Frogbit

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Offline Geoffish

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Frogbit
« on: March 25, 2018, 10:36:20 PM »
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Hi

I’ve been thinking of getting some amazon frogbit to give me a bit of surface cover in my (260l) tank.

However, I’ve read that it grows across the surface quickly. I’m only looking for 20% cover and not intending to spend loads of time “gardening”! Can anyone give first hand experience of this?

Also, my nitrate readings are pretty low compared to others I’ve seen noted here. It’s consistently 5-10ppm, even before a WC (ammonia and nitrite both 0). I try to avoid adding fertiliser since I don’t want to encourage green algae which seems to grow pretty quickly despite my clean up crew. I read here that frogbit uses up nitrates, so maybe I’d have issues growing it anyway?

Any advice is welcome!

Offline TopCookie

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Re: Frogbit/
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2018, 10:55:39 PM »
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I have AF in my tank and can recommend it...  It does grow fairly quickly, there's no doubt about that, but it is sooooooo easy to "crop thin" on the grounds that it just literally floats on the surface...  I honestly wouldn't let the thought of it growing quickly put you off...  :)

Offline Matt

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Re: Frogbit/
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2018, 11:55:18 AM »
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I also have low nitrates and have bad trouble growing floating plants when they get attracted to the filter outlet and flushed below the surface. I have never water to put something across the waters surface (such as airline) to stop this as I know many people do because I think this looks too unnatural.  Further to this my fish seem intent on eating the roots of the plants which doesn't help either. That said they are not inherently hard to grow as TopCookie has said, I've had more success with the larger species whose roots tangle up in the plants below anchoring them in the tank. I think they can take either flow or nibbling but not both!

Offline fcmf

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2018, 06:01:13 PM »
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I've had Amazonian frogbit several times in my tank. I love the roots which dangle from it, and the fish seem to like them too - from that perspective, they're better than salvinia (which has the advantage, in my experience, of being more durable) and phyllanthus fluitans (which, in my experience, melts and dies very quickly). I've never had the AF survive for long enough to have it grow, though, so can't really comment on that. To avoid it being buffeted around by the filter outflow, I bought some fish feeding squares to "contain" the floating plants - due to the way these float on the surface, they aren't actually visible when looking at the tank (especially if the sucker is against the back wall of the tank) and serve the purpose very well; however, I think the reduced oxygenation probably contributes to their demise.

Offline Geoffish

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2018, 09:16:01 PM »
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Thanks all. Location should be ok for me as the corner I’d like them to end up in is the area with least flow (above the ext filter inlet).

@Matt - Are there any particular culprits for eating the roots?

Offline Geoffish

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Re: Frogbit/
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2018, 09:20:39 PM »
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I have AF in my tank and can recommend it...  It does grow fairly quickly, there's no doubt about that, but it is sooooooo easy to "crop thin" on the grounds that it just literally floats on the surface...  I honestly wouldn't let the thought of it growing quickly put you off...  :)

Good good. What are your nitrate readings like?

Offline Matt

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2018, 09:57:36 PM »
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@Matt - Are there any particular culprits for eating the roots?

I've never actually caught the culprit to be honest but the rams are my prime suspect...

Offline TopCookie

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2018, 11:19:38 PM »
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Nitrates super low...  but I use TNC Complete, which contains additional nitrate... 

I had originally started with the TNC Complete but switched to the TNC Lite...  After a while, I realised there was some malnourishment in some of my plants and have consequently switched back to the TNC Complete precisely for the boosted nitrate and phosphate, on top of the other essential nutrients...  :)

Can't tell you much about any other brand of liquid ferts as I have only used the TNC stuff to date, but for a well planted tank that's low on nitrates & phosphates, the Complete looks to be the way to go...  One caveat would be that I'd welcome additional opinions on this from the more experienced guys n gals on the forum here, but certainly Complete is doing it for me at the moment... 

Offline Matt

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2018, 12:31:49 AM »
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The only truly 'complete' liquid fertiliser is The Aquascaper Complete Liquid Plant Food.

Made by George Farmer, as I understand it, this is the first Plant food to have all the macro and micronutrients you need in the correct amounts in one bottle.

Offline Geoffish

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2018, 07:56:00 PM »
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Ok, I’ll probably invest in some of that @Matt. I noticed that the fertiliser I have doesn’t contain nitrates, but has trace copper so I’ve used v v sparingly to avoid disturbing the shrimp.
Does aquascaper contain copper ? Or maybe you don’t have shrimp?

@Cookie - Likewise TNC? You’ve got shrimp I think, so presume no issue.

Btw, I don’t have rams so hopefully won’t have any issue with the roots.

Offline Littlefish

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2018, 09:57:48 PM »
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TNC has 0.002% copper in the mix. I've used it on tanks with ammano shrimp without incident, although I do use it daily with 1/7th of the dose, rather than a larger dose once a week.

Offline TopCookie

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2018, 10:32:09 PM »
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Issue free with the TNC, both the Complete and the Lite, with both the Amano shrimp and the snails...  :)

Offline Matt

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #12 on: March 28, 2018, 11:35:31 AM »
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The amount of copper in plant fertiliser is not dangerous to shrimp even if dosed relatively highly. In medications the amount of copper is much higher so even a small dose can kill them. Dose away worry free!!

Offline Geoffish

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #13 on: March 28, 2018, 07:53:22 PM »
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Thanks both, I've just dosed the tank on that basis!

Offline TopCookie

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #14 on: March 28, 2018, 11:16:23 PM »
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Let us know how it goes Geoff...  :)

Offline Geoffish

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #15 on: March 29, 2018, 12:53:46 PM »
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Let us know how it goes Geoff...  :)

OMG everything has died!!

... Not really, all is fine.  :) I’m investigating blue velvet shrimp at the moment. They look great and my tank is still fairly lightly stocked at the moment, so have plenty of room for a gang of these guys.

Offline TopCookie

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #16 on: March 29, 2018, 01:33:06 PM »
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lolol Geoff...  you shouldn't tempt fate dude...   ::)

Offline Littlefish

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #17 on: March 29, 2018, 04:50:47 PM »
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Lovely colour on those shrimp.

Offline fcmf

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #18 on: March 29, 2018, 07:40:19 PM »
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OMG everything has died!![/quote]
I read this while eating my sandwich at lunchtime and almost choked. :yikes: Don't frighten me/us like that again!  ;D

Offline Geoffish

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Re: Frogbit
« Reply #19 on: March 29, 2018, 08:33:18 PM »
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 ;D sorry, couldn't resist!

I've made the decision to get some blue shrimp, just need to time it for when I'm definitely home for delivery so won't be for a week or so. They seem pretty easy to breed too, so may even give that a go. This time next year I may be a millionaire shrimp dealer...

 


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