This method is used by many a well known Aquascaper. I just thought I would share it. You may already know.
When you buy say glosso or Microswords they tend to come in a little "bunch". it's been my experience the novice tends to throw this in the tank as is, which will work, but will cause a much slower rate of growth than the following:
first go to a petco or petsmart and look for large or extra large feeding tongs, usually in the reptile section and often made of bamboo. these will prove invaluable and quite cheap comparedto say an ADA alternative.
Take your bunch of plants and seperate the bunch into much much smaller bunchs of maybe three or 4 leaves, you can even go as far as 1, which is preferred if planting glosso. use your tongs to gently grab the plant by the base. i stress GENTLY! hehe
use the tongs to slide the plant into the substrate and release and pull up your tongs. You'll find this greatly reduces substrate distrunace especially for those of you who use layered bottoms. BTW, this works for any plant using the tongs. planting with your hand is much more frustrating.
space these leaves across your desired area anywhere from 1/2 inch to i'd say about 1 inch apart. this allows light to get to every leaf and will greatly increase the soeed of spreading and likewise give you the aquascaper a template for where the said plant will grow. it's much easier to maintain this way and will significantly reduce detritus build up.
heres a really old pic of what i mean
Ian
When you buy say glosso or Microswords they tend to come in a little "bunch". it's been my experience the novice tends to throw this in the tank as is, which will work, but will cause a much slower rate of growth than the following:
first go to a petco or petsmart and look for large or extra large feeding tongs, usually in the reptile section and often made of bamboo. these will prove invaluable and quite cheap comparedto say an ADA alternative.
Take your bunch of plants and seperate the bunch into much much smaller bunchs of maybe three or 4 leaves, you can even go as far as 1, which is preferred if planting glosso. use your tongs to gently grab the plant by the base. i stress GENTLY! hehe
use the tongs to slide the plant into the substrate and release and pull up your tongs. You'll find this greatly reduces substrate distrunace especially for those of you who use layered bottoms. BTW, this works for any plant using the tongs. planting with your hand is much more frustrating.
space these leaves across your desired area anywhere from 1/2 inch to i'd say about 1 inch apart. this allows light to get to every leaf and will greatly increase the soeed of spreading and likewise give you the aquascaper a template for where the said plant will grow. it's much easier to maintain this way and will significantly reduce detritus build up.
heres a really old pic of what i mean
Ian
