# about to give up on glosso



## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

need help with my glosso, I bought 6 pots of glosso, for my 20 high. even with 4 t5 h.o. bulbs, c02, and dosing of marcos and micros.... it still wants to grow up and not low and out. what am I doing wrong...


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## Tomoko Schum (Apr 7, 2005)

Have you cut them into short pieces and planted each of them into the substrate with tweezers?


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

yes, I trimed them, and have planted them with tweezers, they just want to grow thick and up. when they start growing up I cut them, i'll keep trying... I've also read that they need to be in nutrient rich substrate is that true? my substrate is a mix of ada, black flourite, red flourite, and black sand.


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## aquaticscapes (Apr 30, 2004)

Sounds like a water flow problem to me, you need flow from back to front top, down the glass, across the substrate and back up the back glass which then contacts the Glosso with CO2 and any liquid nutrients you use. And CO2 has to be effectively distributed so that all areas are equal, easier said than done, I run two diffusors, one on each side of the aquarium positioned under the flow intakes.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

aquaticscapes said:


> Sounds like a water flow problem to me, you need flow from back to front top, down the glass, across the substrate and back up the back glass which then contacts the Glosso with CO2 and any liquid nutrients you use. And CO2 has to be effectively distributed so that all areas are equal, easier said than done, I run two diffusors, one on each side of the aquarium positioned under the flow intakes.


thanks how would I do this... right now. i have the intake on the right side, and the spary bar pointing to the front glass. should i cut it down, and change it where it points down and to the right...

how would i fix my flow problem?


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## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

Yes, in my experience use a nutrient rich substrate.

For better flow put in & out on same SIDE of tank. You may also need a korallia depending on your scape


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## Tomoko Schum (Apr 7, 2005)

The only time that my Glossostigma grew upward in my tank was when my PC bulbs became old (3 years old 55W PC with AHsupply reflector directly on top of 75G tank) and dim. I heard that the light from a T5 HO bulb is very intense, but the intensity at the substrate surface depends on the mounting height of the bulb, doesn't it? Are you bulbs placed directly on top of the tank rim?

I don't know if growing upward is really related to a water flow. The water flow in my tank is coming from the spray bar from Eheim Pro 2026 filter mounted on the side. The flow over my Glosso was from the side and not strong at all, but my Glosso spread low over the substrate just fine.

I got rid of Glossostigma because they grow too fast in my old Flourite. I don't find Flourite to be very nutrient rich by itself, though. If you have enough nutrients in the water column, Glosso should be able to grow fine. Detritis collected in the substrate might help, too.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

what's detritis? I have my light fixture two inches from the top of the tank. my tank is only a 20 tall 24x12.5x16. the light fixture is a 4 bulb t5 h.o. but a single reflector. 2 bulbs are 6,700k and only 2 months old, the other two where give to me and are gisemann mid day 6,000k. so should i replace the mid day's with new bulbs, and do the out take and intake on both sides. the filter is big enough it's a xp1 250gph but I'm pretty heavly planted in the back...


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## Tomoko Schum (Apr 7, 2005)

I found this picture in the gallery section of ADA's Online Aqua Journal.










The tank (Cube Garden 60-P W60 x D30 x H36 (cm)) is a bit shallower than yours (14 inches tall), and it is lit with four 20W NA lamps (t8 lamps). I bet that the lamps on this tank were right at the top rim of the tank, judging from the fact that the picture was a relatively old one. Its lighting condition should be relatively close to your tank. Looking at the picture closely, Glossostigma seems to be growing rather uplight, partly shaded by some taller foregound plants. Does your Glossostigma look like this?

If you trim Glossostigma frequently, it will produce more side shoots with smaller leaves and form a much shorter and denser mat. It takes a while to produce a thick, low growing mat, but it's worthwhile to plant them very closely and do some trimming. How long has it been since you planted your Glosso? Have you trimmed your Glosso yet?

Detritis = decomposed materials including fish poop, uneaten fish food, decomposed plant materials, etc.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

Tomoko Schum said:


> I found this picture in the gallery section of ADA's Online Aqua Journal.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks my tank looks like that, and it's been around a month and a half.. and it came in the pots, and not the mats... I tirm it every couple of days.. maybe it's still trying to ajust. i do have cories that like to go throw it too. so i don't know if they are pulling up the roots, or not.


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## Tomoko Schum (Apr 7, 2005)

Did you unpotted the plants and divide them up into small bunches? 

When Amano plants Glossostigma, he takes a small clump of Glossostigma (3 or so individual plants) and stick it into the substrate with a pair of tweezers. 

You can see how he does his foreground planting in one of the most recent ADA View YouTube videos (the 2nd installment of the Ustream video where he created an aquascape in a 240 cm tank.)


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

yep, unpotted them, and pulled the wool off of them, and tweezered them in small bunches... maybe I should put my fish in a 10g I have with the rotella, and see if dry starting the glosso would help.. would getting the light lower help?


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## Tomoko Schum (Apr 7, 2005)

If you can lower the light, I'd try that first. I know that some people prefer to dry start Hemianthus callitrichoides, but I don't think that dry starting is necessary for Glossostigma.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

It's got to be your light. A 20 high is pretty deep. The par reading from the top to the bottom could change drastically. Did you happen to measure the par of this tank when you had the meter. You have given it enough time to adjust. IF you are getting new growth and it's reaching for the "sun" it's the strength of your light.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

Tex Gal said:


> It's got to be your light. A 20 high is pretty deep. The par reading from the top to the bottom could change drastically. Did you happen to measure the par of this tank when you had the meter. You have given it enough time to adjust. IF you are getting new growth and it's reaching for the "sun" it's the strength of your light.


nope I didn't measure this tank, this tank was going to be for shrimp, and i got it after i returned the meter.. :lol: ... um I could always take the legs off and put the light on the glass lids.. also I'm not sure how old the gisemenn mid days are so i could be running 4 bulbs with only two good bulbs... :-k


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