Pogostemon erectus

[DBrown918]

Anyone have any experience with Pogostemon erectus?  Setting up a new 10 gallon tank and got a tissue culture and this is my first time with this plant.  It's a low tech set up with very soft water because I'll be housing only a pair of German Blue Rams to attempt breeding.  

PH - 6.6 kH - 1 gH -2 Temp-82

Substrate is activ-flora black sand.  Almost identical to eco complete but finer particles closer to sand.  I loaded Seachem flourish root tabs around the areas I planted.  Tank is just set up today so trying to get some advice before it cycles.  

I used straight RO water remineralized slightly.  Does it do ok with moderate lighting and no CO2?  Is it a heavy root feeder (hopefully)?  I don't want to be doing a lot of water column ferts because I'll be trying to maintain a low TDS for breeding purposes.

[Mmiller2001]

I would definitely put Erectus into the CO2 needed category but you may find some success without CO2. Running a planted tank at 82 degrees also increases failure rate. Erectus likes lower Nitrates in the water column and low pH. I would increase GH to the 4-6 degree range.

Edited May 17 by Mmiller2001

[DBrown918]

On 5/17/2024 at 4:23 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I would definitely put Erectus into the CO2 needed category but you may find some success without CO2. Running a planted tank at 82 degrees also increases failure rate. Erectus likes lower Nitrates in the water column and low pH. I would increase GH to the 4-6 degree range.

Temperature is going to be even higher for the rams.  I plan on 84-85 degrees eventually.  Do you know of any low tech plants that will do ok at higher temps?  Lighting is moderate.  I'm not going any higher on gH either so I guess I'll see how it does there.

[Mmiller2001]

On 5/17/2024 at 2:30 PM, DBrown918 said:

Temperature is going to be even higher for the rams.  I plan on 84-85 degrees eventually.  Do you know of any low tech plants that will do ok at higher temps?  Lighting is moderate.  I'm not going any higher on gH either so I guess I'll see how it does there.

Crypts, Vals and Hygrophila do pretty good. Just make sure to have a bit more surface agitation to help with O2 levels.

[DBrown918]

On 5/17/2024 at 4:42 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Crypts, Vals and Hygrophila do pretty good. Just make sure to have a bit more surface agitation to help with O2 levels.

Thanks.  I've got hygro and vals in another tank I'll pull from.  

[Seattle_Aquarist]

On 5/17/2024 at 1:19 PM, DBrown918 said:

Anyone have any experience with Pogostemon erectus?  Setting up a new 10 gallon tank and got a tissue culture and this is my first time with this plant.  It's a low tech set up with very soft water because I'll be housing only a pair of German Blue Rams to attempt breeding.  

PH - 6.6 kH - 1 gH -2 Temp-82

Substrate is activ-flora black sand.  Almost identical to eco complete but finer particles closer to sand.  I loaded Seachem flourish root tabs around the areas I planted.  Tank is just set up today so trying to get some advice before it cycles.  

I used straight RO water remineralized slightly.  Does it do ok with moderate lighting and no CO2?  Is it a heavy root feeder (hopefully)?  I don't want to be doing a lot of water column ferts because I'll be trying to maintain a low TDS for breeding purposes.

Hi @DBrown918

I too often questioned what plants require CO2 and which plants do not.  In nature there is no 'added CO2' so what happens if I try to grow some plants in a non-CO2 medium-low light tank?  In August of 2013 I set up exactly that type of tank, a 10 gallon with a high Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) substrate, an Aquaclear 20 HOB filter, and an old twin lamp incandescent fixture with 2X 7 watt LED corncob bulbs.  The PAR level of the tank was PAR@50.

Here is the tank one week after set-up.  Back row left to right is:  Limnophila sp. Wavy, Pogostemon erectus (also in front of L. 'Wavy'), Barclaya longifolia (red), plus Cryptocorynes to the right. Left foreground is Pogostemon helferi (aka Downoi).  The small foreground 'grass' is Helanthium tenellum 'Red'.  For ferts I was using a low dosing level of Estimative Index (EI) with Seachem Flourish for added micro-nutrients and Seachem Excel for added carbon molecules.

Here is the same tank three weeks later.  Far right rear is Nymphoides hydrophylla (aka sp. Taiwan).  The P. erectus is looking pretty good!

Here is the Pogostemon erectus two months after planting the tank.

And this is the full tank also two months after planting. 

Did the plants grow as quickly as they do with CO2 in my tanks? No.  However they do grow and look good!  Even the Pogostemon helferi and a small Blyxa were showing signs of new growth.

The lesson I learned was sometimes I just need to try things for myself.  In this case the results surprised me! -Roy

BTW. for those that are curious as to the substrate it is a calcined clay product, EP Minerals Safe-T-Sorb - about $8.49 for 33# bag.

 

Edited May 20 by Seattle_Aquarist