# Aquatic Phalaenopsis



## John M (Sep 22, 2016)

This is my Phalaenopsis bellina ('Ingrid Ohh' x 'Joy'). It was a gift from Wendy about a year ago. Earlier this year, on April 2nd, I unpotted the plant, washed off the roots and "planted" it at the mouth of this 2 litre jar, which is filled with rain water. It hangs on the side of my kitchen cupboard, right next to the sink, where I see it and enjoy it, umpteen times a day. It continued to grow roots in the water as well as that nice, new, large leaf. Since April, the roots have added about 3 to 4 inches to their length; plus, it's added two more new roots, both of which have grown down into the water. 

The plant had produced it's first 2 single blooms, one at a time, prior to being switched over to the water culture. After becoming aquatic, it has produced single flowers, 3 more times, opening it's latest (flower #5), just today.

Once I could see that the plant was happy and would ramain so, I bought a young Betta and installed him (Larry) and a small, feathery water plant on June 25. I feed Larry 3 granules of fish food 3 or 4 times daily, from the tip of my finger. Larry comes when he's called! Of course, the water plant and the Phal use his waste as their food. I do not fertilize the plants, ever. That would kill Larry. 

Once a day, I use a small plastic air-hose to siphon out Larry's solid waste which collects at the bottom. This process also removes about 1/4 to 1/3 of the water, which is replaced with fresh rain water that is stored in the kitchen so as to be at the same room temperature. This reduces the risk of any temperature-shock stress being caused to the Phal, or to Larry.

The Phal bellina has grown foliage, roots and flowers continuously since becoming aquatic in April. The feathery water plant has grown, too....needing to be trimmed once already. Larry is about double the size he was when I bought him. So, all in all, I seem to have gotten things fairly well balanced and stable. I'm really enjoying this set-up. It's so easy to care for, being handy, right next to the kitchen sink. I can't wait to see how big the Phal will get and how many flowers I can get it to produce at the same time on multiple spikes.

Stay tuned.........








The flower below is fresh opened today. It has a bit better form than the previous one in the photo at the top. If the flower keeps on improving at this rate, it should be really incredible in a few months.





I should add that once I saw how well the bellina was doing, I tried it with a Phal. philippinensis. That one didn't work. The roots all rotted and that turned the water putrid. 'Had to repot that plant into a more "normal" potting mix and get it to regrow some new roots!

Also, to hang up the jar, I wrapped a 16 guage piece of florist wire around the neck of the jar and formed a small loop on the other end. The loop is hooked onto a nail on the side of the cupboard. The dark charcoal paper is behind the flower to make the bud face away from the wall as it develops. Flowers don't face towards the light, they face away from the dark. So, putting something dark where you do NOT want the flowers to face, makes them face the other way.


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## Evergreen (Sep 22, 2016)

That’s a nice bellina! I have seen on the net, people growing their orchids in full water culture, and it looks like it is working for you very well  I like that it stands in the kitchen and you can enjoy it every day. Oh and Larry is gorgeous too!


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## Markhamite (Sep 22, 2016)

Very cool! I use to keep a Ludisia discolor in a bottle of water in my cubicle and it grew well and flowered for me.


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## Lanmark (Sep 22, 2016)

Okay, I'm impressed. I might have to give this a try.  Thanks for sharing!

I might have to try a Ludisia in the same manner as well, Markhamite.


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## SlipperFan (Sep 22, 2016)

Interesting. It will be fun to see how this method continues.

I used to grow a Ludisia in water. It did fine, until it rotted.


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## Paphluvr (Sep 22, 2016)

I just went back to take another look at your pictures. Nice Betta! Does the water not get too hot or too cool for it?


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## NYEric (Sep 22, 2016)

Kind of cool.


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## John M (Sep 22, 2016)

Paphluvr said:


> I just went back to take another look at your pictures. Nice Betta! Does the water not get too hot or too cool for it?



Although certainly not cold water fish like Goldfish, Bettas don't need the warm water that most tropical fish do. Room temperature is fine. However, the kitchen sink has a rather draughty window behind it. So, I did not mount the jar really close, where I originally wanted to put it. I mounted it further back away from the window to avoid variations in temperature. Also, the jar is up at eye level, not low down at counter level. This way, the cold air flowing down the window does not chill the jar at the bottom. Also, the kitchen window faces N.W. and is heavily shaded by large Maple trees outside and when they're not in leaf the winter sun barely manages to reach the window because it sets before it gets that far around the house. So, bottom line, there is no concern in winter or summer about strong sunlight, or temperature fluctuations.


