Aquatic Phalaenopsis

[TyroneGenade]

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

 

[Stone]

Well I never.....

 

[TyroneGenade]

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!

 

[John M]

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.

 

[Linus_Cello]

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?

 

[John M]

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!

 

[gonewild]

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

 

[Linus_Cello]

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.

 

[John M]

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.

 

[TyroneGenade]

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...

 

[gonewild]

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.

 

[abax]

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.

 

[gego]

Beautiful set up. Larry is awesome.

 

[Ray]

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.

 

[Linus_Cello]

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?

 

[John M]

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.

 

[abax]

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.

 

[TyroneGenade]

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

 

[paphioboy]

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..

 

[Linus_Cello]

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.