[styxx]

Ok. So I have planted some glosso and it appears to be growing both upward as well as horizontally...how is this possible? :angryfire

I have an ADA 60P which is about 18G with a total of 130W of 6,700K light on this tank with CO2 @ 30ppm. I'm dosing like crazy and it does pearl slightly by the end of the day every day... I should note that its been planted only for about a week. Do I just need to give it more time? I've read it loves Aquasoil; surely it doesn't need more light!?! All my other plants I have to trim 2x a week and are beautiful!:help:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/photo-album/44809-ada-60p.html

Anyone with some suggestions, I'm all ears! Thanks.

 

[Nightshop]

I had the very same issue in my fifty gallon with glosso and AS. I believe it was due to me not planting it deep enough initialy.

 

[Minsc]

Try trimming any that grow vertically. Cut them down to the lowest level to the substrate and they should send out two horizontal stems from there. You definately have way more than enough light:hihi:

 

[Tacoshooter]

Meh, I've never been able to get glosso to reliably grow horizontally in my high-tech tanks. I just think it gets too crazy in those conditions. Conversely in my tanks which were relatively lower light I had decent results getting a carpet.

Now, keep in mind my tanks are pretty darn high light. The one it was ok in was a 2x65 over a 29. The one I can't get it to grow horizontally in is 6x54 over a 75.

About the only thing that works for a while is "training" it by clipping the horizontally growing shoots or better yet, bending them over into the substrate if I still have room to do so.

Personally I've switched to HC.

 

[dapellegrini]

How high is your light suspended from the top of the tank? Or better yet, how far is the light from the glosso? Seems like sometimes is not the quantity of light, but its distance. Perhaps try moving the light down closer to the water for about a week and see if you get it to flatten out.

Mine has always grown very compact and low, but I have seen it grow straight up under MH lights in AS. I have also seen it grow very compact under lower light (2.5 wpg of CF). The only difference I could find was the physical distance from the source of light.

 

[Nihongo]

When back in the days I had a 20 gallon high 24x12x16 and a 65 watts coralife the gloss grows horizontally. Thats only 3.25 watts per gallon! I had sand and I did not have any co2 or fert it grew ok but then it stop.

 

[spypet]

everyone tries Glosso, but most give up on it for the same reasons.

I have glosso in my 29gal with 2x65 over it as it grows up and across.
Every Month I just trim the tall stalks like I was mowing the grass.
It pearls on me during the second half of the day, which is nice,
but I'll probably go with a different carpet plant on my next tank
that does not pile up on top of itself and grow up like glosso does.

sorry about the green spot algae on the glass.
I'm due to scrape it off by this weekend.

 

[styxx]

wow, lots of great replies! Apparently everyone is up late tonight!

Spypet: your gloss looks remarkably similar to mine almost exact in fact! How in the hell is it that I can't get it lower! I even grew HC and it grew right on TOP of the aquasoil (but took forever to grow) but this won't cooperate at all! So tell me how do you get yours to green up? I know it loves aquasoil as a substrate but it hasn't yet developed the root system I think...maybe I should give it some time?

Minsc: I think you're right I'm going to try and trim it in about a week and see what happens...

 

[dapellegrini]

Huh... Mine always grew compact for me...

Starting to grow:

Then layering over itself:

Glam shot with a Goby:

I got rid of all of it -- not because it grew up -- but because it just grows too fast in general and forms layers upon layers over itself with the lower layers rotting, etc... I prefer clover now for a similar look and much less maintenance.

I would also like someone to definitively solve the mystery of why this stuff grows up for some and not others...

Eco-Complete - 72-gallon - EI Dosing - Automated CO2 - 324watts of T5HO

 

[Galactic Doug]

search google for "glossostigma growing up" without quotes.

Below is a few articles that might help those who have some problems.
click on each to get some more ideas.

