Aquascaping with Hard-to-Keep Plants: Ultimate Survival Guide

[@carlossouza6126]

What an honor to see my aquarium serving as inspiration for the talented Green Aqua team

[@GreenAquaShop]

Beautiful aquarium, truly inspirational, my friend. Could watch that all day in our gallery. 💚😍 Keep up the passion Carlos 🏆

[@Thiago_Benedicto]

2:28 🇧🇷 🚀

[@Gionatan90]

I think this type of video can be an added value to your work. For those who want to learn, it is much more practical to know the implications of an aquarium in the first few weeks, with the typical problems that can arise. Not everything always goes smoothly, and it is nice that you show it to everyone... even the most experienced run into inconveniences and defeats... excellent, I would like to see more videos of this type.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for your support and suggestions. Noted 👍🙂

[@treysimmons2179]

This is a really fun video. I need a little more Balazs "cheer" in my own reactions. I love seeing him giggle when things don't go right. Cheers guys, thank you for your "positive" influence on the community.

[@antwanman12]

I really love this video since you showed that things don't always go perfectly. More troubleshooting content!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yup, this can happen to all of us 😃👍

[@asier2001]

Indeed, for these kind of plants, a mature aquarium is the key for succesful

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for your feedback 👍🙂

[@se5908]

a plain example of real aquascaping - thx for that, I'm excited for the final look in two months!

[@GreenAquaShop]

🙂🙏

[@EDNOJR]

Gosto muito da inspiração para a montagem do trabalho de um aquapaisagista aqui do Brasil. Sou um Hoobista brasileiro. QUERO chegar ao IAPLC..e vocês também tem me inspirado muito obrigado GREEN AQUA

[@FLOMALS63]

как всегда, очень интересный и вдохновляющий ролик. ваши работы доказывают всем что если подойти с желанием, любовью то даже невозможное станет возможным 💪🤩🤩

[@LukaszTiiger]

Nice experiment :)

[@alec2themax]

Loved to see the journey on it, and that you chose specifically more challenging plants.

[@GreenAquaShop]

🙏🙂💚

[@klebberbrazilian.theprofessor]

Carlos Souza is a great brazilian Aquascaper. #5 in IAPLC 2023. He is in the same top shelf where Luca Gallaraga, the 2024 IAPLC Champion, is. Believe me!😊

[@joaopalhoca928]

Hi, been a long time follower. It binge watch your videos (during the pandemic), and that got me to the aquascaping hobbie. In this years, I tried to get the most information possible about plant growing, and now I worked with more than 60 different plants, always challenging my self, to grow more and more difficult plants. So now, I grow rare and hard to find plants, trading with other hobbiests. So, about the plants you guys used, they are not that hard, is more the process. For some of those plants, you need a cycled and stable aquarium, before you plant. UG is quit simple if you do a dark start. Also buces, they don´t like imature tanks. And pogostemon and bosai, they like a GH above 5. I do understand that in order to do the videos, doing a dark start, planting and wait for plants to grow enough to show the final result, would take to long, but I think that you guys should make a video about it (Tommy did touch that topic when he did a video with UG).

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for the suggestion and your feedback. We had to make a dark start in the future. Already noted 🙂👍🍀

[@Ankescapes]

Very good video! I changed my routine to introduce tricky plants not directly in the beginning of a new tank. I wait till after the nitrite peak and then plant them. So I can reduce some of the melting - and save some money 😅 love the fish choice!

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for the suggestion guys! I'm not sure how this would work for us. Balazs seems more impatient with planting 😂👍

[@Ankescapes]

@@GreenAquaShop 😅😅😅👍

[@vargasandor7472]

Szép nagyon!

[@kmaguire7161]

I just started two new tanks and tried the Dark Start Method to see if it would help. So far it worked well. No melting and no algae. Utricularia graminifolia is doing well however it is so annoying to plant, just undifferentiated little blobs of foliage, I only put in two little clumps. But now that I see that they are looking good I am going to try to add some of the rest.

[@Agnus78]

From my experience Staurogyne repens and Blyxa are very easy plants to keep. Blyxa needs higher lighting where Staurogyne will grown in any conditions, even without CO2 injection. Couple of years ago when i realized some rocks (most of them..) leak minerals into water i was like "oh noes, im going to get rid of all rocks from my tanks.. i want stable condintions for plants!". But with time i accepted the fact i cant control everything in the ecosystem and as Balazs said - aquariums stabilise with time, rocks cover with plants and dust, some algae, external layer stops leaking unwanted minerals and eveything smoothens. We just need to calm down and stop panicking - when it comes to aquascaping. All rocks are usable and we just need to adapt, make some minor adjustments and just wait it out.

