# blyxa japonica



## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

I am going to attempt a blyxa japonica lawn. It'll be my first time gorwing it, and I thought I'd ask some questions first...

1 - Would 1.7 watts of HO light in my 29 gallon be enough (CO2, flourish, excel)

2 - How did you get it to stay on the substrate?


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

i tried growing blyxa in a 1.3 wpg tank and it did not take off. all the leaves melted and the plant died. 96 watts odno in a 75 gallon tank and no luck at all.

a 29 gallon tank is a few inches shorter so.... maybe. it could possibly work.
i guess if there was a lot of direct light. what type of light are you using btw? t5 HO's?

all you have to do with blyxa is plant it and soon enough it'll get rooted into the substrate. i did get blyxa to grow well in my tank but it took about a month for the blyxa to get acclimated to it. all the old leaves melted but the new ones grow in very lush. you can see blyxa in the far right in my signature. i actually took it all out though because it was growing way too fast for me and i hate trimming. blyxa works best as a mid ground or back ground plant. i wouldn't suggest trying to get a lawn out of it.
my lighting is 4x65 watts pc and once blyxa starts growing it can get pretty bushy.


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## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

MiSo said:


> i tried growing blyxa in a 1.3 wpg tank and it did not take off. all the leaves melted and the plant died. 96 watts odno in a 75 gallon tank and no luck at all.
> 
> a 29 gallon tank is a few inches shorter so.... maybe. it could possibly work.
> i guess if there was a lot of direct light. what type of light are you using btw? t5 HO's?
> ...


hmmm... I thought blyxa grows to about 4 - 5" max. Am i mistaken?

What other suggetions would have for a grass lawn effect with my current setup?


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

I started off with about 4 little plantlets, and now I have about 15. I have given away about 10 too. The stuff explodes in my tank. 

If you can't get the blyxa to take off, what about dwarf sag? I have a little in my tank and it is taking off too. It is a darker green than the blyxa, but it also grows a bit taller.


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## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> I started off with about 4 little plantlets, and now I have about 15. I have given away about 10 too. The stuff explodes in my tank.
> 
> If you can't get the blyxa to take off, what about dwarf sag? I have a little in my tank and it is taking off too. It is a darker green than the blyxa, but it also grows a bit taller.


Yes, I considerd it. I want something a little shorter though. Any ideas?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I used to have a Blyxa lawn and loved it. I had a 50 gal (4ft long 12" front to back). I also started with about 4 plants. Within 6 months the Blyxa covered about a third of the tank, within 9 months it covered half the tank. I just kept trimming the side shoots and replanting. My bottom dwellers loved it and they felt secure enough to stay out in the open (well, under the Blyxa) most of the time so I could watch them.


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## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

cah925 said:


> I used to have a Blyxa lawn and loved it. I had a 50 gal (4ft long 12" front to back). I also started with about 4 plants. Within 6 months the Blyxa covered about a third of the tank, within 9 months it covered half the tank. I just kept trimming the side shoots and replanting. My bottom dwellers loved it and they felt secure enough to stay out in the open (well, under the Blyxa) most of the time so I could watch them.


What was your lighting and how high did it grow?


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

when i think of lawn, i picture something like glosso, dwarf hairgrass, or hc.
blyxa is imo, to tall and bushy. i googled some images so you can get an idea of what i'm talking about.

in these pictures here, you can get a good idea of hall tall blyxa can get.
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N
http://www.luxinvestments.pl/akwariumholenderskie.jpg
and this is blyxa when its short
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/gallery/files/4/9/3/9/front1_original.jpg


i'm trying to get a hairgrass lawn going in my tank. you can see it starting in my sig but it's taking longer than i thought it would to fill in.


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## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

MiSo said:


> when i think of lawn, i picture something like glosso, dwarf hairgrass, or hc.
> blyxa is imo, to tall and bushy. i googled some images so you can get an idea of what i'm talking about.
> 
> in these pictures here, you can get a good idea of hall tall blyxa can get.
> ...


I see your point. Hmmmm... I want a grass lawn, that is why I didn't say HC or Glosso. 

Hmm... hairgrass is nice too. But it seems difficult to establish a harigrass carpet. How tall does it get, btw?


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## rrogan (Nov 5, 2007)

I have some blyxa in a 29g tank with a 2x55w ah supply light over it. The plant has some nice redish leaves, so it's liking the light. You can grow it with lower light, but I'm not sure how low it can be. At first I thought I was going to lose it all because it just kept melting, but one day it just decided to grow like crazy. I only have 3 plants right now, but they're starting to get big.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

I have both dwarf ahirgrass and blyxa in my tank, and both are very happy. I planted the entire front of my 90g with a 4"x4" portion that I divided up into as many small plugs as I could stand. It's essentially completely filled in now (I've trimmed it once to increase the density), and it's been maybe 6-8 weeks I'd say. Blyxa looks great behind the hairgrass I think, and mine is massive. If done properly, I think a tank with just these 2 plants could look quite impressive ( a long, slender tank that wasn't too tall)...the dark green, fine-textured hairgrass juxtaposed against the lighter green, golds and reds of the blyxa....


