A final comment on a very long and interesting thread and what I have read there. This is only my opinion - I may be wrong and must at all times have an open-mind.
My plants.
Although I believe every plant can be grown well underwater the natural way doesn't mean I can do it. 'Well' means healthy and in its prime - not some sickly specimen which is just surviving which is what I see in my tanks. They just grow slowly which I prefer. My local water, soils etc.. limit the species that will grow in my tanks - the whole point of this thread. Crypts hate my tanks and barely survive. But those that like my conditions thrive and don't need injection.
The wild and nature
I shouldn't use the term 'the wild' but say 'outside'. My source of observation of natives is private dams and other public places. All are artificial water bodies that contain natives, not natural waterways. I think the ducks spread them around? I have never actually seen lilaeopsis outside but I believe it is double the size in an outdoor setting. The reason I believe this is because the nursery where I buy my natives grows them in outdoor ponds that get direct sunlight all day long and I noticed when I bought them that they were twice the length and paler than lilaeopsis I am familiar with. They were lime-green and very tall not the shades of green I am accustomed to. Now my lilaeopsis is starting to resemble theirs. Its the reason I am believer in high light conditions in aquaria. I consider all of my tanks are under-lit and would like to give them more. They presently only get about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day.
More plants/less algae
I think both points of view are right. In a natural system (which is how I try to keep my tanks) where nutrients are effectively fixed at least in total (I don't use liquid fertilisers or add fish food) then the more plants you have the less algae. But I can imagine in a tank where nutrients are being controlled that this does not work that way maybe. The concept of fixed nutrients is the reason that nutrients and gases should not be thought the same with regard to Liebig. A gas is a different variable than a nutrient - even of the nutrient is variable as well. They are not the same. My tanks always start lightly planted with a lot of green filemntateous algae which is pretty harmless to plants (its a kind of plant itself) and gradually this algae dissappears. I never remove it as it is helping me as the plant establishes. All of the tanks I have shown above except the first two are quite young (6 months) and still establishing themselves. They will fill out much more.
My plants.
Although I believe every plant can be grown well underwater the natural way doesn't mean I can do it. 'Well' means healthy and in its prime - not some sickly specimen which is just surviving which is what I see in my tanks. They just grow slowly which I prefer. My local water, soils etc.. limit the species that will grow in my tanks - the whole point of this thread. Crypts hate my tanks and barely survive. But those that like my conditions thrive and don't need injection.
The wild and nature
I shouldn't use the term 'the wild' but say 'outside'. My source of observation of natives is private dams and other public places. All are artificial water bodies that contain natives, not natural waterways. I think the ducks spread them around? I have never actually seen lilaeopsis outside but I believe it is double the size in an outdoor setting. The reason I believe this is because the nursery where I buy my natives grows them in outdoor ponds that get direct sunlight all day long and I noticed when I bought them that they were twice the length and paler than lilaeopsis I am familiar with. They were lime-green and very tall not the shades of green I am accustomed to. Now my lilaeopsis is starting to resemble theirs. Its the reason I am believer in high light conditions in aquaria. I consider all of my tanks are under-lit and would like to give them more. They presently only get about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day.
More plants/less algae
I think both points of view are right. In a natural system (which is how I try to keep my tanks) where nutrients are effectively fixed at least in total (I don't use liquid fertilisers or add fish food) then the more plants you have the less algae. But I can imagine in a tank where nutrients are being controlled that this does not work that way maybe. The concept of fixed nutrients is the reason that nutrients and gases should not be thought the same with regard to Liebig. A gas is a different variable than a nutrient - even of the nutrient is variable as well. They are not the same. My tanks always start lightly planted with a lot of green filemntateous algae which is pretty harmless to plants (its a kind of plant itself) and gradually this algae dissappears. I never remove it as it is helping me as the plant establishes. All of the tanks I have shown above except the first two are quite young (6 months) and still establishing themselves. They will fill out much more.
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