# glosso care



## holocron (May 29, 2005)

Hey,

I planted a nice lawn of glosso around 4 months ago and during that time it was an amazing foreground show piece. Now I find the glosso is getting quite thick (1 1/2" thick) and the runners are starting to grown up vs. across the substrate. The runners on the lower layers of glosso aren't getting enough light and are reaching upwards to get some light.

My question is, is there a good way to maintain a thin, healthy glosso layer without it growing out of control (upwards)?

Thanks!


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## e.lark (May 5, 2005)

I rip it up and replant every four months. It's either that or go with HC (Hemianthus Callitrichoides).


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## jsenske (Mar 15, 2004)

Eventually all glosso carpets must come to an end and be replaced or replanted. Lots of runner trimming and control as it grows in will extend its reign a bit.


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

so sad... yeah I figured thats what I'd have to do. I am considering HC... just gotta find a place to purcahse a fair amount of it. Are there anythings I should be aware of using HC as a carpet?


thanks for the info!


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## e.lark (May 5, 2005)

I'm not sure, I'm not really looking for it just yet. I have a feeling my scapes are going to change often enough I don't mind replanting the glosso.

good luck


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

how much glosso are you starting with to get such growth? I have just 10 or so conected leaf nodes and wonder what the fill in rate is. I guess what I am figureing out is if I need to get more or I can expect it to grow enough to have at least a semblance of covering a 3"x3" area.


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

holocron said:


> so sad... yeah I figured thats what I'd have to do. I am considering HC... just gotta find a place to purcahse a fair amount of it. Are there anythings I should be aware of using HC as a carpet?
> 
> thanks for the info!


 Just make sure you have a relatively fine substrate (3-4mm max grain size). HC puts down very short, fine roots so it has a hard time staying rooted in my regular aquarium gravel. New stems tends to grow up and over the top of old growth (a friend calls these stems "solar flares").


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## e.lark (May 5, 2005)

SnakeIce said:


> how much glosso are you starting with to get such growth? I have just 10 or so conected leaf nodes and wonder what the fill in rate is. I guess what I am figureing out is if I need to get more or I can expect it to grow enough to have at least a semblance of covering a 3"x3" area.


In a 58g with 175w MH I plant one cutting roughly 2" to 3" from eachother and it is completely green with in 4 to 5 weeks. Start cutting some of the runners and planting them, you will soon be throwing it out.


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

bharada said:


> Just make sure you have a relatively fine substrate (3-4mm max grain size). HC puts down very short, fine roots so it has a hard time staying rooted in my regular aquarium gravel. New stems tends to grow up and over the top of old growth (a friend calls these stems "solar flares").


I have a flourite/gravel mixed substrate. The gravel is roughly the same size as the flourite. I would guess its in 2-4mm range.

What is the general growth speed of HC in comparison to glosso and will it require replanting down the road as well?

thanks!


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

e.lark said:


> In a 58g with 175w MH I plant one cutting roughly 2" to 3" from eachother and it is completely green with in 4 to 5 weeks. Start cutting some of the runners and planting them, you will soon be throwing it out.


I concur. This is pretty much exactly how I planted my patch. After about 6 weeks I had the entire front of my 3' 50g tank covered. Now (4 months later) I have this dilemma.


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

holocron said:


> I have a flourite/gravel mixed substrate. The gravel is roughly the same size as the flourite. I would guess its in 2-4mm range.
> 
> What is the general growth speed of HC in comparison to glosso and will it require replanting down the road as well?
> 
> thanks!


 HC is a lot slower than Glosso and generally better mannered. Its growing pattern is to form a circular clump that grows in diameter. Once it fully covers the substrate you may find that the new growth will also do the "solar flare" routine, but these are easily clipped off for replanting elsewhere.


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

cool, I'm pretty convinced to make the change. Thanks for all the info. It's going to be sad tearing up all this glosso.. it was my pride n joy  I think i will enjoy the HC quite a bit more.. 

thanks for all the help.


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## Praxx42 (Mar 4, 2005)

Well, if you're going to just throw out your glosso clippings, send 'em to me. I certainly have the room.


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

send them to me too.  
Where are you getting your HC from?


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## holocron (May 29, 2005)

Sorry guys, I already sold it to someone local here in toronto. I'll be getting my HC from a fish store called 'Big Als'. They sell tropica pots of it, generally its in really nice shape too but a little expensive.


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

Under good conditions it doesn't take a whole lot of HC, just time. I started out with a 1.5" diameter clump (that cost me $10) last summer. In a year it's spread enough to have covered a couple of square feet if I'd let it have its way. With a finer substrate it probably would have been more, but my substrate condition causes me to pull out a lot of it when the "solar" activity gets too high.  I also haven't had all that much open space for it to grow.


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## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

I've had the exact same experience with Glosso (needs replanting after about 3-4 months) and have recently switched to Elatine triandra in hopes that it can simply be trimmed unlike Glosso. Can anyone tell me if this is the case or, like Glosso, will it need to be replanted in time?


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## bharada (Apr 17, 2004)

travis said:


> I've had the exact same experience with Glosso (needs replanting after about 3-4 months) and have recently switched to Elatine triandra in hopes that it can simply be trimmed unlike Glosso. Can anyone tell me if this is the case or, like Glosso, will it need to be replanted in time?


 shalu brought some Elatine triandra to an open house the other week, but said that it was worse than Glosso for growing over itself. It didn't look like it would be any easier to trim. But maybe it would be easier to replant since it grows faster than glosso?


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## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

I think shalu and I are on the same page when it comes to finding an easy to deal with carpet plant  And I can certainly vouch for E. triandra's fast growth rate. That stuff piles up like crazy in no time. It forms a good carpet in about one month so if I have to replant it won't be long before it's back in good shape.


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## shalu (Oct 1, 2004)

marselia, marselia, marselia . I still have a nice marselia carpet after 7 months, low maint. As someone severely infected by collectoritis, I just can't throw away any plant even if I don't have a good use for it, so... I still have glosso, but in a non-CO2 shrimp tank; I still have elatine triandra, but use it as a filler midground plant, shaded by taller plants and growing mostly upwards, it actually looks quite attractive that way.


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