While at the reservoir last week, I spotted countless stems of Rotala ramosior growing emersed all throughout the dried lake bed. Out in the full sun, the plants were all a deep red color, with many flower buds along their stems. The flowers of Rotala ramosior, often called Tooth-Cup or Lowland Rotala, are small white flowers, that grow in large numbers along the stem.

Within a day or two of putting a few stems in my 40G aquarium, the plants began converting to submersed form, throwing out new green leaves. They also began side-shooting, forming side stems from the main trunk, also with green leaves. The leaves of Rotala ramosior have a very distinct vein down the center of the leaf, from tip to stem. The other veins are not nearly as prominent as the main central one.

Being native to over 90% of the states in the U.S., it’s amazing that Rotala ramosior is not more common in the hobby. It grows well, creates a nice bush like most Rotala species, and is attractive. I’m looking forward to growing it out further, and adding it to my collection.

I’ve been quite busy this week with a number of non-aquarium related things going on, so it’s no surprise that I haven’t been able to post, or tend my aquariums as much as I would normally like to. I have continued to dose my 75G every morning, however, and when I do that, without much attention, it soon turns into this overgrown jungle.

Click for larger image

The Stargrass, in particular, in the back right/middle has completely taken over the area, shading out everything in front of it. Fortunately, all I have are a bunch of crypts, anubias, and other non-light-hungry plants there. I hope to be able to clean up this tank a bit this weekend, so that it’s back in tip-top shape in a week or two. If I’m really ambitious, I might change up the aquascape a little bit because I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile. We’ll see. I’ll post an updated picture once I have it back to a more presentable state.

This weekend, my wife and I took our dogs to a reservoir near our house that we like to visit this time of year. We probably would visit it more often, except that most of the year, it is completely covered by many feet of water. In the summer, they close off the dam upstream, and the reservoir turns from lake to field, with lots of open space for our energy laden dogs to run.

Our weimaraner/lab mix, Bella, galloped from place to place, clearly enjoying herself. Our lab/spaniel mix, Jen, enjoyed the area more at her own pace, but had a good time nevertheless.

Occasionally, Bella would decide to ambush Jen, which then brought on a flurry of tails, claws, and teeth, playfully pouncing upon each other. The field itself was laden with yellow wildflowers, stretching for a far as you could see.

Last year when we came, all of these flowers had already melted away, and we were left with hitchhiking seeds on our pants, shoes, and tails (dogs). I wasn’t really paying too much attention to the aquatic plants this time, but I did spot some Rotala ramosior, Lysimachia nummularia (Creeping Jenny), and a Polygonum species.

Combined with the beautiful, crisp weather, we had a nice time walking through the wildflowers, and looking for wildlife. We spotted a number of minnows, and a few bass in the brook and feeder streams.

We hope to get out canoeing here next year once the water is high enough. Hopefully that will allow us to further explore more of the area, even though I doubt our dogs will be allow for that trip!

It’s been almost three months since I tore down my 40G aquarium, and restarted it with a substrate based on earthworm castings produced from my kitchen scraps. From the beginning I experienced great growth, but I also had a huge outbreak of hair algae. I’m still not sure whether this was leftover algae that came in from the previous setup, or whether it was spurred along by the earthworm castings. Either way, it’s gone now, and the tank it doing great.

40G - Click picture for larger view.

The aquascape has changed a fair amount, as I’ve pulled out a significant amount of the hardscape I originally placed, largely to find room for a smattering of new plants that I needed to house. The Ranalisma rostrata has just about filled in the foreground. The right side of the tank is basically just a growing out space for various stems including Ludwigia sp. ‘Araguaia‘, Rotala sp. ‘Araguaia’, Blyxa alternifolius, Rotala sp. ‘Mini Type I’, and a Limnophila species. Due to all of these plants, I don’t envision this tank ever becoming a cohesive aquascape unless I’m able to setup a farm tank to transfer some of these out. The main thing, is that I’m quite impressed by the substrate sustained growth, with zero dosing. Comments welcome!

Proserpinaca palustris is a plant that I have long sought after, but only have recently started growing. The funny thing is that it’s actually a native plant where I live, but it’s not a plant that’s often kept by aquarists. The most interesting thing about this medium difficulty plant is the vast difference between its emersed and aquatic forms.

Emersed, the plant exhibits leaves that look a little bit like rosemary, except with serrated edges. Submerged, however, Proserpinaca palustris looks like a totally different plant. The leaves are saw-toothed, being much more ornate than your typical Myriophyllum or Ambulia.

Under intense light, these leaves can actually turn bright red. Proserpinaca palustris should grow under most conditions, but the bottom most leaves will melt away except until moderate light conditions. The advantage I see in Mermaid Weed compared to Ambulia or Myriophyllum is that it grows much slower, while the others tend to overtake your tank. I’m really enjoying this plant, and hope to use it extensively in one of my future aquascapes.