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Glenc

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
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Ontario, Canada
A while back azn_fishy55 posted some advice about HC. He warned not to let it get to thick as the bottoms can start to rot away, eventually causing the plant to float to the surface. He was right. I have had a carpet of HC growing in my 20 gallon since Jan. It was getting real thick and dense. I figured just leave it alone. Heres what it is starting to do, first on the corners, now all across the front of the tank. It's all going to float up anytime. I've learned as HC thickens up and runs out of space, it starts to grow on top of itself. As it does this, it relies less and less on the substrate for anchorage. As it gets real thick, no light hits the bottom of the plant. Sooner or later, it lets go. Moral of this story is to thin your HC out once in a while. Thick is good, to thick is not!
 

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Nice post.. but sorry about your luck. Thanks for the tip now I know what can happen and what to look out for.
 
only u would have to worry about your HC growing out of controll lol. everyone else struggles and gets so little growth and u are complaining it grows to much!!!! lol just kidding. i am glad u posted this. most people just think the thicker the better. how exactly are u going to thin it out though? some people may not know how to trim it properly.
 
Not that big a deal guys, live and learn. :) I'm going to pinch a bunch out with my fingers to thin it out, then re-plant it again. Whatever I pinch out is going to you mr funktastic! This stuff grows real quick if you plant it thin and spread it out. I have had it completly cover the substrate in my ten gallon in about two months.
 
i will be covering the whole front of my 20 gal with it then blend it in with the crypt parva as it gets closer to the back. i have a rock that it is going to grow up against that is covered in moss so i hope the look of the 2 colliding will be cool. i hope u trim out lots!!! i need another bulb in my tank to bring my light up but it will grow under the current conditions. thanks a million!!!!
 
Glenc, you have no idea how many of us wish growing HC was as easy for us as it is for you, myself included. I've had it for three months and still don't have anything resembling a nice carpet. Many have stated that you need a nice fine substrate for it to root properly, high light, lots of CO2, and good nutrients. I've got a feeling I'm mainly running into problems with my substrate not being fine enough. I get especially good growth right after I change the CO2 mix, but it doesn't seem to want to stay down. I'm tempted to switch to sand or to try to get ahold of some ADA AquaSoil to see if I have any better luck.
 
I'm sure the fine substrate is all you need to get that HC to take off. You are giving it everything else. My ten gallon is just crazy, The HC has gone front to back in 2 months. I'll be pinching it out in that one soon! I have two coralife 18 wt CF fixtures and one 14wt t-6 on it. High light, but not to crazy. Also didn't dose that tank for almost two months, the HC grew anyway. I'm using eco complete but am very curious about the ADA aquasoil as well!
 
Great info, but man, beautiful tank!
 
Thanks all for the comments on the tank! I really didn't want to post shots of it as it is not ready yet! Then again, is it ever ready! :lol: Just posted for a heads up on the HC. I'm trying to get the L palustris to thicken and completley fill in the back. The whole back will hopefully go a nice pinky-red. I have a kind of sunset theme in my head...... working on it. :)
 
Gave it all away. With all the free advice I get from this site, my first thought is to give something back. I would'nt have any plants if it wasn't for the good folk here. I'll have more soon as my ten is packed with HC. Watch barter trade people! :)
 
It looks so lush and green, too bad it got ruined.My question is that at Aqua Forest in SF they have a tank with *really* think HC and it didn't float of like that.Maybe it's some secret that they will have to tell me next time I go.I'm not sure if it will work but try using a flashlight where the HC and the substrate meet to check if its rotting or not, it might help in preventing the event from happening again.BTW the tank how it looked before the incident it looks like ADA material!Just if the plants were a bit taller and bushier, you should do the ADA Aquascaping contest next year,I bet it'll do good.
 
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