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## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

ColeMan said:


> I have both dwarf ahirgrass and blyxa in my tank, and both are very happy. I planted the entire front of my 90g with a 4"x4" portion that I divided up into as many small plugs as I could stand. It's essentially completely filled in now (I've trimmed it once to increase the density), and it's been maybe 6-8 weeks I'd say. Blyxa looks great behind the hairgrass I think, and mine is massive. If done properly, I think a tank with just these 2 plants could look quite impressive ( a long, slender tank that wasn't too tall)...the dark green, fine-textured hairgrass juxtaposed against the lighter green, golds and reds of the blyxa....


So the planting guidelines you gave are for the hairgrass? I really know nothing about this plant, except that it looks nice. 

Would it work in my 29 gallon, CO2 infused, 1.7 wpg tank? If so, what do I need to do to get a good carpet for it, and what kind of maintenance and issues might I expect?


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## customdrumfinishes (Apr 4, 2008)

Heres the info given at apc on blyxa


Blyxa japonica is an obligate aquatic plant often found in stagnant, shallow pools and marshes as well as in slow moving, iron-rich forest streams in tropical eastern Asia. It can also be found in man-made habitats (such as rice paddies) throughout its range. It is an uncommon plant in North America at this point, but it is rapidly gaining popularity due to its attractive grassy, hedge-like appearance. It should be easily obtainable from any internet retailer or local store that imports from the aquatic plant nursery Oriental Aquariums. 

This Blyxa species is not too difficult to grow if its basic requirements are met: intense lighting in the 2-4 watts per gallon range, CO2 injection, and a fertilization regimen including nitrate, phosphate, potassium, and micronutrient supplementation. If conditions are to its liking and lighting is intense, the leaves of B. japonica will develop golden and reddish hues and the plants will exhibit more compact growth. If it does not receive enough lighting, however, B. japonica will become taller, lankier, and greener. This plant produces an impressive root system and appreciates a nutritious substrate. If phosphate levels are kept high (1-2 ppm), this species will continuously produce small white flowers on long, thin stalks.

Despite its appearance, B. japonica is actually a stem plant growing on a densely foliated, short stem. Unlike other grassy mid- to foreground plants, it is not nearly as invasive since it does not produce long runners. Instead, it produces basal sideshoots which can easily be divided from the main plant with a sharp pair of scissors. Replanting these sideshoots can be a bit problematic as they are very buoyant and tend to float. However, they take root quickly once in place.

B. japonica has recently been popularized by Takashi Amano's 'Nature' layouts, where he utilizes its dense growth habit and grass-like appearance to form attractive greenish to golden tussocks in the midground. It forms an excellent contrast with small-leaved foreground plants such as Glossostigma elatinoides in aquascapes lacking taller plants.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

The planting guidelines I gave were for the hairgrass, yes.

I think your lighting might make growing this plant well a difficult task, depending on what kind of lights you're using...If you've got t5's with really great reflectors, than the results may be better. In order to get the runners to fill in densely and quickly it needs a lot of good light - otherwise it just kind of sits there in clumps and doesn't do much "carpeting." 

As far as maintenance, you need to be alright with regular trimming and debris removal; as long as you keep an otherwise clean tank and don't have a lot of plant debris and whatnot floating around then you won't have any problems...but, if you do get any type of algae growth (hair algae, clado, whatever) in the grass itself I could imagine it would be quite a chore to get rid of. Also, bottom-dwelling fish may uproot the plants before they fully take root, so that's also another concern.


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## Yassmeena (Jun 29, 2008)

Hmmm... all this is making me lean a bit more towards E. tennellus or sag subulata.

One thing is that I will be planting this grass behind an HC foreground. This is making me think that perhaps blyxa's length may not be an issue, since I plan on putting nothing else behind it. My other item in the tank will be a narrow-leaf java "tree" and maybe some anubias petite. 

In addition, I plan to add some more lights in a month or two. i currently have 1.7 wpg of T5 HO lights - nova extreme. I also used pressurized CO2.

What do you guys think - will the blyxa height look bad considering nothing will be behind it, and that it will have an HC foreground? Also, will it shrink down to more compact growth once I add more lights?


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## RedseaReefer (Aug 21, 2012)

Yassmeena said:


> Hmmm... all this is making me lean a bit more towards E. tennellus or sag subulata.
> 
> One thing is that I will be planting this grass behind an HC foreground. This is making me think that perhaps blyxa's length may not be an issue, since I plan on putting nothing else behind it. My other item in the tank will be a narrow-leaf java "tree" and maybe some anubias petite.
> 
> ...


sounds exciting! Cant wait to see it all in action.

I have read that the blyxa will stay alot shorter in higher light but will "reach" up for light if its not so high. But like you said.. putting it behind a actual lawn of HC. Should look great! A taller darker green "Long grass" in the back might look awesome! best of luck! keep up the pics


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

5 year old thread.


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## RedseaReefer (Aug 21, 2012)

MiSo said:


> 5 year old thread.


Well fml


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