Munkii Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I am setting up a new tank and trying to grow glosso as ground cover. Since I won't have any fish in there for a while, I figured that I may as well keep the water level low (5cm or so) to help the light reach the plants better. My question is, while my tank is like this, should I add my liquid ferts at their normal levels (as if the tank was full) or should I reduce the ferts to match the water volume? I think the plants will use the same amount of nutrients regardless of the water level, so I should add the ferts at the higher rate, but I'm not sure if there is anything else to consider. What do you guys think? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Why not do a dry start? You only add enough water to keep the roots moist and the rest of the plant is largely out of the water. The plant will grow far more quickly and cover the area faster. The only downside it that the old growth dies off when you fill the tank but the new leaves will have plenty of roots to grow from. In answer to your question, it's not common to dose "ferts" during a dry start but that doesn't mean to say it couldn't or shouldn't be done. The dosage is based on litres in your aquarium for a reason, the fertilizers are largely diluted by your aquarium water but the plants absorb what they need to, removing it from the water. One could argue that in tanks with equal plant mass, say 100x50cm of glosso will use the same amount of ferts whether the tank is 25, 50 or 100L as the plant mass is still the same. At the end of the day, it's up to you. Personally I wouldn't bother though, my glosso grew well just under lights and without CO2 you're just asking for algae issues. What ferts are you planning on dosing by the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munkii Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 What ferts are you planning on dosing The plan (after reading comments from Jennifer) was to dose with Excel once a week, and then add a little Comprehensive each day. I used to have minor algae issues on my main tank, but after I started following the above regime it seems to be better. Based on that experience I figured that I would have a better chance of avoiding algae if I added some ferts (or maybe I just need to keep the lighting low, I dunno). I could dry start, but I have heard that this causes glosso to grow upwards rather than horizontally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I could dry start, but I have heard that this causes glosso to grow upwards rather than horizontally. I was told that on this forum but read it nowhere else. With my dry start experience, I can safely say that it doesn't cause Glosso to grow vertically nor should there be any reason (unless insufficient light which will make it grow vertically even when the tank is full) for it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I used to grow glosso emersed in a glasshouse and it grew quite qickly and showed no desire to grow vertically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 all of the emersed glosso I've ever seen grows tighter and flatter than submersed, but as sam pointed out it does die off in the lower layers and old growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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