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## Linus_Cello (Sep 22, 2016)

I've seen this with Spathilatum-peace lilies. They call it a "war and peace" fish/plant vase. I may have to buy a phal bellina to try this; love the dumbo and dragon scale bettas.

Since phrags don't mind being in water, has anyone seen this done with phrags?


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## emydura (Sep 22, 2016)

Fascinating John.


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## abax (Sep 22, 2016)

Beautiful and very clever. I like the presentation of fish,
lacy plant and bellina. The blue Betta is my favorite and
the contrast is lovely. OH you so smart!


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## John M (Sep 22, 2016)

Thanks again, everybody!




Linus_Cello said:


> I've seen this with Spathilatum-peace lilies. They call it a "war and peace" fish/plant vase. I may have to buy a phal bellina to try this; love the dumbo and dragon scale bettas.
> 
> Since phrags don't mind being in water, has anyone seen this done with phrags?



I have grown a Vanda in a jar with about an inch of water in the bottom. It did very well for years. Eventually, I got bored with it and put it back into a clay pot. I also grew a Phal hybrid years ago in a jar full of water; but, I added a fish tank air bubbler to keep the water moving and well oxygenated. I didn't do that this time and it still worked very well.

I havn't tried doing this with anything else; but, I'd think that a Phrag might be a good bet.


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## Carkin (Sep 22, 2016)

That is super cool!!! Such a neat idea.


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## Ozpaph (Sep 23, 2016)

very interesting.
I assume the daily water changes are a significant part of the success.


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## John M (Sep 23, 2016)

Ozpaph said:


> very interesting.
> I assume the daily water changes are a significant part of the success.



Actually, I think what's more responsible is that I have used only rain water. As time passes, I've become more and more impressed with rain water as the very best solution to a whole host of cultural problems and mainly responsible for many successes.

Also, for the first 3 months, I only refreshed the water once a week. Only after I saw that the plant was thriving did I add the fish, requiring the daily maintenance siphoning out of the solid fish waste from the bottom of the jar. I think as long as the water does not go "off" and the organics disolved in it do not begin to putrify, conditions will remain healthy for the plant.


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## Ozpaph (Sep 24, 2016)

fingers crossed


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## John M (Sep 24, 2016)

Ozpaph said:


> fingers crossed



Well, yes.....as always with any plant. Without regular maintenance, this set-up would certainly fail; but, the same can be said for any plant in any substrate. After 5 months and the addition of new roots and old roots adding at least a few more inches of length; plus the growing of the new leaf and the regular flowering, I'm pretty much convinced that this is going to work long-term.....at least for this particular plant.

Here's a better photo of Larry.


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## PaphMadMan (Sep 24, 2016)

I'd say Larry knows just how pretty he is. Quite the little show-off.


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## TDT (Sep 24, 2016)

Larry is gorgeous! Wonderful habitat John!


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## Ozpaph (Sep 26, 2016)

Great colour (Larry).


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## TyroneGenade (Sep 26, 2016)

Wow. This might be a viable method to grow Phals in my deathly low humidity home here in frosty Iowa. Thanks for sharing.


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## Stone (Sep 30, 2016)

Well I never.....


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## TyroneGenade (Dec 10, 2016)

Thanks, John! I put the little Lowes-special Phal into a glass with RO water and it doing much better. It was going backwards all year until placed in the water and has now put out new leaves and roots. Very interestingly, the glass is still algae free... 

Think I will get some Walmart-special Phals and stick them into my office aquarium and see if that tank also turns algae-free!


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## John M (Dec 11, 2016)

That's great! You say R.O. water....anything added to feed the plant? I don't feed my plant; but, I feed Larry (the fish). He's still going strong...and he's grown so big! 

I've noticed that about the lack of algae too. I don't get algae on the inside of the glass jar....and it's been in use like this since April! I do have some seaweed in the jar and of course, the fish too; but, I siphone out his solid waste from the bottom each morning and then I top up the jar with fresh rain water. I think between my daily maintenance, the seaweed and the Phal, the nutrients that algae needs to grow simply gets all used up.

