Utricular stygia

[ChronoKiento]

My one and only utric that I have is an Utricularia Stygia that I have in a glass jar outside on my little grow table. It gets full sun for all day until about 5 PM and at first it was growing really fast which was what I had heard from other people that grew this utric. I had suspected it to be AT LEAST 6 inches by now but it seems to have stopped in its' tracks at probably less than one inch. It's still green but it looks like it might have algae on it. There are little bugs and such stuck to it as well. It went through a semi-brief cold period because mother nature won't make up her mind for this summer!

I was just wondering what I could do to get it growing again. Should I put it in the dark for a while to get rid of the algae that is on it. I really can't tell if there really is algae on it because it's the same color, I just noticed that I can't see as much detail of the, for lack of a better word, leaves. What I'm thinking of doing is putting it in the dark for a week or two and then changing the water, I thought I'd get a second opinion about this first, concidering this is my first aquatic utric.

Current Conditions;
Sun: Full, 12+ hours.
Temp: 70+
Humidity: 100% (Well it IS in water..."
Medium: Water in 1 quart glass jar.
Lifetime: Approximately 3 months.
Grown from: Turion

That enough info?

Edit: Grrrr, I mispelled the topic. >< I can't change it either.

 

[Starman]

U.stygia is a large species and it likes to have a LOT of room to grow(and they get very large) if they dont have enough room, they tend to sulk and stop growing

you really need a pond for that Utric, a glass jar is nowhere near enough room for it
I dont think anything will work untill you let it have a lot of room in a pond or something

 

[jimscott]

Kyle, I also have mine outside. I have it in a dark, shallow plastic tray. I may not have experienced the explosive growth that some have posted, but mine is now about 6". I empty the tray as algae build and replace it with rainwater. This is my first year with the aquatic Utrics, so I am learning, just as you.

 

[ChronoKiento]

It's less than an inch in size so I figured a 1 quart jar would be plenty of room for it until I could get a better home for it. I'll start looking for a tray or something. Shade is kind of rare around my house because of the lack of trees. I think I have a good idea of where I can put it. Do they like to float on the surface or be completely submerged? Mine sunk to the bottom of the jar. I'm gonna go find a tray right now and set up a shade table on my deck. Thanks for the help guys! I'll tell you if anything happens.

 

[Rob-Rah]

Stygia sends stolons down to anchor to the substrate, but also floats free. Hence water depth of not more than 12" is rcommended, plus a nice thick layer of something to anchor to on the bottom.

 

[ChronoKiento]

It needs an anchor? Hmmm...well I tried to put sphagnum moss in the water the first time but the moss never settled down to the bottom so it just floated in the water and made it murky and blocked the sunlight so I dumped it out. I just now put it in a HUGE fish bowl. I think it's like 3 gallons. I figure that is plenty big enough for now. Do you think that long fibered sphagnum would sink to the bottom and anchor it?

I think the biggest reason that it stopped growing was due to algae which I'm trying to get rid of right now. I put an old beach towel over the bowl so not much sunlight gets in. It's not completely dark and I can easily see underneath it. Do you think that will be dark enough to kill the algae? I'd say it's about half the sunlight that it got before. If I had an extra cardboard box I could use that...or a black trash bag..I only have white ones right now...

 

[Rob-Rah]

I use full sun (UK) with a little shade after midday. LFS does float usually, so is not suitable.

Quoted from a CPUK post I made last year...

Quote[/b] ]A number of people who had some of this off me have asked for growing tips. Mine's doing exceedingly well and has filled its container, which it shares with Aldrovanda - also doing stupendously well for me under these conditions. My method is almost the same as for other aquatic utrics except the depth of water and the substrate.

It's in a household, opaque, plastic storage box, 18" long, 12" wide and 8" deep. On the base is 2" of peat overlaid with a thin layer of sharp sand. Then on top of this is a 2" layer of sedge litter, which was boiled in two changes of water before use. The water depth is therefore clear for only 4". The water is rainwater in which peat was boiled and then strained out.

The plant gets bright light and air temps up to 32C. Planted in the same container in 5" square mesh pots standing on the peat are typha minima and carex panicea, and a small water hyacinth floats on the top. A number of small water snails graze in the tub, and it gets a bag of fresh daphnia every month or so (the Aldrovanda and utric gobble most of them up quickly!) to assist against algae. Once the tank stabilised against algae (which occurs as the utrics and aldrovanda start out-competing it), then it ceases to be a problem.

