# Growing a glosso & HC rug emersed...



## davesurfer (Jan 17, 2009)

Hi! Just got a pile of HC and Glosso from April's Aquarium up here in BC (best prices, awesome to deal with!!  )

I have Onyx sand and a top layer of Eco-Complete. As you can see I've split up the HC and Glosso and have planted it emersed with water just below the substrate surface. I also got some anubias that I've set around the driftwood.

A few questions for those that have been successful doing this:

1. How much of a vent do I need for exchange of gases etc? In the picture the two holes for the filteration pipes are taped off. The only air coming in and out is through a 1/4 inch hole drilled on the right of the tank.

2. How often can the canopy be opened without loosing too much moisture? I've noticed there is a LOT of condensation on the glass and it builds up real fast after I close the lid.

3. Besides the plants in eco-complete, do I need to do any fertilization?

4. I also have anubias...nana, coffeolia and dwarf. Do I have to plant them or can I grow them in the air stuck to the driftwood emersed? Should I mist them every day? Has anyone done anubias emersed? Will they survive?

5. What is a good photoperiod for this? I've been doing 12 hours for the last two days.

Thanks for any help!!


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

davesurfer said:


> Hi! Just got a pile of HC and Glosso from April's Aquarium up here in BC (best prices, awesome to deal with!!  )
> 
> I have Onyx sand and a top layer of Eco-Complete. As you can see I've split up the HC and Glosso and have planted it emersed with water just below the substrate surface. I also got some anubias that I've set around the driftwood.
> 
> ...


1) If you're opening the canopy daily that should suffice

2) as often as you like, as long as it stays moist  Misting after you open it should help as well.

3) not until you fill it.

4) I would add the Anubias after you fill the tank. There's no benefit in having it in the setup while it's initially emersed (won't necessarily grow faster, may dry out, etc)

5) That sounds like a reasonably photoperiod for emersed growth. You might want to drop it to 10 hours once you fill the tank

I'd like to point out that glosso will grow with a different morphology emersed compared to submersed. There will be another period of conversion once you fill the tank with water, unlike the HC which seems to convert relatively easily from emersed to submersed.

Hope that helps....


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

The HC was most likely grown emersed. It can actually live fine in a completely open tank. So the humidity in the air is not that important.

The anubias is a very hardy plant. I wouldn't leave the leaves dry anyway.

So basically what Hooha said I second. Except the light. HC emersed likes a TON of light. When I grew mine the bulbs were about 2 inches above the HC! Low light is not good for the emersed HC.

Also the substrate that you have chosen is as far from what the HC likes as possible. HC likes its roots to be in an acidic environment. Such environment eventually develops in an aquarium. So if your HC starts to give you any problems when emersed the pH of the substrate is the first thing to think about. But the light is even more important.

--Nikolay


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## davesurfer (Jan 17, 2009)

Thanks for all the suggestions!  Didn't know that about the acidity of the substrate. So far the HC is growing satisfactory and putting out shoots and looking very green.

The Glosso was incorrectly planted: I planted them in bunches of 15 or so stems. These stems rotted as they were too close together! I've cut away most of the rotted stuff and now new shoots are coming up all over which is good *whew*. I've heard that a good way to plant glosso emersed is just to lay the stems out on the substrate and then they send roots down into the ground.

About the Glosso changing...I'm hoping with enough CO2 injected that it won't be necessary!

The Anubias are usually grown emersed in plant nurseries but as I've found out the hard way that they do need to be misted a few times a day! The tips of the leaves were beginning to curl up and dry out! I've been misting them now for several days and they do look like they are doing much better. I see new white roots going down from their rhizomes to the substrate and there is on new leaf unfolding (even though it looks yellow?)


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