Freshwater Ash

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Peplis, or dvukhtychinkovy butyrlak, is widespread in North American water bodies. In addition, this freshwater benthic plant is highly adaptable to aquarium conditions. Many aquarists simply adore this handsome man for its excellent adaptability to almost any environment, as well as its superior aesthetic qualities. Most often, peplis is placed in aquariums near the side walls, closer to the foreground - there it looks especially good

Getting to know the plant

Peplis is endowed with branching and rather short stems, and its main stem is quite long. This freshwater beauty has an incredible amount of leaves, and they are all collected in whorls (four leaves in each). As a rule, they are narrow and painted in green tones with a slight brownish tint. All leaves are needle-shaped and are characterized by the absence of petioles. As for their size, they grow up to three millimeters wide and up to three centimeters long.

The height of the peplis most often reaches fifteen to twenty centimeters. In nature, this aquatic beauty periodically forms flowers, which are usually located in the leaf sinuses. All flowers are solitary and endowed with four stamens and red or green sepals. And the pistils of flowers are either absent altogether, or they are very short. The size of the seed pods of the peplis is about 0.7 mm.

How to grow

A relatively small aquarium will be enough to grow beautiful peplis, and the aquarium must be moderately warm. The most optimal temperature regime for its comfort is the temperature range from twenty-two to twenty-four degrees. And in winter, the wonderful peplis should organize the so-called rest phase - for this purpose, the temperature drops to sixteen degrees.

A neutral water reaction will be best for growing ash. In principle, and with slightly acidic, it will also develop very well. It is desirable that the water hardness does not exceed eight degrees. If it is higher, then the marvelous plant will begin to wither, its growth will greatly slow down, and as a result, the aquatic beauty will die.

The substrate for keeping ash, as a rule, is made from a mixture of coarse sand and clay (it is best to take powder clay). A rougher soil for this aquatic beauty is extremely undesirable, since it has a very delicate root system. Pebbles (neither medium, nor even larger) are categorically not suitable as a soil - the peplis roots in this case will quickly begin to rot. But the thickness of the soil can be absolutely any, even the smallest - an average of three centimeters, and sometimes two.

It is extremely important to take constant care of the purity of the water in the aquarium, while removing the dregs formed on the freshwater handsome man. In addition, the peplis also needs to be filtered frequently in conjunction with regular water changes. It reacts very negatively to the presence of all kinds of chemical impurities in water.

In terms of lighting, peplis grows best in bright or moderate light. It is important to know that insufficient lighting often leads to excessive stretching of the stalks of this aquatic beauty and to a significant deterioration in the color of its leaves. At the same time, the peplis should be slightly shaded from direct sunlight. Among artificial light sources, incandescent lamps in combination with fluorescent lamps are considered the most suitable. The daylight hours of the peplis should be at least twelve hours.

This freshwater handsome man reproduces vegetatively - either by cutting the stems or by dividing the rhizomes. The second method will be more preferable, since cuttings with a root system adapt much better to new conditions. And peplis grows monthly by about ten centimeters.