My bellina had 6 flowers sequentially over the summer and fall. Now, it's taking a rest. The stem is green; but, no new bud is currently developing. The top leaf seems to be rising a bit from the centre of the crown; so, I wonder if the plant is getting ready to produce it's next leaf. 'Will be VERY interesting to see if the next leaf is bigger than the top leaf it's got now.


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## Linus_Cello (Dec 11, 2016)

John M said:


> That's great! You say R.O. water....anything added to feed the plant? I don't feed my plant; but, I feed Larry (the fish). He's still going strong...and he's grown so big!
> 
> I've noticed that about the lack of algae too. I don't get algae on the inside of the glass jar....and it's been in use like this since April! I do have some seaweed in the jar and of course, the fish too; but, I siphone out his solid waste from the bottom each morning and then I top up the jar with fresh rain water. I think between my daily maintenance, the seaweed and the Phal, the nutrients that algae needs to grow simply gets all used up.
> 
> My bellina had 6 flowers sequentially over the summer and fall. Now, it's taking a rest. The stem is green; but, no new bud is currently developing. The top leaf seems to be rising a bit from the centre of the crown; so, I wonder if the plant is getting ready to produce it's next leaf. 'Will be VERY interesting to see if the next leaf is bigger than the top leaf it's got now.



What do you feed Larry (flake food or live food) and by seaweed do you mean subwassertang?


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## John M (Dec 11, 2016)

Larry gets fed Colour Enhancing Betta Food by Aqueon. They're tiny pellets about the size of a small pin-head. He gets about 12 to 15 a day, spaced out 3 or 4 at a time, given throughout the day.

I don't know what is subwassertang? What's in the jar now is a sort of stringy matt of green moss that stays at the bottom....not floating. it's called: Taiwan Moss - Taxiphyllum alternans. I bought it from a aquarium plant grower because he said it would be happy in lower light, which it is. The first "seaweed" I had was a very attractive "feathery" looking plant that actually produced flower stems from the top with little white flowers. But, it slowly died off due to (I believe), the lack of enough light. This Taiwan Moss I have now has done very well....growing and staying green and healthy since I got it in mid October. At the same time, I bought 6 tiny, red, freshwater shrimp (Cherry Shrimp). They disappeared, one by one; but, at $2 each, Larry's not getting any more!


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## gonewild (Dec 11, 2016)

I went back to the first post to see the picture but there are none showing. Are they still there?


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## Linus_Cello (Dec 11, 2016)

John M said:


> I don't know what is subwassertang? What's in the jar now is a sort of stringy matt of green moss that stays at the bottom....not floating. it's called: Taiwan Moss - Taxiphyllum alternans. I bought it from a aquarium plant grower because he said it would be happy in lower light, which it is. The first "seaweed" I had was a very attractive "feathery" looking plant that actually produced flower stems from the top with little white flowers. But, it slowly died off due to (I believe), the lack of enough light. This Taiwan Moss I have now has done very well....growing and staying green and healthy since I got it in mid October. At the same time, I bought 6 tiny, red, freshwater shrimp (Cherry Shrimp). They disappeared, one by one; but, at $2 each, Larry's not getting any more!



Thanks. I love Java moss, Taiwan moss and Christmas moss. 
Yup betas love shrimp. If you set up a separate tank for shrimp consider crystal red shrimp; they are red and white.


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## John M (Dec 11, 2016)

The crystal shrimp are very cool. I saw them in my local pet shop. They had a beautiful square tank with a piece of grape vine in the middle. It was all covered in a thin layer of velvety emerald green algae and all over that were hundreds and hundreds of colourful, red, orange and red/white shrimp. The whole thing was lit by a very bright white light directly above the middle. It made the tank glow and the algae growing on the grape vine looked like it was lit from inside! But, most impressive was that the shrimp themselves reflected the light in such a way that they too looked like they were little, glowing light bulbs. It was one of the most beautiful tanks I'd ever seen.


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## TyroneGenade (Dec 11, 2016)

Hi John,

I am not adding anything to the RO water but I do mist the plant everyday with some dilute K-lite. 

In my experience, you can't stop algae growing... You either get the green stuff, the blue-green stuff or the brown stuff... but you eventually get algae. Even in planted tanks that consumed 10 ppm nitrate in a day (literally dosing with KNO3 in the morning to 10 ppm and coming home to trace amounts of NO3- by test kit) you still get algae. I hate them.

