Jeff.:P:.

Sweet. Can't wait to see some updated pics.

hoppycalif

Three weeks. I trimmed some of the taller plants, planted a few with tweezers and left the rest just laying on the substrate to see if they root just as well that way. A lot of them did.



Next week I will be planting some rotalas in the open area, and adding the water back. This has been fun!

EDIT: I just noticed that a few posts back I said I installed 2-40 watt bulbs. That isn't correct. I installed 2-20 watt bulbs, for 40 watts total, up from the 30 watts total I had been using.

NeonRob

Did your condensation on the glass lid issue get resolved? Has your glosso started growing horizontally yet?

CrimsonKeel

Interesting
I have a spare 55 gallon i plan on doing this with but setting it outside in the summer like this

hoppycalif

I took the glass out of the "lid" so the light fixture is open to the tank now. That resolved that problem. But, now I have to add a lot more water every day to make up the evaporation losses. The glosso is starting to lay down a bit, so I expect the node roots will hold it down soon. As soon as I get my rotalas, next Tuesday night at our plant club meeting, I will plant them and flood the tank. All things considered I am satisfied with this as a way to start a tank.

Easy to plant those tiny little plantlets.
No floating up out of the substrate.
No algae problems while waiting for the plant mass to build up.
Very little work.
Very interesting process.

hooha

keep us posted after you add water, it will be interesting to see how glosso adapts from a 'vertical' growth to more horizontal growth with runners....

hoppycalif

The little plants are now turning horizontal, and many have the node roots starting to attach to the substrate. I'm assuming the increased lighting is causing that welcome change.

Jeff.:P:.

Good to hear.

hoppycalif

After 4 weeks, and now one day before I flood the tank, here is how the glosso is doing:



Most of the taller plants have now grown horizontal, with the roots at each node growing into the substrate. The clippings I tossed into the middle area that was left bare grew as well as those I had poked down into the substrate originally. The only exceptions are those that landed with the tops of the leaves facing down - they all wilted. I suspect you could plant glosso very easily by just dropping the two leaved nodes into the tank and using tweezers only to turn over those that faced down. Whether this would work with HC I don't know, but it seems it should.

Tomorrow I plant rotala in the large open area and flood the tank. Wish me luck!

orion2001

Nice going Hoppy. I've been following your thread with great interest. I'm going to be setting up the exact same tank in a couple of weeks! Perfecto hood, Diamond Black and Flourite Black Sand. I had a couple of questions which I was hoping you could answer.

1) How thick was your Diamond Black layer and how thick was the Black sand?

2) Did you need to dose/spray any ferts while doing this or did the Diamond Black provide the required nutrients?

3) In retrospect do you think the upgrade in lighting was critical to your success?

4) When you do flood your tank, what is your Excel dosage going to look like to prevent melting of emersed leaves? If this is a higher dose of Excel to prevent this melting, can it be phased down to lower levels over time without melting and the potential mess it might create in your tank? I'm asking because I'd like to start something similar but I'm hoping to dose Excel just once a week and not shoot for large amounts of plant growth.

5) Lastly, do you know if anyone has successfully grown Dwarf Hairgrass using this method, or if it is possible? Would anything need to be changed?

Sorry for the barrage of questions . I'm looking forward to hearing back from you. Good luck with the tank flooding!