4ft tank revamp to glosso lawn concept

[torque6]

Initially, when rick started this thread, i didnt really know what scape he has in mind, so hard to suggest to him, i guess his main aim was a glosso scape. It did turned out better than I expected as he handled several algae issues pretty well. Im impressed.

[honor]

awesome tank.

[tcy81]

the glosso spreading nicely.

[kelvin]

williamng,
the reason the rummy nose are crowding at the foothill i feel is because rummy nose like to swim against strong water currents. thats why they keep staying near the outflow.

[kbharanikumar]

Hi

Tank look very good

[Fei Miao]

Hi Rick-
This is turning out to be a great looking tank, not a easy scape...
I only wish the rocks were a bit bigger for better effect.

[Fei Miao]

Hi kbharanikumar,
Welcome to AQ, do feel free to post your tanks here.

[ywl]

The pic of the shrimp and the glossos .....Wow

[torque6]

Rick, have you managed to fill the right handed with rocks yet ? NA got some shippment of rocks this week, might want to check them out and see if they have anything suitable.

[John N.]

Hi Rick-
This is turning out to be a great looking tank, not a easy scape...
I only wish the rocks were a bit bigger for better effect.

I agree with both statements. A very nice tank and a huge undertaking. Larger rocks would have put this tank over the edge in beauty. But it's coming out very nicely.

I'm really surprised there is no algae problems. How did you do it?

-John N.

[caominh]

glosso spreading nicely, nice tank

[tropic]

Hi.Can I ask..you using just two bags of Gex for your tank and how many co2 bps is it on?

[rick]

Thanks for the kind comments.

Hi.Can I ask..you using just two bags of Gex for your tank and how many co2 bps is it on?

I used 4 bags of 8kg. 3 bags are adequate if not for the hilly landscape. It was on 8 BPS with 54Wx7. Now I am putting a brake on the growth, so now on 3BPS with 54Wx2. I suspect 3BPS is a little low, and I will up it soon.

I agree with both statements. A very nice tank and a huge undertaking. Larger rocks would have put this tank over the edge in beauty. But it's coming out very nicely.

I'm really surprised there is no algae problems. How did you do it?

-John N.

Thanks. With advices from pals here and Internet, I controlled the algae in a multi-prong manner: weekly water change/ Malayan Shrimps and Yamatoes/ Higher than required C02, based on light intensity / 8 hrs of light per day/ manual removal of algae. If you follow my thread, you can see that I had algae at one point, but eradicated it with the common methods. No magic here. But for bros with algae problem, I generally recommend other methods like light break hour, UV and strict control of column fert.

Thanks again for all the comments, and the advices I have received. I'll update with pics soon. Now Discus are in, plant on hill send out flower-like extension above the water surface. And might put in new rocks.

[torque6]

There is a fair amount of new hands starting out with 3FT > with intention to grow glosso but were having either algae issues or death in their tank. I pointed several of them to you, in hoping you chould share with them your valuble experience.

Appreciate your help and update us soon with your discus. Am greatly looking forward to it.

[o2bubble]

My experience with Glosso is that they grow very fast under the right condition. Just within 3 weeks of initial planting, they covered all 1x2 ft area with 3 or more layers. I have to trim them down to near the stem/one layer. After 1 week only, they have grown back and some trying to grow the 2nd layer now Have to trim them again this weekend to the stem (no leaves remain) to wait maintain for 2-3 weeks

Not sure if this is good because tank condition is good or bad because it means more work (and more nagging from my wife)!

[geezer333]

women can't live with it , can't live without it hahaha

[rick]

My experience with Glosso is that they grow very fast under the right condition. Just within 3 weeks of initial planting, they covered all 1x2 ft area with 3 or more layers. I have to trim them down to near the stem/one layer. After 1 week only, they have grown back and some trying to grow the 2nd layer now Have to trim them again this weekend to the stem (no leaves remain) to wait maintain for 2-3 weeks

Not sure if this is good because tank condition is good or bad because it means more work (and more nagging from my wife)!

i actually love glosso, but having a sustainable scape is important, to be practical. I believe many of us avoid glosso due to its level of maintainance. The last scenerio we want is that the carpet floats when the bottom layer decay (the riccia problem). Anybody out there had a sustainable glosso scape? Pls share your experience.

Soulfinder78, if you are reading, how is your lawn?

I am cutting back on the lighting to rein the fast growth. Now on less than one-third of the light wattage compared to the starting period. It is so far working fine, the growth has been apparently slower.

[o2bubble]

I have cut my lighting from 8 to 6 hours as well. Too much trimming to handle besides glosso. Getting tired already but no regrets.

[rick]

There is a fair amount of new hands starting out with 3FT > with intention to grow glosso but were having either algae issues or death in their tank. I pointed several of them to you, in hoping you chould share with them your valuble experience.

Appreciate your help and update us soon with your discus. Am greatly looking forward to it.

No problem. My technical knowledge is limited relative to many here. The planting journey I have had during the past years has largely been based on farmer's instinct, i.e. if you query me on PH, KH, NPK etc, I am most likely to return a null. Nevertheless, of course, I will see where I can participate.

[PlAnTaNoOb]

Basically, from my experience, algae problems are only evident at the initial stages after planting, when growth is generally slow. After some time, when the glosso adapts (not sure how. Maybe roots are anchored? or maybe they need time to get use to water parameters?), they grow at an amazing pace. Whatever hair algae on the substrate soon gets overwhelmed and covered by the thick carpet of glosso. That's how my substrate hair algae problem disappeared.

Thus, I guess given enough light (I used 4X24W T5HO, 10hours, 2 ft tank) and sufficient nutrients (I used EI method), its more of how to maintain the pace of glosso growth than speed it up.