I do wonder if anyone has observed Phal roots growing into water-logged pockets of tree trunk or the like? The plant would have to protect itself against algae... 

Anyway, time to drop a cheap Walmart-Phal into an aquarium and see what happens...


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## gonewild (Dec 12, 2016)

TyroneGenade said:


> I do wonder if anyone has observed Phal roots growing into water-logged pockets of tree trunk or the like? The plant would have to protect itself against algae...



Why? Algae wont hurt the plant. Almost all wild orchids have algae growing associated with them.

Maybe the Phal roots have acidified the water in Larry's tank to the level that restricts algae growth.


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## abax (Dec 12, 2016)

Perhaps Larry nibbles the algae. Most tropical fish do
nibble algae a bit. In breeding with dwarf Cichlids, I found
that in addition to live food they enjoyed picking algae
off the plants in the tank.


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## gego (Dec 13, 2016)

Beautiful set up. Larry is awesome.


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## Ray (Dec 13, 2016)

About 30-some odd years ago, this technique, dubbed "water culture," was invented by Rod Venger of the former Venger's Orchids of Colorado Springs. He found that patty much any plant did well for him this way, as long as it was able to grow new roots into the water, and the water was at least 70F.

Just like changing into semi-hydroponics, those new roots were the key, and something I found interesting was that, while "subterranean" roots usually rotted when submerged, aerial roots did really well.


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## Linus_Cello (Dec 13, 2016)

Ray said:


> About 30-some odd years ago, this technique, dubbed "water culture," was invented by Rod Venger of the former Venger's Orchids of Colorado Springs. He found that patty much any plant did well for him this way, as long as it was able to grow new roots into the water, and the water was at least 70F.



Is Larry's water 70 F? If so, how, mini-heater?


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## John M (Dec 13, 2016)

I haven't actually taken the temperature of Larry's water. So, I just put an aquarium thermometer in his jar and the temperature reading was 75*F. That's the ambient temperature of the kitchen.....no additional heater added. I like my house warm.


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## abax (Dec 13, 2016)

Oh John, I think we should see another photo or two when
you have the time. I'd like to try it with some well-developed keikis I have.


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## TyroneGenade (Dec 15, 2016)

I tend planted aquaria. You never get the nutrients down so low that algae can't grow, and so long as plants can grow the water isn't acidic enough to stop algae. The lack of algae in Larry's tank and my Phal glass is utterly at odds with my experience tending aquaria. I find this very curious.

The comment about 70 oF water is disheartening... My office aquarium is at 68 oF. I must take the water temp of the glass and see. Perhaps modern Phals are tough enough for cooler water?

How many different plant types did Rod Venger try and are there any photos? I am not having wonderful success with Paphs right now and would be content to try one in a glass of RO water and see what happens.

Bye


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## paphioboy (Dec 15, 2016)

Very nice, John.. I also tried full water culture with a few phals, catts and oncid hybrids. The 2 violacea, bellina and a schilleriana adapted very well, and the bellina and violacea have been blooming continuously. Tried a couple of catts but they were much slower to adjust. Oncids are doing well, just not blooming yet..


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## Linus_Cello (Dec 15, 2016)

TyroneGenade said:


> I tend planted aquaria. You never get the nutrients down so low that algae can't grow, and so long as plants can grow the water isn't acidic enough to stop algae. The lack of algae in Larry's tank and my Phal glass is utterly at odds with my experience tending aquaria. I find this very curious.



The first post mentions 25-33% daily water change, along witt the low bioload of one fish also helps I think in low nutrients that leads to little algae.


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## cnycharles (Dec 24, 2016)

You're daring me to kill yet another beautiful bellina! Glad you have had success


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## troy (Dec 24, 2016)

I want to see current pictures please?


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## John M (Dec 25, 2016)

TyroneGenade said:


> The lack of algae in Larry's tank and my Phal glass is utterly at odds with my experience tending aquaria. I find this very curious.
> *I did just notice some spots of dark algae on the inside of the jar. So, I put a tiny bit of terry cloth under a small round magnet on the inside and then I used a very large magnet on the outside to move it around (up and down), the glass and clear away the spots. It did clear the spots of course; but, it didn't make any difference to the rest of the glass because there wasn't even a thin layer of algae that would be hard to see. Yes, the mostly absent occurrence of algae is very curious! *
> The comment about 70 oF water is disheartening... Perhaps modern Phals are tough enough for cooler water? *Not belina. I can grow Phals beautifully in my greenhouse; but, not belina. It's a hot grower and not at all tolerant of anything below 70*F. My experience (multiple times), has been that temps cooler than 70*F will cause the foliage of belina to abort and fall off while still green!*


..


