Glosso-Cleaning

[Vez]

Hey all

After seeing shihr’s new tank, I started looking at some of his plants, and didn’t know what those small ones were (glosso)

Anyway, after getting a name, I started to search google, and wow, when that plant covers the gravel, it looks awesome.


7096
Now the question I have is, if one should reach the point (as in the Pic) when the Glosso takes over the gravel, do you still clean the gravel? Might be a silly question…

Thanks

Vez

[FishRMan]

Vez I think that is one of my favourite pics ever.

[shihr]

i havnt gravel vac'd in 4yrs :P the plants kind of sort its selves out..

[shihr]

if there is left over food, it should be removed asap though..

[Vez]

sjoe okay,

will see when i get some... and if it takes off in my tank.

[shihr]

careful though.. this is a semi high light and nutrient plant..

if there isnt enough of either one, it wont grow properly or will grow vertically...

[Vez]

okay, so how does one "feed" them?? as the internet didnt say anything that they have "needs"

[Zoom]

There are 2 common ways of cleaning gravel.

(1) Using a gravel vacuum by plunging the vacuum deep into the substrate, let the vacuum action churn up the gravel and suck out the mulch. (The gravel should then fall back down.)
(2) Move the gravel vacuum gently over the surface of the substrate, gently disturbing the top 2-3mm of graven and only sucking up the mulch on the surface.

My experience on using the first method resulted in me having more gunk floating in the water column afterwards than what I had before. There are also people who believe that when you do this method, you are in fact releasing ammonia gases that build up in the substrate. Yes it will slowly release over time, but buy doing this method, you will be releasing a whole lot more at once. Your substrate also eventually becomes colonized with bacteria that help breakdown waste, and if you are plunging the gravel into your substrate, some people believe you are disturbing this. (It can take anything between 6-12 months for your substrate to become colonized.
I prefer to use the second method, and only remove the bit on top. Been doing this for the past few months, and haven't had ANY problems.

[shihr]

umm.. Zoom i dont think that you can clean the gravel when you have a carpet of glosso.. i would at most try to vac some of the debri ontop of the glosso...

[Vez]

wow, thanks Zoom!!

also had that prob with all the cr@p in the water after the vac, using method 1...

[shihr]

okay, so how does one "feed" them?? as the internet didnt say anything that they have "needs"

get a good fertilizer from Dirk or some of the brands..

but i find glosso (esp with co2) loves potassium.. some "natures no salt" (KCL) from dischem will solve that..

[hein24]

If you have a strong filter system the crap in the water clears up very quick tho...

[shihr]

heres a nice read on how to grow glosso:

http://www.fish-forums.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=600 (http://www.fish-forums.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=600)

i learnt all my stuff from there.

[Vez]

heres a nice read on how to grow glosso:

http://www.fish-forums.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=600 (http://www.fish-forums.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=600)

i learnt all my stuff from there.

thanks shihr

will take a read.

[Vez]

get a good fertilizer from Dirk or some of the brands..

but i find glosso (esp with co2) loves potassium.. some "natures no salt" (KCL) from dischem will solve that..

how much should one use? and will the other plants love this as well?

[shihr]

yes.. all plants need potassium too.. why i say that they love potassium is because when ever there is a def in my tank i always notice that its potassium..

i dont really know how much they need because its different for each tank.. esp tank size, equipment used etc.. but an indication of potassium is GSA - green spotted algae.. i usually add KCl and clean off the GSA.. if i see GSA develop again, i'll add more to the tank..

another indication of K deficiency is when pin holes develop in the leaves of your plants..

[Vez]

sjoe okey,

have seen that, very small holes in the leaves, always thought it was snails,,,

will get some this weekend, and collect the Fertz, will use the fertz that i got now, and when thats empty, i will order from the Prof!

[jonmiilton]

My experience led me to use the first method more sticky stuff floating in the water column later than I received. There are people who believe that when you do this method, you actually release the ammonia gas to accumulate in the substrate.