Experience on "Ai Zheng Zhu" (Pearl Grass)

[inque]

My Pearl Grass ( Ai Zheng Zhu ) is not growin ?
I was taught to keep cutin the growin plant until it "splits"
to make the plant cover my for ground ??

But Growth seem to be kinda slow not
using and fertilizers ( Except fer Sera Liquid Florena)
Base Fertilizer is JBL Thickness 5cm thick for
Foreground


Water condition :PH 7
Water Temp : 28~30 degrees
Lighting : 3 X 15 watt FL
Filter Spec: Eheim Pro II 2026

[budak]

What's your tank size? I suspect your lighting not sufficient. Pearl grass (Hemianthus micranthemoides aka MM) will develop into a thick bunch only if it gets at least 2.5 W per gallon, the more the merrier. When I grew it in my 2 ft, I had 72W (36W x 2).

[jacian]

Thought Ai Zheng Zhu refers to Glosso while Zheng Zhu Cao refers to MM.

In any case, I suspect insufficent lights and CO2.

[loupgarou]

I thought ai zhen zhu is glosso

I don't think HM is ever "short"

[budak]

I had always thought of pearl grass as MM. inque mentioned that he was told to cut the plant till it splits so that seemed to apply to MM.

nevermind, here's another case for latin as opposed to popular common names.

[jacian]

Zheng Zhu = Pearl
Cao = Grass

Thus, Zheng Zhu Cao = Pearl Grass.

And you are right that Pearl Grass = MM.

To splits might apply to MM.
To cover the foreground might apply to glosso.

Guess inque is the only person to the answer.

[eprouve]

Where did you buy the plant? I only know that Teo's give that advice to keep cutting it till it starts growing sideways instead of upwards, and it was meant for Glossostigma E.

If your plant IS glosso, I was told by one of the forumers who had tried everything including increasing fertilzer and lights... that decreasing the temperature will help it grow sideways. Water temp of about 27 throughout the day or lower is best. Not sure how true, though...

[benny]

I have this chinese aquatic plant book from Taiwan and it refers to "Ai Zheng Zhu" as glossostigma.

[inque]

My Tank is 3 feet
Light not sufficent u say?
so wat is the recommended Wattage of
Light tubes to use ????
i'm current using three 15 watt FL lights



thanks

[Simon]

above 2.5watts per gallon helps.. highly would be a plus... oso the type light tubes and depth of the tanks makes a diff.. FL light tube isnt effective for tanks deeper than a certain depth (2ft)

[vinz]

You need to aim for 3 watts/gallon of water. Take your water volume in litres and divide by 3.8 to get gallons. Then multiply by 3 to get the watts you need.

[Addie]

Hi,

In the case of glosso, I remember Dennele booklet recommends for temperatures up to 26C in order for it to grow well. In fact I read some where in an article saying that glosso grows best around 24C.

I tried once in my tank (28C-30C) and most of them melted. The rest with very slow growth rate. I finally gave up on them.

[chongj88]

My experience with Glosso is kinda mixed but leaning towards moderate success. When I got my bunch from Keong Seong about a month ago, it was too much for my new 2ft. I then planted the leftovers in my matured 3ft. Those in the 3ft tank (144watts, 6.9ph, 4KH, 28deg) started growing almost immediately sideways. They have now spread very nicely in the foreground. However, those in the new tank is still growing but not flourishing. Some have begun to grow sideways but most are growing up instead. My lighting is sufficient (108watts) but water is cloudy (presumably bateria bloom). Still keeping my fingers crossed that once the tank has completely cycled, the water will clear up.

Anyway, my conclusion is that glosso loves matured tank with rich substrate. It takes much longer to establish in new tank (all else being equal).

Hope this helps.

John

[vinz]

John,

Your post has gone some ways in confirming an untested suspicion of mine. Small plants like glosso have difficulty reaching down to the base fert below the gravel. So in a new tank where the gravel is 'clean' they cannot get any nutrients. Whereas, the old gravel of a mature tank probably has a lot of nutrients from decomposed organics thru the months and years.

Any other forumers have comments in this respect?

[unknown]

hi my glosso are growing well... however, some of it had started developing greenish stuff around it as well as near the soil... how do i get rid of these algae?? Thanks

[unknown]

hi my glosso are growing well... however, some of it had started developing greenish stuff around it as well as near the soil... how do i get rid of these algae?? Thanks

[loupgarou]

and there I thought you were being inpatient

meanwhile, that's algae, no way to get rid of it, unless you want to try a spritz of hydrogen peroxide

[unknown]

that means getting more yamato or malayan shrimp will also not help??

[vinz]

Unknown,

Green stuff doesn't help us much. Try describing what it looks like (little tufts of hair, flat slime, etc). We'll be able to help you better.

[unknown]

i think it's more towards slimy dark green algae that grows on the soil surface and on the leaves of the glosso