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## troy (Dec 25, 2016)

I would like to know if this plant is still alive growing in water, I would love to see proof, interesting posting here!!!


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## abax (Dec 27, 2016)

Troy, if John says it is, then it is. John is one fantastic grower of just
about any plant you can name.


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## Wendy (Dec 27, 2016)

I saw it when I was at John's in November. It was beautiful and healthy. Larry was cool too!

Troy, I don't know why you should doubt John.....as Angela says, he's a fantastic grower.


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## Wendy (Jan 8, 2017)

I saw it again today. It's alive and thriving. Lots of beautiful new roots and a new leaf growing. Larry was cool too....didn't know a fish could beg. :rollhappy::rollhappy: It was funny how excited he got when John showed him the food container!


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## Lanmark (Jan 8, 2017)

Now if only he could get the orchid plant to beg. :clap:


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## John M (Jan 8, 2017)

A little while ago Angela asked for more photos. So, here you go! These are from the last few days.

The plant is now finished blooming on it's first spike. It gave me 5 beautiful flowers. Then, the spike stopped making more buds and it began to yellow. Since belina typically does not even produce a single flower from the first spike it makes, I think I did very well to get 5 flowers from this first spike on this plant. 

Then, I noticed that there is a lot of new root action; both new roots growing down into the water and old roots already in the water that are side branching. It's also making a nice, new leaf. I am expecting it to grow very large over the next few months. Even the Taiwan Moss is thriving and growing as well as I see now that it's making "fruiting growths". A few weeks ago, I improved the light quality and intensity by changing the bulb in the nearby fixture to a 23 watt CFL daylight type.

I've been melting snow and letting it reach room temperature before using it as replacement water after I siphon out about 500 ml each morning. Each time I siphon out water, I remove any solid "Larry poops" on the bottom along with any other loose debris that has collected since the previous water change.

I used a red digital paintbrush to circle the actively growing root tips to make them easy to see.


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## troy (Jan 8, 2017)

I'm totally speechless, very interesting!! I wander how much your fish and the plant have with the success, pretty cool!!


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## Lanmark (Jan 8, 2017)

Larry's a beauty, and the plant looks great!


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## abax (Jan 8, 2017)

Thank you so much John. You do spoil every critter in your
care! The bellina and Larry are growing so well you might
have to find a larger jar soon. I'd say many tropical fish can learn when it's time to eat. Cichlids in particular are
quite adept at observing human behavior and schedules.
Larry is both beautiful and very smart.


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## John M (Jan 9, 2017)

Thanks very much. The Phal started out in a 500 ml Mason jar. That was quickly replaced with a 1 litre Mason jar and Larry was introduced. The 1 litre jar was soon replaced with the jar you see now, which is a 2 litre pickled Artichoke jar. Of course, I can trim the Taiwan Moss now and then; but, if the Phal gets big and grows much more roots, I'll have to upgrade again to a 4 litre tall glass vase.

I agree. It's amazing how well little fish can tell the time of day! Plus, they can learn visual cues and get all excited when they see certain things. Larry looks right at me and pounds on the glass with his nose when he sees me with his little white food dish in hand. He was a really fun addition to the Aquatic Phal experiment. Prior to adding Larry, I did give the Phal some fertilizer solution every few weeks. However, that would kill Larry; so, since June the plants have only had Larry's waste as food and they've done a good job of thriving.


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## TyroneGenade (Jan 9, 2017)

Wow! My little Phal is pushing out an inflorescence! Given how poorly my Paphs are doing I may well now make the switch to Phals instead. oke:


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## Linus_Cello (Jan 9, 2017)

I like how its mounted to the wall. I just assumed it was on the kitchen window sill.


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## Don I (Jan 9, 2017)

Very neat idea John.
Don


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## TyroneGenade (Mar 18, 2017)

Thanks, John. So far so good!



uploading pictures

Of course now the plant is getting healthy there is a mealybug infestation...


