37 #11 by kilyth (De Burke)

No, you will have 100% success if you follow my advice, remove all weights etc, separate all of the stems but line them up alongside each other and float on top of the Water, the bit at the bottom of the stem will rot off but at this point , new roots will develop, leave the stems to grow plenty of roots and only then, plant them, they will rocket away, I hate saying this but I have a degree in Horticulture so it's my thing so to speak. Cabomba is a cool water plant and high temps turn them to... ehm... Snot...

All stem plants should be treated like this, ie. allowed to develop roots on top of the Water, or floating etc.


This was discussed before.. here's a link...

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/fforu...6520-cabomba-queries


Kev.

Thanks for that. They're all floating around the tank now so hopefully I'll see roots soon.

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18 Feb 2012 21:34 #12 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Rooting stem plants
Good for you.. don't be hasty, give them a couple of weeks and try to keep them from turning over, hard with Gold fish in the Tank I know, that way, the roots will all grow downward making it easy to root.

Kev.

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24 Feb 2012 19:40 #13 by Ma (mm mm)
Replied by Ma (mm mm) on topic Re: Rooting stem plants
elodea is fantastic, thing is you need a deepish substrate to keep it down.

I had no problems keeping it down though I used manado covered in an 1.5" of gravel. The covered part decays up to about an inch under the substrate and is just the stem which can easily come free, this is why the layer of gravel helps with its greater weight. If you bury it the buried secion will die and it will essentially become two seperate plants, best to keep one end rooted, if gravel is not an option some well placed selectively picked small stones cluistered at the base could work.

Really fast growing plant, I populated 3 tanks with it, has grown to 5' in lenght in my 450, plecos dont go near it and it can withstand a 12" gibby barging through it when bunched sufficiently.

Location D.11

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