RE: Glossostigma Query

["Eric Wahlig" <ewahlig at earthlink_net>]

Matt, the word "slimy" in your depiction of the algae covering your plants
and gravel leads me to belive that its really more of a cyanobacteria
problem. 5 watts / gallon sure is a lot of light. Is this tank one of those
"show" tanks that is very tall compared to the width where you might need
that kind of light intensity to reach the bottom?
A tank driven this hard will need all of the nutrient parameters in check
and in constant supply to ensure that the higher order plants out-compete
everything else. Any shortages even for a short period of time at this pace
could present a stalling problem which allows the unwanted plant forms,
like algae and cyanobacteria, to flourish. Many people refer to these high
light tanks as "fast" tanks or "fast growth" tanks and its true; SOMETHING
is going to grow really fast. Something will fill the niche. Hopefully its
the higher order plants you paid for not the algae. Usually, any slip-ups
in the nutrient parameters required by the higher order plants at that
level of lighting stalls or slows growth just enough that the formerly
barely subdued algae gets the boost it needs to effectively blast-off and
over-run the tank. The same balance and process happens in all planted
bodies of water. In a slower growth tank the process is the same except it
happens at a slower rate and this allows some variance in the nutrient
parameters without the immediate effects. The effects may be the same ,
they just take longer to manifest. 
In response to your problem, unless you can isolate the missing and/or
unbalanced nutrient parameters in this tank rather quickly and make the
necessary adjustments, I think I would reduce the light substantially and
get the tank balanced and growing well at a slower growth rate. When the
tank is balanced I would gradually increase the lighting and investigate
what nutrients may be limiting the growth at higher light levels.    

--- Eric