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## John M (Mar 18, 2017)

I can't see the photo yet, Tyrone. I will be moving over to my new computer very soon. I'll get to see it then. My Phal. belina is still doing great, as is Larry. The inside of the jar finally got a coating of algae (after about 10 months); so, I briefly removed the plant, cleaned the glass, put the plant back and put the fish and Taiwan Moss back. However, the moss had grown so much, it was crowding out Larry. So, I only put about 1/4 of the moss back in. The belina has grown a nice new leaf and it continues to grow more roots. I am looking for a new flower spike to show up any time now. Here's a photo taken just after I cleaned the inside glass (earlier this month).


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## Lanmark (Mar 18, 2017)

That's really cool, Tyrone! Your Phal is of a much different type than what John is growing, yet both are doing well in water. I think I might try this as well.


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## abax (Mar 18, 2017)

Larry is obviously so happy with this arrangement. His
color is intense and all his fins are spread nicely. Happy
fish!


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## TyroneGenade (Mar 19, 2017)

Hello,

Lanmark, I have done a lot of searching: https://www.google.com/search?q=orc...h-PSAhXH4iYKHUwlD7IQ_AUIBygC&biw=1366&bih=613 and it seems lots of different orchids seem to do well in water culture. I am systematically moving ailing plants to water culture to see if they improve. 

John, your success is very encouraging and Larry looks very healthy. I am going to experiment with some H2O2 to keep algae at bay. I regularly dose my aquarium with it to deal with algae. There is a narrow margin in which you can dose with out damaging plants but will kill and bleach algae. I need to find out if the orchid roots can take this treatment.

Keep well


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## Linus_Cello (Mar 19, 2017)

TyroneGenade said:


> John, your success is very encouraging and Larry looks very healthy. I am going to experiment with some H2O2 to keep algae at bay. I regularly dose my aquarium with it to deal with algae. There is a narrow margin in which you can dose with out damaging plants but will kill and bleach algae. I need to find out if the orchid roots can take this treatment.
> 
> Keep well



Green algae? BBA?


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## TyroneGenade (Mar 19, 2017)

H2O2 will kill it all... except Cladophora. Knocks it back but it comes right back in 3 days.


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## Ozpaph (Mar 19, 2017)

whats the aquarium dose?


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## John M (Mar 20, 2017)

That's interesting. But, doesn't the H2O2 damage/burn the delicate fish gills?


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## TyroneGenade (Mar 21, 2017)

The dose for the aquarium is 2 mL of 3% solution per gallon of water. This doesn't seem to upset the fish and most plants tolerate it well (certain, more primitive plants, will melt).

Bye


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## John M (Mar 21, 2017)

TyroneGenade said:


> The dose for the aquarium is 2 mL of 3% solution per gallon of water. This doesn't seem to upset the fish and most plants tolerate it well (certain, more primitive plants, will melt).
> 
> Bye



That is very interesting. Thanks for the info. 2ml per gallon is very little. I can't imagine how that would hurt the fish. In fact, I'm surprised that the algae has any reaction as well, at such a low dose. However, it does seem, as you say, that the more primitive the plant, the more it can be damaged by even that tiny bit of H2O2. Cool! Thanks again.


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## Linus_Cello (Mar 21, 2017)

John M said:


> That is very interesting. Thanks for the info. 2ml per gallon is very little. I can't imagine how that would hurt the fish. In fact, I'm surprised that the algae has any reaction as well, at such a low dose. However, it does seem, as you say, that the more primitive the plant, the more it can be damaged by even that tiny bit of H2O2. Cool! Thanks again.



Is another option to spray H2O2 directly on the algae with an eyedropper/baster?


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## John M (Mar 21, 2017)

Wouldn't the algae be present as a film all over the aquarium....making highly targeted application impractical? Also, how does one "spray" liquids under water?


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## Linus_Cello (Mar 22, 2017)

John M said:


> Wouldn't the algae be present as a film all over the aquarium....making highly targeted application impractical? Also, how does one "spray" liquids under water?



Probably more effective to scrape algae off walls of tank/container, and target application on plants. This is what's often done with "excel" to control BBA.


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## TyroneGenade (Mar 23, 2017)

Linus_Cello said:


> Probably more effective to scrape algae off walls of tank/container, and target application on plants. This is what's often done with "excel" to control BBA.



Yes, I have done topical application before. Works well. Daily low dosing also seems to work to keep algae at bay.


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