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Is Glossostigma elatinoides hard to grow? & is it H-light M-light or L-light? & whats co2 injection? & is Glossostigma elatinoides easy to control? & what substrate should I use & how much (2-3inches?)?

& whats flourite?(is that the stuff in toothpaste?

& whats gravel vacuming? if I vacumed the gravel my plants roots would break woulnd they?

Last edited by dude_dude at 12-Mar-2005 16:27

glosso isnt too bad but its not a beginer plant ether, but you need high lighting at least 2 wpg to keep it alive depending on how shallow you tank is, but you wont see much growth since its normally kept at the bottom of the tank getting even less light, so tank dimensions are needed.and a pretty decent setup for this plant

co2 injection is saturating the water with a high content of co2 then normal, this helps the plants grow especially in high lighting, and if balance can reduce some algae.

florite is a brand name substrate for aquatic plants, thats pretty much laterite. its expensive but high in iron and CEC. not needed really but it wouldnt hurt ether. its a good substrate, but if given the choice its better to go with eco complete instead of florite becuase florite is a bitch to clean.

3 inches is the normall but really depend on what plants you have, you can get away with two if your growing glosso but heavy root feeders need more substantial substrate.

well Im kinda a begginer why isnt it good 4 begginners? the tank would probably be 30 gals

L=60cm approx
W=30cm approx
H=35cm approx

do you think cories would like it?

would a 20 watt light be good?or higher?65 watts?

& If I got it should I not get floating plants?

Last edited by dude_dude at 12-Mar-2005 17:06

Glossostigma is a very demanding plant. Beginners can grow it if they have the right setup, but let's face it, most beginners don't because you can't buy the right setup off the shelf in the shop. It needs very high lights.

Your tank has 63 litres in it. or 16/17 US gallons. A 20W light bulb will give you around 1.25 watts per gallon. That's not enough for Glossostigma. It will either die, or if it will grow it will grow horizontally rather than vertically and it will look awful. Another 20W light bulb and both with reflectors might do it. Definitely don't get floating plants, they will block the light for the glosso.

Cories are not big fans of glosso (they love burrowing in the substrate), but they can get used to it. The problem is that they might uproot the plant before it managed to anchor itself to the substrate. If you do decide to do it, leave a patch free of glosso for the cories and feed them there. When the plant has secured itself and starts growing you can plant the other patch.

But, without adequate lights and CO2, I would forget about trying that plant

You don't need to buy expensive substrate now for the plant, or any other plant. You can just get root fertilisers which you put in the gravel where the roots of your plants will be. I use JBL's 7 Balls and each ball lasts about a year

You don't vacuum your substrate with glosso. You hover the gravel vacuum above the plant making sure that any dirt that is trapped between its leaves is sucked, but whatever goes into the substrate stays there (and becomes plant food). Even with other plants, you don't vacuum the gravel right around the plant.

Hope I could answer your questions.

Dude,

Information from http://www.tropica.com:

Height 2-3+ cm
Width 3+ cm
Light requirements HIGH to VERY HIGH
Temperature 15-26 °C
Hardness tolerance very soft-medium
pH tolerance 5-7,5
Growth fast
Demands VERY DIFFICULT

Glossostigma elatinoides is much in demand in Japanese-inspired aquariums. It is one of the smallest aquarium plants, and thus a good foreground plant. A difficult plant demanding a lot of light. Grows upwards if light is poor. Make sure larger plants do not overshadow it. When planting in the aquarium small clumps (approx. 1/8 pot) should be placed at intervals of a few centimetres to help the plants grow together more quickly. CO2 addition and soft water promote growth significantly.
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To achieve very high light in your tank, you will need 90 to 120 watts to give you 3 to 4 watts per gallon (wpg) since your tank is of average depth.


__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

thanx I thought a rule was 5 watts per gal? well I dunno thanx gonna think about what youve said

Hi,
To get a little more information on lighting open the
thread at the top of this forum and read my reply.

Flourite is a ancient clay from tropical forests.
Actually called "Laterite," it is dug up and then, in the
case of Flourite, baked in ovens till it becomes a brick
(the process is called fractionating). The the bricks are
then ground into aquarium gravel size particles, bagged, and
sold. As was mentioned it is iron rich, and will release
the iron to plants as their roots take hold in the
substrate.

As with any of the fractionated clays used in aquariums
washing, as you would aquarium gravel, only produces
more clay particles that float in the water clouding it.
It's best to wash it once, then place it in the tank, and
run the filters to clear the water. Depending upon the
filter, it could take days for the water to become crystal
clear. If you use a diatom filter, you can reduce the
process to just a few hours.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 14-Mar-2005 10:46

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

thanx frank