# HM foreground?



## uglybuckling (Jun 28, 2004)

So I've read that HC is a great foreground plant. The problem is, nobody around here has any HC, and I'm not sure I want to order it. Plus, according to most sources I've read, it seems to be a little bit harder to take care of than HM. And I'm hesitant to buy plants that are described on the plant finder as anything but "easy." 

I've got a whole bunch of HM, though. If I want to use this as a foreground plant, is there a technique of planting that's recommended? Should I plant it a few degrees above the substrate (almost flat) and trim it a lot? This seems to me to be a logical approach. 

Thanks, 
--Bucky


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## reizao (Feb 8, 2007)

I think is not a good idea. HM is a lttle bit tall for foreground. Instead of it you can use Glossostigma elatinoides.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Thats basically how I have done it, I've even just laid long stems across the substrate partially covered. It will form roots all along the stem and start to branch. When it starts to get high just trim it down. Re plant the cuttings.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

I have been doing it the way Robert describes it as well. It's easy to do it, and won't give you the planting/uprooting headaches of HC.


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## icharus (Jun 21, 2007)

hmm.. wow.. that seems pretty cool. HC is definitly harder to deal with. I bought a 4x4 patch and spread it out in my 10g foreground but after a week, most of it is either in my filter or tangled in the ball of java moss/ riccia/ and who knows what else in the corner of my tank. My amano shrimps uproot more and more of it everyday when they clean nearby.


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## uglybuckling (Jun 28, 2004)

Cool. Mine is starting to look like Robert's in that picture there, and although it's a bit high for a foreground, it works. And yeah, it seems easier to deal with than HC--from what I've heard, the replanting on that stuff can be quite a nightmare. 

I'm not sure I have enough light / photoperiod for glosso (2x65W over an 18" deep 28g bowfront for 10h/day on one light and 4h/day on the other), and although I love what it looks like, I don't really have a good source for it (it's 95 degrees here, I can't really get anything shipped to me, and my LFS doesn't carry it)

I think I'll be happy with my HM foreground, at least for the time being. If I see somebody on the trade forum selling glosso one day I might pick some up. 

Thanks all for your input. 

--B


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## zeneo (Jul 10, 2005)

Hello,

To achieve better results, beside the strong light, you must use lamps of 10.000k preferential in color blue and as Robert said, trim it regularly.


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

zeneo said:


> Hello,
> 
> To achieve better results, beside the strong light, you must use lamps of 10.000k preferential in color blue and as Robert said, trim it regularly.


Not true at all sorry. You do NOT need to use certain color temps of bulbs. 10,000k offer nothing more then a 6500k, but different color temps. All of the members above have very very good setups, and i can tell ya one thing, not one of them swears by 10k bulbs and uses only them. It's an astetic thing not a must have.


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## zeneo (Jul 10, 2005)

Hello,

Sorry for my bad English, some times it’s not so easy to explain myself in the right words.

As you well said, obviously it’s not a “must have”, but more “if you use”.

Hm is one of my favorite aquarium plants and I grow it for some years in many different conditions. In the beginning I even get a carpet with only 18W in 96 liters, don’t ask me how, I never understand that well, to noobye for that.

However, I must disagree with you, when you say, that color of the bulbs is only a aesthetic issue. Some years ago specially when the use of foreground plants began, it was a matter well discussed, mainly when planting glossostigma. Many agree that the blue color promotes the horizontally grow in many kind’s of plants. That is also my opinion and my experience tells me that also.


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## gas (Jul 27, 2006)

I don't know for the color of the light but I agree that a strong light is prefered.
Btw it's easy to get a HM foreground by planting the emersed form without separate the stems


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

last year I had the beginnings of a great HM foreground.
I did not pursue it further since I found this plant to be
especially prone to algae. what was worse, is it's very
sensitive to plastic, bleach and excel, so the only way
I could treat it was with patience and a lot of H2o2.
so unless you have good water conditions and compressed
Co2 to deter algae, I would not attempt an HM foreground.


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## warr40 (Aug 16, 2005)

hmm HM foreground i might have to try that with some of my cuttings......


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I like HM for a foreground plant, but only in larger aquariums. I let mine take root and grow a few inches. I then cut it WAY back, almost to the substrate. The new growth comes in very nicely and doesn't seem to shoot straight up like recently planted stems.


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## marke14 (Mar 27, 2007)

I am actually growing an Hm foreground, unexpectedly in fact. It began with two Hm bunches purchased and planted months apart. After I got my new lights and pressurized CO2, they became my fastest-growing plants behind the Cabomba.

Now, the two plants have grown together and are taking over my foreground. I have been experimenting with pruning as described here, and it seems like it's really paying off. As others have said, it really is an algae magnet - hair and thread in particular.

I'll try to get a more recent pic up soon.


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