Jump to content

Bucephalandra, who's got what.


buck

Recommended Posts

my first one (a tissue cultured brownie “ghostâ€) is in the mail as I type and I’m super keen to see how it goes! ill post a pic when it comes, and as it grows.

 

Call me nosy but I’m keen to see what different buce's people have in their collection And how their keeping them if they have special propagation tanks for them. Growth rates of differnt  ones, lighting, co2, ferts  and any other information you wish to divulge. Or just a list and pics for ogling will be fine    

 

I get the feeling there is some kind of secret buce society that is very hush hush about their collection haha

 

But they have been around for a while now and the prices are starting to become more realistic ( for the now common ones) making them more attainable for the lower budget enthusiasts, like myself.  

tumblr_nfyb5u3uaK1qjnrnyo1_1280.jpg

Edited by buck
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I HAD a couple. They melted in the heat last summer.

 

So that's my tip. 

 

I had them in my amazonian fish tank, cause that's where most of my aquarium plants are. That tank gets CO2, ferts and high lights.

But it's also kept warm. A couple of 30+ days last summer, and the tank reaching 29+ Deg C, had caused them to melt and die off.

 

Keep them in with your shrimps in a 23-24 deg C tank.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah from what I’ve read they like cool water with good flow, people have them in all kinds of conditions and are having "success" but some are slower growers then others. So I was hoping people could share there exp with quick growers and slow growers and how they improved the growth rates.

 

 I should probably collect the tips and make some kind of information chart on them, based on the skf members experiences with them. That way we all have a quick reference  guide.

 

I guess a price list like we have for shrimp wouldn’t hurt either.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a few now. Keep them in with my CRS, no CO2, try to keep temp down for the shrimp. pH has been 5.5 - 6.0. Only ever lost one buce, to be honest I still have no idea what happened. Just rotted away from the inside out. Possibly the rhizome was damaged during transport and bacteria got in.

Definitely one tip that I have seen evidence to support is that the buces do alot better growing in soil than on rocks. I think they look better on rocks, so now ai stick them onto small rocks <1cm high so they can drop their roots into the soil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rhizomes need to be above the substrate and not buried. Very important. Like Anubias.

They grow faster with medium light. High light can be used but they don't seem to grow any faster with higher levels of light. It just increases the chances of algae growth.

So medium light is the best compromise.

 

Buces love CO2 and will grow faster with CO2. Excel (or equivalent) can be used but it wont be as fast. Note: Both CO2 and Excel isn't recommended 100% in shrimp tanks.

 

Ferts as per all rhizome plants. They take ferts mostly from the water column, and only a little through the roots, if you have the roots in the substrate (note the first tip: rhizome above substrate). So you need sufficient N, P and K as your major fert elements in the water column. Grow them partially in the substrate for fastest growth, so they take ferts from the water as well as from the substrate.

 

Once they start growing larger, you can propogate them by cutting the rhizomes, like anubias, ensuring you have leaves, rhizome and roots on each cutting.

 

They like cooler temps, as mentioned. With flowing water, to "catch" more ferts in the water column.

 

The buces I had are very sensitive to changing water conditions. So transplanting them, or setting them up in a brand new tank will shock them and you could loose a few leaves to melting. So avoid changing from submersed to emersed growth if possible. Med to High CO2 during these changing conditions will help heaps to avoid the melt.

 

So you could say that some, if not most, of these requirements are not shrimp friendly, so a dedicated plant tank to condition and strengthen them before they are introduced into your shrimp tank and their permanent home will be a good idea without stressing out your shrimps just so you can get the buces established.

 

Once they are in a permanent tank, you can reduce CO2 to almost none, zero ferts except for the shrimps and lights can be reduced to low levels - a low tech tank basically. You might find that high CO2 will produce more growth in leaves and stems, but in low lights, the buces produce more flowers.

 

Oh yeah, you can attach them to wood or rock with thread or even superglue. 

And CO2 isn't necessary, only if you want it to grow faster.

Edited by jayc
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now thats what im talking about! cheers man thats a really solid wright up :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i got my first one today, a trade for some plants i donated a while back for a IAPLC scape.