[@GreenAquaShop]

You are correct. However, both have different requirements. Blyxa is more sensitive to water conditions (thrive in soft water) and transportation, while Staurogyne requires more nutrients / nitrates.

[@AquaZoo20]

Hurray! New video!

[@GreenAquaShop]

🙂👍

[@aquascapecwb]

Great content! Thank you! 🙌🙌🙌

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for watching 👍

[@bradleyvdw]

Most of those i have no issues BUT if you want a truly challenging plant then add Staurogyne Repens 'Varigated' from ADA. It will make all the rest of those plants look like a walk in the park

[@greenskull9455]

Blyxa,ammania bonsai,helferi,s repens goes absolutely nuts in my tank. Especially Blyxas,only Three stem turned into a massive jungle in my tank within just 1 month. It's one of those tank that really likes that warm water. My tank is usually at 28-30 ℃ range

[@mimiyturiya5672]

All this plants are very very easy plants. If you want "Hard" or "sensitive" you need to try syngonanthus la lindosa, Hygrophila chai, syngonanthus uaupes, Valliseneria triptera, Eriocaulon quinquangulare, syngonanthus vichada, this plants are hard and sensitive plants.. What you using in the video are so easy plants hahah

[@ricardobarbosa850]

Carlão no vídeo da GA! 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Só falta convidarem ele pra uma montagem!

[@GreenAquaShop]

👍😃💚

[@Aaronnn96]

Some very challenging plants you can try: Rotala Macrandra Variegated, Ammania Pedicellata Golden, Rotala Macrandra Pink, Ludwigia White, Bacopa White

[@ramonfrias3711]

It was amaizing!!! Also the photos at the end😍 I was strugle with ryuk Stone at the begonings of my acuarium and for me the key was the parameters of the wáter changes, please can you explain the proces of remineralice the ósmosis wather for this type of cases?

[@GreenAquaShop]

With Seiryu we mainly use GH+ with soft water 👍

[@BackWaterAq_Malayalam]

Surprised to see Blyxa, helferi , s repens on the list . Such easy plants .

[@aswins.p7155]

Ith arappa😂

[@BackWaterAq_Malayalam]

@@aswins.p7155 Ithu numma thanne

[@GreenAquaShop]

Both seem challenging for different reasons. Meanwhile, Blyxa's main issue is transportation and hard water, while Helferi requires more nutrients. The lean method will struggle more with this.

[@Mauritius_Exotic_Fish]

I always recommend Dark start , less nutrient aquasoil, presoak the aquasoil in advance or plants sensitivity plants few weeks later as the soil leaches ammonia (Ammonia Burn) which often causes plants to melt 🌿💯 EDUCATIONAL COMMENT ⚠️

[@san1122222]

I loved the video, but honestly I don't see any of these plants as extremely difficult on any aquascaper level. They're easily one of the nicer ones to keep as a beginner enthusiast(note the "enthusiast", aka not planting in gravel..). With quality starting conditions and really good light, soil and CO2 you will succeed.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Sometimes, we're the ones who make it more complicated. 😃👍

[@DRaquascapes]

I believe ug will grow well in a an aquasoil with very little to no nutrients and in an only species tank with little to no ferts.

[@robertdekany2490]

Where can I buy to those t-shirt?

[@GreenAquaShop]

Not available anymore. Was a limited series in the past.

[@juscallmej]

good video. Seems like pogostemon helferi likes harder water so didn't have luck with it in my old scape, might try to reintroduce it the next time after it melts to see if it can take hold. s. repens seems to melt if you look at it wrong but tends to bounce back well.

[@GreenAquaShop]

They need more Nutrients/Nitrate, which the lean type of fertilizer methods lack of it. With EI we had no issues in the past.

[@guadaguppy4798]

Balaz is having toooo much fun. 3:53 starts to refer himself as the 3rd person heheheheh. i wonder if this is a side effect to aquascaping (joke joke)

[@GreenAquaShop]

LOL 😜👍

[@ziender]

When you feature new rocks, you should do an acid test on camera, saving people from buying them and finding out they are not good for aquascaping. I wish these aquascaping companies would use the real rock names instead of made-up names, so we could just look up whether it's gonna leak minerals or silicates before we buy it. I like 'found' rocks now, I went camping recently and found a bunch of red igneous rocks that are smooth like river pebbles. Found rocks are amazing and fun, like treasure hunting:) Good topic, difficult plants.

