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Matt's Rio 180 Journal

my blyxa done the same,not as bad as yours but it did grow back,just annoying with all the filaments hanging onto what ever gets in its way in the flow,so all hope is not lost.

i found that dosing easy carbo as well as the CO2 helped to revese it quicker either that or the melting was already stopping when i starting using it.

cheers dave
 
Ok! That's a little encouraging, I guess ill just leave it. I have been really pumping the co2 in (may as well with no fish) so I can't see it being a carbon deficiency, unless easycarbo adds something more than co2 injection?
 
I've bought some more plants to try and make the planting a bit more dense now. Just waiting for them to be delivered to work, so hopefully it won't happen on Saturday.

Blyxa is still melting, sigh. Bits of it all over the place!
 
Hi everyone.

I have fish in the tank now, and everything is going OK, but I am having some issues with the glosso.

Basically, it grows up - the longest shoot up is about 7cm or so! I am still using the stock lighting (90w over 40 gallons, so roughly just over 2wpg with reflectors), and can't really afford any massive changes right now (ie, the inclusion of another tube or two) - plus I seem to have achieved some kind of balance as well where algae is at a minimum. But I understand that if it is growing up, light is an issue?

Is there any way to 'train' the glosso - I did cut it short once and re-plant the cuttings, but the re-planted cuttings grew up again. Growth seems to be quite quick, but definitely up. There seem to be very few runners out to the side as well.

I am dosing 10ml of TPN+ per day, 50% water change each week, lights are stock with a 6 hour photoperiod, and CO2 is from a FE turned on 2 hours before lights-on and off same time as lights. I have the drop checker showing a constant lime-green colour all the way through the time that the lights are on.

Is there any way to make the glosso grow out instead of up, without having to upgrade anything?

If not, is there another plant that would achieve a similar effect, but is less demanding light-wise?

Thanks,

Matt
 
Hey Matt, you seem to have all the correct equipment which is paramount in the planted tank business, I have used glosso in my tank and the best way to get a even and suscessful carpet is to plant two leaf stems individually and trim any growing vertically, it might be paintstakingly long to plant and trim but in the longrun its so worth it. One only other thing I have read lack of light causes glosso to climb instead of carpet but keep trimming and planting mate, Once its established it should carpet.

Good luck mate!
 
OK - after trimming and re-planting numerous times, I am getting frustrated with my Glosso! It refuses to carpet, it's like it has noticed the rotala next to it and has got a height complex!

No matter how many times I trim and re-plant the cuttings, it refuses to spread sideways - it always reaches for the light. I understand this indicates a lack of light, however I didn't think I'd have an issue like this with 90w over 180 litres (90 watts over 39 Imperial gallons, or 47 US gallons, giving 2.3 wpg or 1.91wpg, not sure which I should use...) I have seen Ed Seeley's tank, using the same lighting (I think) and he doesn't seem to have an issue growing anything... makes me wonder what I am doing wrong!

Does anyone have any advice? I know I may need more lighting - is there any way I can cheaply add another tube or something to a Rio? Don't mind a bit of drilling if necessary - got used to that with my old Rekord!

Would I have more luck with HC? I understand (from a cursory Google) that it is less dependent on light?

Would increasing the photoperiod help? I am suffering from Algae issues at the moment, just a bit of diatoms on the glass and the staurogyne, I think it is because it is (relatively) new, things are still adjusting, and I keep fiddling. Plus the timer switches I have are crap, once I replace them with digital ones, it should be a bit more accurate.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Hi Steve,

Yes - I am using Juwel reflectors (have been since the tank was setup) - they certainly seem to increase the amount of light, and I have the front one pointed towards the majority of the Glosso. If this was the case though, I'd expect to see some of the glosso doing OK, wouldn't I? But it all just seems to be growing up high. Some is about 10cm tall!

I did keep in mind when setting it up, that the Glosso would have to have an unobstructed view of the lights - I don't actually have very many plants in there at the moment - the only things that are tall is a load of Rotala Sp. "Green" at the back and the Zenkeri, and I have been careful to make sure it is not shadowing the Glosso...

I'm at a bit of a loss to be honest!
 
Also, bad form to double-post I know! But I was also wondering - I am currently in remission after a bad case of spend-itis, and as such I can't really afford the 60-odd quid for an extra T5 starter unit to add more light. However, I am still running the Juwel stock tubes, would it be worth it to upgrade to Arcadia Plant Pro tubes? I see that they are available in the Juwel sizes from a bunch of places, meant to be designed for growing plants... anyone had any experience with them in comparison to the stock Juwel daylight tubes?
 
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