# Blyxa Japonica



## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

The melting is normal. I happened both when I got it in the mail from someone and then again when I moved it from one tank to another. Once it re-establishes itself, it will grow out new leaves and the old ones will probably just melt away.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

it never really melted for me and still doesn't. i have to say though, if i could pick the most successful plant i've ever grown, it would be japonica. i trim this stuff out about every 3 weeks. i "peel" off little babies, and plant down one from each mother plant, then give the mother plant + more babies to the buyer. i'm not sure how tall each plant is, but what you have may be b. auberti (sp?). i think it's a taller b. japonica. my japonica never reaches over 6".


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## edacsac (Nov 13, 2006)

I was wondering if it is b. aubertii. There isn't much to determine except for it's size. What about this peeling deal? Right now it's planted sort of dense, so if one comes out, they all come out. But somehow, I would like to start it over so to speak, and at least have it grow into the tank.

Also, I would rather have plants in my tank that I can cut, as opposed to actually uprooting to maintain. 15 stalks of blyxa literaly took me 3 hours to plant, because it doesn't stay down well. I don't want to suffer through that at each trimming.


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## Maazo (Jul 26, 2006)

B. auberti is a rosette plants whereas B. japonica is a stem plant. You should be able to tell that way.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

edacsac, i'm pming you.


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## edacsac (Nov 13, 2006)

Ok, two weeks in and my blyxa is just about done. Even the stems are melting now, and I'm doing twice the water changes from all the rotting blyxa in my tank. I don't know if I planted too much, or planted it two close or what. I have maybe two plants that I would consider alive right now. All the blyxa started growing runner/new shoots/babies, but as soon as the stems started melting, that new growth was done as well. I managed to remove one of the "babies" and get it planted as a test, but it has rotted as well.

Most of the other stuff in my tank looks ok. Nothing is awsome - most things are at least alive or barely growing, but the blyxa just wasn't happy. I'll probably remove the remainder shortly, since the blyxa death is now stuck to all my other plants from it circulating the tank.

I really like blyxa. Should I try blyxa again? Maybe get some trimmings from soemone elses tank? Maybe my water parameters where just way far off from the tank I recieved the blyxa from.

I'm dosing EI, doing frequent water changes anyway, I have a 36watt AH kit suspeneded above my 10gal, co2 at 50ppm per the chart and plenty of tank circulation, so I should be at least in the range to keep blyxa alive.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

want me to send you some of mine? 9 stems $9 shipped.


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## edacsac (Nov 13, 2006)

Thanks danepatrick,

I'm not sure yet. I don't want to just buy more so it can die. I need to figure out where I'm going wrong. Maybe though.


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## erijnal (Jun 19, 2006)

I believe a big key to blyxa japonica successfully being cultivated in a tank is a substrate rich in nutrients. 

What substrate are you using, and what kind of bioload do you have? Cardinal tetra poop went a long ways at making my blyxa grow like crazy methinks


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

Try it again. I found that it likes a nutrient-rich substrate and low-mediuim light levels, as opposed to high. My first time trying it was a mess like yours, but now its doing great.


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## edacsac (Nov 13, 2006)

I have a substrate of 1/2" soil covered with 3" flourite. I would figure this to be pretty nutrient rich. I did plant some of the blyxas rather deeps, but this didn't amke a difference when it came to which ones lived or died. Bioload is two dwarf puffers, and thats about all I can have for a 10gal if I'm keeping dp's. shrimp will come and go...

I thought my lighting was high, but it is supended about 6" above the tank so I'm sure that is wasting a good portion of the light. I did lower it 4" closer yesterday.

Ringram, what changes did you make exactly? Just substrate?


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## Maazo (Jul 26, 2006)

I've also read that it likes low KH.

I was given a couple of stem lately and seems to be doing fine. Substrate is pool filter sand over loam/vermiculite. pH 6.7, KH 4


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

By "soil", you don't mean garden soil do you? In any case, fluorite is pretty good, however, after switching to ADA aquasoil I found that fluorite wasn't nearly as good as I once thought. Either that, or it loses its "pop". My fluorite was ~2 yrs old and I switched everything to another tank with ADA and noticed a *dramatic* difference. Speaking of which, I wonder what the average life of fluorite is, before the need to start putting laterite, root tabs, etc in, in order to provide necessary nutrients? If your soil is for aquatic plants, that's probably a very good method and will be fine for growing the blyxa. It likes iron from what I've seen, as well as plenty of Co2


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

whever I see stems "melt" it is almost always a lighting issue. Maybe you stated it before, and I missed it...but what is you lighting like?
I have to say blyxa japonica is a very easy plant to grow with simple needs. When I hear melt on a stem...I think light,.....then CO2...but lighting first.


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## edacsac (Nov 13, 2006)

I lowered my light closer to the tank, and one of very dead melty stalks started a fresh sprout and grew almost two inches on that nights light cycle. I still had to remove it though, it was way rotting.

As far as that "peeling of the babies"; for me, it was more like snapping off the babies and planting them - soon to rot themselves. If thats the way they need to propogate, I'm sure I'll get plenty of practice anyway. 

I did plant the blyxa very dense initially. I received so much, I Was overwhelmed. I made a thick forest in a bout 1/4 of a ten gallon tank. I'm thinking that may have been a problem, because a few of the outer edge plants did alot better then the inside ones. I'm down to about 3 after plucking them, cleaning off the death and replanting them.

I'm kinda sickened that all these awesome blyxas just rotted away, but I guess thats how you learn...


Oh, and my light is a 36 watt ah supply over a 10 gallon.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

I'm sorry that you're having a lot of trouble w/ Blyxa. It's a great mid-ground plant for a 10g.