The main problem here is your light bulbs. I have found the glosso will grow upwards with the wrong bulb "age". The older my bulbs, the more likely the light spectrum was dimmed and changed to the lower colors so I replaced bulbs and "whalla" the glosso started to grow straight across the gravel bed after about 3-4 weeks the bottom was covered.

Check the age of your bulbs as this MIGHT be the problem. (thats not saying something else is NOT the problem).

http://www.google.com/search?q=glos...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

This one looks very promising:
http://www.aquabotanic.com/glossostigmaarticle.htm

 

[TigerLilly]

When I started me first planted tank back in feb the first two plants I bought were glosso and java fern. The glosso didn't look like glosso when I bought it. It was 3'' high and stringy. Now I have upgraded to a 55gal and my glosso is growing in the foreground as well as on driftwood. It is no longer string or 3'' high. It only grows horizontal. Maybe I've just been super lucky because almost every plant I've bought grows great in my tank.

 

[styxx]

Well right now mine looks exactly like Spynet's and I'm none too pleased either. Gallactic Doug: Believe me I've read em all by now! lol...but thanks for the post.
Dapellegrini: Thanks for your post, yours certainly grew well for your and I'm always appreciative of a nice pic! I'm going to give it another 3 weeks and if there isn't much change than out it goes and I'm going back to HC for good. If anyone has read my earlier thread you can see I have plenty of room to fill. I only wish that I could find something that will work well and not take 3 months to fill in!

 

[Wö£fëñxXx]

If you are dosing NPK, TE and the C02 is as good as you think it is, then add an additional light to the tank for three or four hours a day for a few days.
Glosso will grow straight up when light is not satisfactory.
I question the light fixture, are the reflectors clean? bulbs old or dull? is the ballast up to par?
what kind of bulbs?
try a different fixture, etc.

 

[danepatrick]

keep in touch with me mike and i will let you know how my glosso is coming along now that i have 5 wpg. so far i haven't noticed anything. but then again, it's only been that high for 3 days now.

 

[styxx]

ok, so here is the deal. My glosso has improved dramatically, although it still is not as compact as I want it to be. I've done a little reading and apparently it really likes N and I was under-dosing N for the tank. But, of course now I've got some slight hair algae so I'm going to back off a little. It is VERY green compared to when I first got it (and it was yellow!) and finally has started to spread out runners. Now, Wö£fëñxXx you raise an important point, light. I am currently using a Coralife Aqualight (2) 65W PCF bulbs. I bought this unit in January so it wasn't that long ago...that means that I have 130W over an 18G tank. You would think that is enough! Wö£fëñxXx, do you think my reflector might be the reason I'm not getting the kind of results Dapellegrini is getting? I'll post a pic on my other thread and here asap. Dane keep me posted you'll see my results soon enough! Thanks!

 

[styxx]

what a PITA...

Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:

There are more on the main page of my tank thread above...any ideas?

 

[danepatrick]

yea, you have alot of it planted too closely together, so what is planted in the center is growing up where as the outer plants are starting to grow horizontally. that last picture is a perfect example.

 

[mrbelvedere]

You have plenty of light. Stop worrying about that.

You need to be patient, most of all. Spread your glosso thinner, so that it may form a carpet by itself.

Next, plant it differently, with the leaf just barely poking out if the Aquasoil.

 

[styxx]

aha! So I need to spread it out dramatically and plant lower? I'm going to tackle that project this weekend and post some pics! Thanks!

 

[styxx]

here we go!

yea, you have alot of it planted too closely together, so what is planted in the center is growing up where as the outer plants are starting to grow horizontally. that last picture is a perfect example.

Well I see what you mean! ...2 hours later, I have completely thinned out the glosso and replanted per your suggestions. I will try and post some pics later on. I think I threw out about 60% of what I had! Boy that stuff was really thick. I also tried to plant it so that most of it is barely sticking out of the aquasoil. Of course near the end my back started aching and my hand had shriveled up to a pulp! Thanks for the suggestions. My ottos are going absolutely wild now that their hungry buts can get to places that they couldn't get to before. I love them, they are eating machines and I only have about 6 of them!