Pepere Posted June 5 Share Posted June 5 Both received the same day. Both planted in similar substrate, treated with root tabs the same, water column fertilized the same, same lighting, same temps, same CO2. The only difference between the two, is one has undergravel filter plates and one does not… I have no idea if the UGF is having any impact or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle_Aquarist Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 Hi @Pepere Which picture is the one with the UGF? The one with the larger crypt or the one with the smaller crypt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 I'm hoping that you are going to tell us that the UGF is under the large Crypt! The UGF is supposed to be "the best of both worlds" for plants. However, my first Crypt simply existed for the better part of a year and a half. More recently it has awaken and is similar in size to another larger Crypt purchased 6 months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 Under Gravel Filter plates with uplift tubes showing in the background. no UGF. both tanks have mesha bags of aquasoil strategically placed in the tank. Both crypts has good access to aquasoil under the gravel. i am wondering if the Tiger Lotus might be suppressing the crypt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 6 Author Share Posted June 6 Well, lets see what this does. the roots were extensive and took some time to free up. moved the lotus to provide the Anubias more shade as it grows ou. I had been trimming the leaves down significantly to give the crypt more light… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Watch Corys lighting measurement video where he uses a par meter, even that little 1/4 ~ 1/2 inch change between a filter plate and non filter plate can have a huge impact. If I remember correctly the impact was multiplied as the depth increased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 @JoeQ Crypts tend to be rather low light demand plants… however the crypt that is thriving is definitely closer to the light than the one that is struggling. Yesterday I removed a Tger Lotus that was very close to the struggling crypt thinking perhaps it might be chemical suppressing the crypt or possibly outcompeting for substrate nutrition. It indeed have significant root structure penetrating the mesh bag of aquasoil… I had been working continually trimming back leaves that were shading the crypt…. Now I need to wait and see a few weeks to see if this has any benefit for the struggling Pink Flamingo crypt… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 (edited) Well maybe thats a factor, the small one being closer to the light doesn't have to grow leaves to thrive. Where as the bigger one farther from the light needs to grow leaves to absorb more more light? Either way its interesting, I have AR in about the same spot, one stem is thriving, the other keeps growing deformed, which I doubt is from a nutritional deficiency. In my case im wondering if its simply a matter of the deformed plant reaching the end of its life span. Edit. Need to rewrite read your post wrong. Edited June 7 by JoeQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 The one that is thriving is closer to the light. The struggling one is furher… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 On 6/7/2023 at 8:44 AM, Pepere said: The one that is thriving is closer to the light. The struggling one is furher… Realized that after re reading your post. Another school of thought is that it didn't need to grow foliage on account of having a plentiful food source close by, instead it grew bigger roots to absorb said nutrients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Interesting terracing effect in the UGF tank. It sounds logical that the Tiger Lotus is robbing the Crypt. I guess it is also possible that the other Crypt is making better use of the deeper substrate. Either way you will have your answer in a few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 (edited) The nutritive layer is about the same in both tanks. the terraced area was raised up using coarse pummic stone before covering with a layer of gravel, mesh bags of aquasoil and covering with more gravel. I didnt want flow to the undergravel filter too impeded. the area with sand had 3/4 inch of gravel on the plates, landscaping cloth on top followed by sand layer. unlike MD fish tanks I do not have my mesh bags of aquasoil make a continuous layer under the cover. Rather I quarter fill a bag loosely and roll it into a long burito and stagger them through the substrate and cover. Then I plant between the logs of aquasoil. Less covering gravel needed that way…. I am guessing it gives better flow through the gravel to the under gravel plates too and somewhat less flow through the aquasoil bags… At least that was my thought process. I could be all wet… Edited June 7 by Pepere 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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