 

not sure what species it is, ill get a pic up soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Join Our Community!

    Register today, ask questions and share your shrimp and fish tank experiences with us!

  • Must Read SKF Articles

  • Posts

    • beanbag
      Update to say that after a few gravel vacs, front wall scrub, moss / floating plant trim, that the condition seems to have improved.  My current theory is that it is due to waste / debris management, where "stuff" like that brown mulm accumulates in the substrate and behind the HMF filters.  Maybe some tanks can somehow deal with it, but mine can't.  Also another experienced shrimper suggested that maybe those "shell bugs" don't just live on the shrimps but also in this debris.  Maybe this is the reason some tanks fail due to "old tank syndrome" where all they need is a good gravel vac? Also, I am guessing that plant trim helps too because now more of the nutrients and light go into growing algae instead of more plants? Well anyway for this tank I will try weekly water change and monthly gravel vac / plant trim.  For my next tank, I'm thinking of something like an under-gravel system where this mulm can fall down and I vac it out.
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Good to have an update and good to hear you are getting shrimplets, so hopefully your colony will continue and you may not get to the point where you have to cull some to stop over population. These type of shrimp only live 12 - 18 months so the adult deaths may be natural? If you have the time I would do weekly 25% water changes, adding the new water via a drip system and do some vacuuming clean of the substrate each week, even if only a different bit each week! See if that helps in a few months and if it does then stick with that regime? It should help reduce any build-ups that may be occuring!
    • beanbag
      Hello again, much belated update: The tank still has "cycles" of 1-2 month "good streaks" where everybody seems to be doing well, and then a bad streak where the short antenna problem shows up again, and a shrimp dies once every few days.  I am not sure what causes things to go bad, but usually over the course of a few days I will start to see more shrimp quietly standing on the HMF filter, and so I know something is wrong.  Since I am not "doing anything" besides the regular 1-2 week water changes, I just assume that something bad is building up.  Here's a list of things that I've tried that are supposed to be "can't hurt" but didn't prevent the problem either: Dose every other day with Shrimp Fit (very small dose, and the shrimp seem to like it) Sotching Oxydator Seachem Purigen to keep the nitrates lower Keeping the pH below 5.5 with peat Things that I don't do often, so could possibly "reset" the tank back to a good streak, are gravel vac and plant trim, so maybe time to try those again. One other problem I used to have was that sometimes a shrimp would suddenly stop eating with a full or partially full digestive tract that doesn't clear out, and then the shrimp will die within a few days.  I suspected it was one of the foods in my rotation - Shrimp Nature Infection, which contains a bunch of herbal plant things.  I've had this in my food rotation for a few years now and generally didn't seem to cause problems, but I removed it from the rotation anyway.  I don't have a lot of adult Golden Bees at this point so I can't really tell if it worked or not. Overall the tank is not too bad - during the good streaks occasionally a shrimp will get berried and hatch babies with a 33-50% survival rate.  So while there are fewer adults now, there are also a bunch of babies roaming around.  I guess this tank will stagger on, but I really do need to take the time to start up a new tank.  (or figure out the problem)
    • jayc
      If that is the offspring, then the parents are unlikely to be PRL. I tend to agree with you. There are very few PRLs in Australia. And any that claim to be needs to show proof. PRL genes have to start as PRL. CRS that breed true after x generations doesn't turn it into a PRL. Neither can a Taiwan bee shrimp turn into a PRL despite how ever many generations. I've never seen a PRL with that sort of red colour. I have on Red Wines and Red Shadows - Taiwan bee shrimps. So somewhere down the line one of your shrimp might have been mixed with Taiwan bees and is no longer PRL. It just tanks one shrimp to mess up the genes of a whole colony. 
    • sdlTBfanUK
      Sorry, missed this one somehow! The PRL look fantastic and the odd ones look part PRL and part Red wine/Red shadow in the colour. They are still very beautiful but ideally should be seperated to help keep the PRL clean if you can do that.  Nice clear photos!
×
×
  • Create New...