Propagating Dwarf Sag

Propagating Dwarf Sag
(Sagittaria Subulata) 

By Joy Twentyman-Crock

I’ve grown Dwarf Sag in two different setups with a great deal of success.

The first tank was a 5 Gallon Hex by AquaTech. I replaced the incandescent bulb with a 10 watt bulb, which provided the tank with medium low light. I performed 35-50% water changes once per week. CO2 was supplemented using two 1 liter bottles to generate CO2 and a Red Sea CO2 Reactor 200 to diffuse the CO2. With this setup the tank averaged 15ppm CO2. I dosed 5ml Flourish Nitrogen, 4ml Flourish Phosphorus, 4ml Flourish Potassium, 0.6ml Flourish Comprehensive, and 5ml Flourish Excel twice a week.

In this tank the Dwarf Sag would often have BBA on it, most likely due to the fluctuating levels of CO2 inherent in a DIY CO2 setup combined with overall CO2 levels below 30ppm. The Dwarf Sag would roughly triple in quantity every two months.

I recently upgraded the 5 Gallon Hex to a 5.5 Gallon standard with a 36 Watt Power Compact Fixture by Coralife. This increased the lighting to very high light allowing me to grow a greater variety of plants. I now perform 50% water changes once per week. To make sure that there was enough CO2 to keep up with the higher light level, I switched to a DIY inline CO2 reactor powered by a ViaAqua Powerhead 180. This increased CO2 levels to about 45ppm. I also increased the dosing to 20ppm KNO3, 1ppm KH2PO4, 4ml Flourish Potassium, and 2ml Flourish Comprehensive three times per week.

The amount of BBA present has decreased with the increased CO2 levels, although it has not completely disappeared yet. The quantity of Dwarf Sag is now tripling in less than a month.

To separate the plantlets from the parent plant, I wait until the plantlet is half the size of the parent plant and then cut the runner. At this point the plantlet can be left in place, relocated to another part of the tank, or removed to share with other aquarists. Since my tank is so small I usually have to remove the plantlets when they are big enough to separate from their parents. This helps to ensure that the Dwarf Sag doesn’t get too crowded, since Dwarf Sag can suffer from die off if too many plants are packed too closely together.

Dwarf Sag is a relatively undemanding plant that will reproduce rapidly if provided with reasonably good growing conditions. It will grow under lighting anywhere from low light to very high light. It can provide a very nice grassy foreground in tanks that do not have enough light for other higher light options.

Bibliography

PlantGeek.Net 2002-2006, Plant Guide [On-line] http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php, April 17, 2006