[@kennethmunoz9037]

Who says that a rock that adds minerals to water is not suitable for aquascaping? According to your argument, Seiryu rock is not suitable for aquascaping. There are people who think that businesses have to give them classes on aquariums, they forget that it is up to you to do your research and learn.

[@rafaelbabilonia8357]

They have a dedicated video on rocks on their channel i believe tommy leads the video.

[@BioTechproject27]

The "acid test" only really works for carbonates and bicarbonates, which tbf are the most common, but the rocks can still give off silicates or other metal ions like calcium. And these rocks are fine for aquascaping if you know what you're doing, like testing and regular water changes. I agree tho, they should use scientific names, not their weird own made up stuff that means absolutely nothing...

[@GreenAquaShop]

Great one! Yup, silicate is something that could still mess up your tank.

[@EDNOJR]

Eu até hoje não consegui ter pogostemon em meu aquario derreteu TUDO..

[@detlefh.7090]

Being a sensitive fish I would prefer less light, over hanging and denser vegetation plus darker substrate and rock. Some (more) tannins in the water would improve my mood even better.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Good one! 👍🙂

[@atlerfix4240]

The first batch of fish introduced is called Dario Dario aka scarlet baddies know for their very shy behavior considering this i doubt they ever show them self out in open until u keep them for more than 4-5 weeks .....i have 6 of them and were really hard to notice since they always kept hiding until recently they slowly coming out

[@GreenAquaShop]

🙏🙂💚

[@StefanFranc-v8g]

In most cases and new setups with harder spieces of plants the reason why they melting is the ammonia spike in a soil and in the water .

[@GreenAquaShop]

Yup could be a reason in some cases. But there are other factors as well like transportation etc. 👍😃

[@johnnyjga]

would like to see a video on how to do maintenance on a C02 reactor like the ones you guys use in the shop.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Well, most reactors do not need any it it is not clogging. Many times, we clean them with only the new setup.

[@johnnyjga]

@@GreenAquaShop Good to know. Mine looks good but the hoses running to and from the reactor need cleaning and that's a little complicated.

[@aquascapebarendrecht946]

Bucephalandra i never use when the tank is in start up .when the parameters are right and stable the buce will not melt anymore

[@GreenAquaShop]

Many Bucephalandra would grow without problems. But there are some sensitive ones, like the mini 👍

[@BloodyMarryShrimp]

cool video and always stay relaxed despite the setbacks. Question for you, did you get the silicate under control? Greetings Mathias 🐠🌿🐌

[@GreenAquaShop]

We usually don't encounter silicate because of the known decorations, gravel, sand, and RO water that we use. However, sometimes when we introduce new elements, this can occur. In such cases, we use silicate removers, or in the worst-case scenario, we change the decorations.

[@namesbinge3073]

Funny thing is that the Buce needle leaf, Montevidensis, and the Blyxa are the only plants that were covered in algae in my tank.

[@GreenAquaShop]

They are stressed/struggling for some reason. As soon as you solve the issues, they will be fine.

[@mtgtomescourer]

Why not do the dark start method? Wouldn't this cut down on the loss of plants?

[@GreenAquaShop]

It could help with some things, but not all. But in a public showroom, the dark start is not a valid option.

[@EvanTo-nq1ep]

That's why I'll always do a dark start if possible. Better safe than sorry, and the plants might take better to a more established system than a brand nee one.

[@GreenAquaShop]

That's a great suggestion 👍

[@skrounst]

Do you guys keep a stock of different fish in your studio? Or do you buy them from other shops?

[@GreenAquaShop]

We have a wide range of selection in the store. Getting new shipments weekly from our partners.

[@linusbayandersen7398]

Won't the amano shrimp be sucked in by the skimmer?

[@GreenAquaShop]

They can't on this one

[@linusbayandersen7398]

@@GreenAquaShop What type/brand is it? Would love something similar in my setup.

[@atlerfix4240]

Buceplandra does not do very well in newly setup tank. My recommendation would be to introduce buceplandra into the tank after 2-3 weeks. Eleocharis montevidensis in experience needs more light and slightly hight flow to avoid algae. ....its doing absolutely phenomenal in jar tank with shrimps, no CO2, no aqua soil, just some regular river soil and liquid fert time to time

[@GreenAquaShop]

Thanks for the suggestions. With Bucephalandra, we mainly have issues with this tiny one. Most others are easier to adapt. This one takes a loooooot of time 😜👍

[@aquazal3554]

Czy nie obawia się Pan ustawiać kamieni bezpośrednio na szkle? W wielu publikacjach radzą stosować jakieś podkładki niwelujace punktowe działanie siły nacisku na szklane dno zbiornika.