As many people who have had some from me will have found out, the plant is terribly interesting in that it forms two different types of stolons. One is leafy and surface-dwelling. Then it also produces trap stolons which only have traps. These plunge downwards into the sedge litter and peat. My plant is virtually an affixed aquatic with the multitude of trap stolons anchoring it to the bottom. It really is not free-floating at all.

I started with five turions last year. They were placed into an icecream tub of water, with no substrate, to overwinter in the greenhouse (min 2C - though the turions can take it down to below freezing under the ice in the wild). In spring all but one died. This one experimented with bottom-dwelling, trying to anchor itself to something, before floating to the top and being generally weedy. Since I placed it into this new tank setup it has exploded in growth.

In view of this I think it terribly important to provide this thick layer of substrate at the bottom.

Mine is flowering this year, and I have well over a hundred plants crammed into that container now (though each one is itself of small stature). The branching and turion production makes for rapid multiplication. Be warned!

Good luck.

 

[ChronoKiento]

Wow, that's a lot of information...I don't have the appropriate materials though. I have some sand but it's concrete sand and it's dirty so I can't use that. It's really hard to find that stuff. I don't even know what sedge litter is and I really don't know where to get daphnia.

 

[Rob-Rah]

Sedge litter is decomposing carex leaves (bullrushes). Hard to find it really, but probably not essential (it just helps avoid algae and releases chemicals that the Aldrovanda particularly likes). Daphnia can be had from most fish shops.

 

[ChronoKiento]

Well I have an idea where I can get daphnia now. I'm going to go out and buy a special tray for it and get some kind of sand to use as well as some more sphagnum peat moss. How do you get the water into the tray without all of the peat and sand from floating around in the water And most importantly, how do I get rid of the algae I already have? Like I said before, I put an old beach towel over it and it blocks out more than half of the sunlight. I'm hoping the lack of sunlight will kill the algae and NOT the utric. I just wish there was a better way to get rid of the algae. I have trouble getting out of the house to get supplies because everything is sooo far away and my mom doesn't have any time to drive me anywhere. Grrr....I'll think of something...

 

[Rob-Rah]

Algae is discouraged by having things that eat it (eg. snails and daphnia), by removing the nutrients from the water, and by acidifying the water sufficiently. Darkness will also inhibit it, but the utric won't do so well then (though it won't die in shade). What you want are some companion plants which extract the nutrients, some decomposing material releasing CO2 and other acids, acdifying the water, and a healthy microfauna going on. This all ought to work in equilibrium and prevent algae getting a hold (though there will always be a little bit in a healthy system, but never at a level to be a worry). I prefer to set up a tank in advance and leave it a week or so to try to stabilise before I add the aquatic plants.

As for removing the algae you already have. Chuck all the water away. Boil new water with peat, strain it, and use that as a replacement. Wash the plants before replacing in the tank.

Layer the peat underneath sharp sand. Pour the water in very gently. You will stir up a little stuff. It will probably take a couple of days for the water to clear up again, and then you can add the plants.

 

[ChronoKiento]

Well I just mowed the lawn so now my mom owes me another 20 dollars! So I have some money to spend! Ok, so I need, a big tray, more sphagnum, sharp sand, snails, daphnia, some kind of companian plant..what kinds of companion plant should I get? And how big of a tray do I need? I'm thinking of making this tray my main aquatic CP/utric tray so I think it should be pretty big. I'm just hoping the place I plan to go to has what I need. It IS called "That Fish Place" after all so I think that sounds pretty good. Though I've never really looked for daphnia there before...I make a habit of looking at EVERY SINGLE fish everytime I go.

Also, about washing off the plant, it's really kind of small and I feel like if I try to manually clean it I might like...squish it. Any ideas on how I can wash it without squishing it?

 

[jimscott]

Quote[/b] (Rob-Rah @ June 14 2005,12:26)]Sedge litter is decomposing carex leaves (bullrushes). Hard to find it really, but probably not essential (it just helps avoid algae and releases chemicals that the Aldrovanda particularly likes). Daphnia can be had from most fish shops.

Can pond water or stream water be used for aquatic Utric nutrition?

 

[ChronoKiento]

About an hour ago I went and uncovered the big fish bowl and it looks bad. It's still green but it's REALLY dark green. I think you would call it "forest green". But it's really bad looking. I dunno if that is just the color of the dead algae or the color...of a dead utric. I dunno what do you guys think?