Help on Hemianthus callitrichoides

**Matt** · 25th Mar 2007, 23:21

Hi people, I am new to aquatic plants and recently have got some Hemianthus callitrichoides and not sure how to take care of this plant. Anyone can help me on this? I just need to understand the needs of this plant and if any special treatment is required.

**wasabi8888** · 25th Mar 2007, 23:27

I am having with this problems as well.. all I know is high light is needed.. hard for this plant to take root.. so either tie on mesh or ensure no disturbance at substrate

**Matt** · 25th Mar 2007, 23:29

But do I need to place them as sparsely as possible or as in the state it came from? i.e. the cotton/soil it came with... some of them are not surviving...

**wasabi8888** · 25th Mar 2007, 23:33

throw out those that are not doing well....
you have 2 choices depending..

1. tie on mesh and plug into gravel
2. separate into small patches, about 5 cent coin and plant into the gravel almost burying it into substrate and pray it does not float up...

ensure high light and CO2...

not an expert in the above.. anyone please intercept if I am wrong..

**Matt** · 25th Mar 2007, 23:40

Alright man, I'll probably take the 2nd option proposed. Anyone out there with more input on taking care of this plant, please do comment. Thanks.

**oblivion** · 26th Mar 2007, 21:21

i use option 2
plant small clumps ard 1cent to 5cent size about 1cm apart
dun worry just bury it into the gravel or else it will float up
just leave a small bit stick out will do
they will grow out towards the light

some will still float but if you do it properly should not be much of a problem

i grew mine initially in a new setup
so had no fauna to disturb it
since no fauna, no worries so i just crank up the co2 ard 3 bps (1.5ft tank)
had around 8 hrs of lighting (3.2wpg) daily => make sure lighting reaches the hc, cause those in the shadows of the rocks and other hardscape materials etc don;t grow so well
i shifted the position of the light around every now and then so as to have the hc grow-in at those more shaded areas

dosed EI method (macros and micros on alternate days 3 times a week each)

and think cool water helps.. mine 25-26 deg using fan

daily just clean up the detached floating bits
leave it be for a month or so and you should see some good growth

i did not change water for the 1st 3 weeks for fear of disturbing the hc
cause planting it was a chore and i am not taking any risks of having the hc all float up and destroy my hard work

shrimps only added after the 6th week when the hc was more or less quite established and stable
fishes were added in week 8

worked out pretty well
now got a lush green lawn of hc that i have never trimmed => setup near 6mths old now
though its getting abit thick now.

hope my experience with it here helps
good luck

**Matt** · 27th Mar 2007, 01:02

Hey lee1224, thanks for sharing your experience man!!! Really appreciate it...

But sounds like a slow growing plant to me. And I guess I need to clear some of my foreground plants again.

**oblivion** · 27th Mar 2007, 01:39

Originally Posted by Matt

Hey lee1224, thanks for sharing your experience man!!! Really appreciate it...

But sounds like a slow growing plant to me. And I guess I need to clear some of my foreground plants again.

its not slow growing.
once established it spreads relatively quickly
but not as quick as hg though
my hg has invaded into parts of the hc and is threatening to overun the "borders"

the slow part is the initial stage when it takes awhile to establish
i played it safe by taking a long time before adding in fauna
just to make sure that the hc root properly
was in mortal fear that the shrimps etc will uproot the whole lot

**wasabi8888** · 27th Mar 2007, 09:42

well, if that is the case, i may remove all my HC that is tied on mesh.. buy new ones and replant them.... also need to remove my yamatos... the rest of the fauna which are mainly rasboras espei and apistos should be ok..

**Matt** · 27th Mar 2007, 21:17

Hey guys, thanks for all the inputs!!

Really appreciate all information shared. Will be putting them to great use. I'm going to replant and await results

Cheers!!

**oblivion** · 27th Mar 2007, 21:51

Originally Posted by wasabi8888

well, if that is the case, i may remove all my HC that is tied on mesh.. buy new ones and replant them.... also need to remove my yamatos... the rest of the fauna which are mainly rasboras espei and apistos should be ok..

haha i would think twice if i were you
the planting nearly broke my back and took hours

bending over a tank with a tiny pincer and small bits of hc aint no joke
i planted mine in aquasoil amazonia
on hindsight i should have put powder amazonia on top of the normal one
think the smaller grains may help in making planting easier
ie. help to hold the hc in the aquasoil better.
remember to wet the soil sufficiently so that they will hold the hc

n removing the yamatoes is more or less a must in my opinion
they dig way too much

the fishes should be fine tho

**Matt** · 28th Mar 2007, 01:18

I've just painstakingly detached all the HC from the cotton/soil/sand it came in... and cut S/S Mesh into 1cm x 1cm sizes and tied the small clumps of HC on. Not sure if I'm killing them by doing it...

But I tot that would make planting and rooting easier. Next planning to place them randomly on the foreground... and await results. Be it Make or Break...

**byleo** · 28th Mar 2007, 21:28

would they grow in a tank with just abit of gravel?

**oblivion** · 29th Mar 2007, 00:33

Originally Posted by byleo

would they grow in a tank with just abit of gravel?

i have not tried before with anything less than 5cm
but thats cause i wanted the substrate to be of a certain thickness for the look

i don't see why it can't grow in shallower substrate, since its roots don't dig in very far

**shermans** · 29th Mar 2007, 19:14

i manage to grow it.... you just get some clumps.... bury part of it.. and whack with high light and co2... even if have yamato or otto like in my tank also nvm.... will root and spread quickly... just make it root first... and of course , get the submersed type!

**byleo** · 31st Mar 2007, 04:22

yeah u see, the prob is my tank is extremely tiny. bout 11L. then the uncle at the shop ask me to buy some kinda plastic birdnest looking thingy, then cover with a thin layer of gravel for the bottom, that's it. then i went to get some liquid fertilizer, 2 of my $16 shrimps went crazy and died. bought some CO2 tablets, and now can only see my water turn green!! how how?? do i have to dig out the whole thing and actually put some soil in? I don't want to ley... some of them seem to be sticking on to the wood pretty well. would it spread?? my java moss also don't seem to be going anywhere.

**shermans** · 31st Mar 2007, 11:17

maybe you better dig out everything, wash and restock or whaever since its only 11l!!!!!!!

**byleo** · 31st Mar 2007, 16:44

Man... really ah? Waited such a long time before the tank cycled ley... Yeah but I guess u're right la. All I wanted was the tank to look green. Not have green water hahaha.

**shermans** · 31st Mar 2007, 18:25

i thinku overfeed = green water,... btw co2 tab = not so effective... imo ... i tried b4... dunno whether work or not...... and yr 16 d shrimp = crs? i think is too hot for them...........

**byleo** · 31st Mar 2007, 22:31

I feed em like once a day, CO2 tabs were kinda cheaper than watever injected thing. The shrimps that died were tiny bumblebee shrimps, and now replaced by yamatos. Man u must be a programmer or something haha.

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