[@Tigercg11]

i wonder how the results might be different if you did a dark start before planting

[@GreenAquaShop]

Me too - Viktor 😃

[@Pittsburgh-412]

I think a lot of these plants are sensitive to root movement. Especially during planting. If you rip them apart or even less, like just pulling out the containers, they can die. This is true for all plants but these ones Especially

[@yashtapase3821]

Sometimes people's anubias also melt ive not tried that 😅

[@lukaszharas9738]

That's what black tiger dario do, after putting in your tank, you will see this fish once in month. Some of my dario I thought they are dead, but after half an year I've see them again.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Lesson learned for B! 😃. Thanks for sharing your experience 👍

[@omaralsanaty4594]

To the green aqua team.. I need wrgb 2 30cm lighting and I can't buy it.. Can you send it to me even if it is used?

[@GreenAquaShop]

You can order it here if you're in the EU: greenaqua.hu/en/chihiros-wrgb-ii-30-cm-led-lampa-30-45-cm-33-w-2300-lm.html

[@benscape2761]

That's why now i start my tank with dark start method, to minimize the melts 😂

[@GreenAquaShop]

Very popular these days. Just would not enjoy the dark aquariums all around in the showroom 😂

[@aquascapebarendrecht946]

The fern I always have problems with . Just this one only

[@thefullstop23]

Even Jurijs said in a video years ago, he never had luck with bolbitis difformis (not sure if he has success for it now, but he hasn't mentioned it). I have problems with it too. Just tried again and after 1 month, some parts started turning brown, so I removed it and placed it in an emersed setup for now. Conflicting bio online when you do a google search.

[@GreenAquaShop]

Takes a lot of time to adapt. Had a similar plant in the past, Crepidomanes.

[@GreenAquaShop]

It takes many months to look good underwater. It probably has the slowest adapt / growth rate in our range.

[@kennethmunoz9037]

I would not use bucephalandras or Blyxa Japonica at the beginning of the aquarium. They are plants that like stability, and at the beginning, stability is the least there is.

[@BackWaterAq_Malayalam]

Blyxa J is super easy to grow new , matured tank doesn't matter. a true aquatic plant

[@kennethmunoz9037]

@@BackWaterAq_Malayalam The fact that it is an aquatic plant is not relevant, because in each place the water has its parameters. Remember that your experience is not a universal rule.

[@BackWaterAq_Malayalam]

@@kennethmunoz9037 Agreed , applies to everyone. ref: stability water parameters etc. It will grow in new / matured tank . with or without co2, accommodates wide range of temperature and gh kh, responds very well to water column dosing. Thanks.

[@GreenAquaShop]

👍🙂

[@GreenAquaShop]

I agree with you that this plant grows easily in soft water, with or without CO2. Most of the issues come from transportation problems. It can hardly tolerate warm or cold weather. Tissue propagation in liquid has helped a little with this, but plants can still get damaged during shipping, especially in EU weather conditions.

[@Tigercg11]

utricularia has always survived for me, but it always, always lifts up and comes out of the soil once it creates a carpet. I can never seem to get it growing deep enough to hold itself down. So frustrating because its my favorite plant ever

[@GreenAquaShop]

Looks amazing when it forms a lush and green carpet. 👍

[@crspytofu]

Surprise the glass didn’t break

[@GreenAquaShop]

Me too 😂

[@visenya16]

first

[@GreenAquaShop]

🏆😃

[@lautinyuet]

Those fish are not Tiger Danios, I think they are a type of Badis, perhaps Black Tiger Badis. Also explains why they are so shy

[@breebisshop7325]

He's saying Dario

[@lautinyuet]

@@breebisshop7325 "Devario maetaengensis (Tiger danio)" is listed in the description

[@michelrood2966]

" I told you" be sure to blame someone else.

[@lacibilibok]

Bocsi Balázs de nem mondanám hogy ezek nehéz növények inkább közepesek 😅

[@GreenAquaShop]

Hát valószínűleg többet simán tartunk ezek közül. Nekem mások lettek volna a listámon. - Viktor De ezek közül is van 1-2 ami nehéznek mondható. Vagy túl hosszú idő mire történik valami a növénnyel pl Mini Bucephalandra, Bolbitis, vagy nehezen utaznak stb pl Blyxa.

[@aquapromoz]

Hard plants? Chai, white plants, UG, most of these are easy.

[@GreenAquaShop]

👍🙂

[@niklohukiin5565]

Did you finally get a thumbnail with a strange face?

[@GreenAquaShop]

I think we had a lot of strange faces in the past few years in the thumbs 😂

[@monishsannyasi9671]

💚💚💚💚💚💚