# Marsilea Quadrifolia. i think?



## rednikolaou (Mar 1, 2011)

i just got an order of Marsilea Quadrifolia along with Echinodorus Tenellus from Aquariumplants.com

The Marsilea Quadrifolia was listed as a low-medium light carpeting plant but the one that arrived is almost 12 inches tall. was it just growned emersed and in low light?

any ideas in how i should plant it? i have a 6g fluval edge with a LED lighting mod, and i would like a carpet but currently it is way too big.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Trim all of the emerged leaves off 1/2 inch off the top of the pot, then plant it, give it a couple weeks and it will soon start growing the submerged version


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Your Marsilea Plant ?*

_Hello rednik. Your 12 inch Marsilea isn't one. Marsilea is a foreground plant and to my knowledge, varieties of this plant don't get a foot tall. They also require bright light. So, I think you have something else entirely._

_Depending on the height of the other plants in your tank, this 12 inch speciman should probably be planted in the midground wherever you have space. I'd plant it a minimum of two to three inches from the others if possible, just to give it a little room for growth. _

_A pic of this stranger would be helpful if you can send one, that way I or someone else here can probably identify it for you._

_BBradbury_


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## rednikolaou (Mar 1, 2011)

Noah and bradbury: thanks for your help. I got two pots so i will try noahs sugestion on one and post a pic of the second one


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Trust me, it's the right plant lol

I have it growing in both my tanks


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## rednikolaou (Mar 1, 2011)

ok well i took the pictures already so here they are. 

thanks agian for the help.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Yep, sure is
The right stuff, it is a fairly slow grower, make sure you break up the nodes a bit or it won't spread much


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## rednikolaou (Mar 1, 2011)

So i cut the top off one pot leaving 2 inches of stems . Should i leave those in the pot and rockwool and place it in the substrate like normal?


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

rednikolaou said:


> So i cut the top off one pot leaving 2 inches of stems . Should i leave those in the pot and rockwool and place it in the substrate like normal?


Cut the leaves off 1/2" from the top of the pot. This area is going to die off anyway. The longer stems would die in your tank, and well... look horrible until the new growth starts. So it is better to discard them right away instead of waiting for them to rot. Remove the plant from the pot, and get as much rock wool as you can off the plant. Be careful not to damage the roots. Then you can cut a few of the runners between the nodes and plant either the bunch in the tank, or trim it into several bunches and plant it. After a week or so, you should start to see new growth out of the area. 

this is what it looked like in a low light tank. It grew taller and with multiple lobes to the nodes.









The plant in the right front is the same plant, when i brought the tank up to high light. It grows much lower, and more compact. And more often than not, single lobed.


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## rednikolaou (Mar 1, 2011)

awsome! thank you for the great help. Will post pics of the new growth.

p.s i really like your tank.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Thanks  the 10 gal is my "play" tank. I am going to transplant some of the MQ into my 36 gal as well.


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## Chucklett (Jul 24, 2010)

Noahma - Interesting you show the multiple leaves as being "low light" and the single leaf being "high light". I read it should be the other way around!!! 

Pictures can be deceiving. What kind of height is it under the "low light"? It doesnt look overly tall.

Also, what do you consider to be "low light"? I want Marselia Quadrifolia and have 2 x 40w T8 tubes over a 4ft tank, though I will be upgrading the lights to 4 x TMC GroBeam LEDs at a later date. The substrate is about 15" or 16" from the lights. What do you think this plant will do under my current lighting, and also later when I get the LEDs????

I dont have (and dont want to use) CO2 injection, though I do have EasyLife EasyCarbo and liquid ferts. Im also willing to try any other recommended ferts (either as well as, or instead of, what I have)

Thanks :icon_wink


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Chucklett said:


> Noahma - Interesting you show the multiple leaves as being "low light" and the single leaf being "high light". I read it should be the other way around!!!
> 
> Pictures can be deceiving. What kind of height is it under the "low light"? It doesnt look overly tall.
> 
> ...


I would think the same about it. I guess the plant has to use enough energy to produce more leaves to gather more light than when there is ample light and it can store the energy. While it was under low light, the plant grew much taller 3-4" tall while under high ligh it is growing 1-2" tall single lobed leaves. The tnak while it was under low light was lit by a 6500 26w CFL desk lamp. With Red Root Floater covering the whole tank. When I started going to high light, I added another desk light, with the same rating, and removed half the red root floater (on one side of the tank) and left the red root floater on the side where the QM is. the QM in the far right side still grew taller, while the stuff near the center of the tank started growing lower after trimmings. Now that is has been full high light (3 26w CFL's) the QM has produced mainly single lobed close to the substrate leaves. The occasional multi leaf will pop up amongst the others. The tank is your standard run of the mill 10 gal. the lights are about 4" above the top of the tank. I am the worst person to ask about light intensity in tanks lol. I had to do some research to find out what I had in both my tanks too. There is a good chart provided by the light guru Hoppy in the lighting section to help determine what type of light you will have. This tank has always been co2 injected, started out with DIY, and now is paintball pressurized. I have also always dosed fert. in the tank using the PPS method in this one (until I run out of stock) and EI in my 36 gal. This plant is an extremely hardy plant.


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## taniner (Aug 10, 2010)

strange... I got a whole carpet of it and it barely reaches 1/2 inch tall at most.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

My guess is tha you have crenata or munuetta two different species of the clover


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## Chucklett (Jul 24, 2010)

Thanks Noahma. 

It seems to me that trial & error is the way to plant a tank. Ive spent hours & hours researching carpeting plants & mosses and have read contradicting opinions on nearly everything Ive looked at! I suppose, at the end of the day, its because no two tanks are the same. Nature will be nature and how one plant will behave in one tank, is not necessarily what it would do in another.

I have Crinum Calamistratum in my other tank. This plant apparantly requires high light yet is doing well under whats considered to be low-medium light, no ferts, no CO2, no nothing!! (though I do have a good plant substrate under the gravel). Granted Ive seen better specimens, but mine sure aint naff :icon_lol:


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