What is the pH in your tank? Blyxa grows well in very soft water. I have a very similar set up as yours. It sounds like you did plant your Blyxa very close together. I usually plant mine about an inch or more apart to make sure they don't shade each other. Also, make sure they get plenty of light. Plant them in the open.

Don't worry if they seem far apart, once they start growing, it will get a lot bushier once side shoots start growing. Good luck and I hope things turn out okay for you!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

bereninga said:


> I'm sorry that you're having a lot of trouble w/ Blyxa. It's a great mid-ground plant for a 10g.
> 
> What is the pH in your tank? Blyxa grows well in very soft water. I have a very similar set up as yours. It sounds like you did plant your Blyxa very close together. I usually plant mine about an inch or more apart to make sure they don't shade each other. Also, make sure they get plenty of light. Plant them in the open.
> 
> Don't worry if they seem far apart, once they start growing, it will get a lot bushier once side shoots start growing. Good luck and I hope things turn out okay for you!


This made me do some thinking! I have had exceptional good luck with blyxa for the past year. But, I live in a city that gets most of its water from a river, so it is soft water. However, as the river level drops the city gets more of its water from wells, which produce harder water. Well, we are in a hard water period right now, and my blyxa good luck has vanished. I cleaned my tank a couple of weeks ago and replanted the blyxa that I kept. All of them are doing poorly compared to my previous experience. So, I wonder if soft water was the reason for my prevous good luck. I'm sure it will rain again sometime, so I should be able to prove this to myself one way or another.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I am a believer in the softness issue.

I have had trouble moving Blyxa japonica for aquarium to aquarium. One aquarium has softer water (Aqua Soil) another has Flourite, and another has Eco-Complete. Moved plants struggle a bit.

I was having a CO2 problem with my 75G a year ago. CO2 was low, and water hardness was higher. Blyxa japonica struggled.

What are your symptoms, Hoppy?

I'd say the plant melts down a bit. New growth is pale, almost white. The new growth is small, and very curly.


Mike


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

i think softness has 100% to do with success of this plant. Everyone moans about the growth but I cannot get rid of it fast enough....Mine takes over my tank in a matter of weeks. Do I think I am doing anything special? Probably not, but my tap has a KH of 0-1....So my crypts struggle and my blyxa takes over. makes sense to me.


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

Momotaro - I'm in the same boat as you with the blyxa, I think.
My 20g fluorite tank didn't grow blyxa real well. In fact, although it was reddish, it was not as bushy and rather stiff, compared to its normal texture, IMO.
Then, I moved it to my 90g aquasoil tank (softer water) and its growing much better. I put some links to before & after pics below, so you see what I mean.

before: (kind of cloudy)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/r_w_ingram/shot-1.jpg

after: (blyxa on left side)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b322/r_w_ingram/right_side_020107.jpg

Granted, lighting it different in the two tanks, but I think its more attributed to the water hardness. I live in Sac like Hoppy, but I failed to noticed the tap water as being recently harder ...maybe I need to test 

-Ryan


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## edacsac (Nov 13, 2006)

bereninga said:


> I'm sorry that you're having a lot of trouble w/ Blyxa. It's a great mid-ground plant for a 10g.
> 
> What is the pH in your tank? Blyxa grows well in very soft water. I have a very similar set up as yours. It sounds like you did plant your Blyxa very close together. I usually plant mine about an inch or more apart to make sure they don't shade each other. Also, make sure they get plenty of light. Plant them in the open.
> 
> Don't worry if they seem far apart, once they start growing, it will get a lot bushier once side shoots start growing. Good luck and I hope things turn out okay for you!


Dont' be sorry, lol.. I'm learnin. When you say you usually plant them an inch apart, I had so much, the stems where an inch or two apart. I see where my trouble came from.

My KH is 5, maybe 4 by the time a water change is due. PH is 6.5, but I'm trying to see what 6 will do today. I think the two that remain may do better. I had three, but I uprooted a tiny one doing a water change today, and it disappeared on me.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

Well Edacsac, we're having the same problem and I doubt that its my substrate, CO2 or lighting...so apparently the water is the main issue...which sucks because I really wanted to keep this plant...


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## Bastian (May 2, 2009)

Any news on this one :icon_surp? I have the same problems growing blyxa also a kh around 5.


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

Good thread here. I was interested in trying some blyxa but am not sure if I will now. Does the KH or the GH matter the most? My Kh is at 3 but my Gh is around 11.


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## marrow (Feb 4, 2007)

Blyxa grows like a weed for me in tapwater pulled from a limestone aquifer, ph with lots of co2 gets down to 7.8. The substrate is good old inert red flint gravel and in another tank colorquartz., All tanks are EI fertilized. So much for soft water and rich substrate or else CO2 conquers these perceived deficits for blyxa


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## Bastian (May 2, 2009)

I trying it with these parameters,

Ph - 6.76
kh - 5
no3 - 8 mg/l
po4 - 0,5 mg/l
fe - 0,25 mg/l
co2 ~ 28 mg/l

In ADA Amazonia substrate and Power Sand M. Doesn't grow very well.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

I have soft water here in, and I also dose iron. I think the iron has helped as well. I have to thin mine out every couple of weeks.


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## Bastian (May 2, 2009)

How soft is you water exactly and you feed extra nutrient tabs right in the substrate close to roots etc?
I'm also dosing iron.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

I don't know the exact numbers for the hardness. 

I have a soil substrate and dose EI with extra iron.


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## Bastian (May 2, 2009)

Aah ok. Would be interesting to know little bit more about that parameter haha =) I'm trying to uproot my blyxa a little bit less. So it can root a bit more, hopefully that will improve it's growth.


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