Alternative method for planting HC.

[paradox]

Hi guys, I currently have a 1.5feet tank, at temp 24 degrees with DIY CO2. And good lighting. My tank houses about 50 shrimps and I have tried growing HC twice. In clumps actually. Like I'd buy the $4 pack from C328 and pluck it into clumps and plant it into my soil. I'm using Benibachi Soil on top with Ada Amazonian II below.

So my #1 problem is, getting the HC to root into the soil.
It is really hard to plant in, esp in clumps. Most of the time, after planting, they are uprooted within 2-3 days either by my shrimps or just by itself. Plus some of it melting i guess. (And yes, I use a pincer to plant it in)

So I read somewhere, but i cant find the thread, that a way to do so is to put a lawn of HC on the soil, and put a glass on top of it for a few days, until it roots. Has anyone tried this? It does sound extremely reasonable.

But then again, where can i get pieces of glass? It'll be quite hard to procure them. Hence I'm wondering if it is possible to put a whole lawn of HC on the soil, and then putting smaller wire meshes ON TOP of it, weigh it down, so that the HC will root to the soil, and not stay "afloat". I do realise that the parts of HC which is covered may die, hence maybe I can use smaller wire meshes and move it around every day so it doesnt cover the same spot.

Has anyone tried this? Do you think it will work? I really like HC but it is just really hard to grow. And as i have shrimps in my tank, and do not wish to start another tank, methods like dry-starting is a no-go for me. Would appreciate any tips! Thanks!

Edit: Sorry for starting a new thread, since there already so many HC threads. But none of them are actually in direct relation to this, hence me starting this thread! Hope its informative.

[marimo]

i tried to do the same way in clump but its not a perm solution. I sprinkle small lava rock over them to secure it .. it keep them down but doesnt root them, end up my shrimps crawl beneath the clump as their homes

Then i do the hard working way . i separate them one by one till i got the runners, then split the runners and trim the roots ONE BY ONE
then plant them submerged one by one with tweezer.
Good thing is by pruning the roots, force them to grow and thus rooting become easy

they dont root well in soil (pellet) , too big for their fine roots. will be better in finer like sand.
unfortunately, the shrimps keep picking on the HC and the help of otto, the HC all uproot one by one

I saw the glass covering the HC thread for low tech tank
the glass shape is unique, kind of curve, dont think its easy to find, so dont think about this option

try Glosso ?

[paradox]

i tried to do the same way in clump but its not a perm solution. I sprinkle small lava rock over them to secure it .. it keep them down but doesnt root them, end up my shrimps crawl beneath the clump as their homes

Then i do the hard working way . i separate them one by one till i got the runners, then split the runners and trim the roots ONE BY ONE
then plant them submerged one by one with tweezer.
Good thing is by pruning the roots, force them to grow and thus rooting become easy

they dont root well in soil (pellet) , too big for their fine roots. will be better in finer like sand.
unfortunately, the shrimps keep picking on the HC and the help of otto, the HC all uproot one by one

I saw the glass covering the HC thread for low tech tank
the glass shape is unique, kind of curve, dont think its easy to find, so dont think about this option

try Glosso ?

I dont really like how Glosso looks like, but I will plant Glosso if I cant find a way to plant my HC.

I also tried the lava rock thing. But for me, I used some soil pellets to cover some parts of the HC to weigh it down. I'm thinking the problem with that is that the other part of the HC which is not weighed down will float, and hence shrimps can go under and it will not root. That's why I'm thinking of using wire mesh (which will cover larger portions of the HC).

And yeah, planting HC in soil pellets (like mine, benibachi soil) is really really hard. Almost impossible. I may try what you did - split them up one by one and plant the roots in instead if all else fails. Thanks!

[equidorz]

I think benibachi is abit difficult for planting hc due to the small roots of hc but still achievable with alot of patiences. However if you have shrimps in your tank then i doubt you will have high success as they are quite a bunch of demolisher. I planted hc with the same subtrate as yours, ada 2 top up with benibachi but i have constant supply of co2 (4bps) initially when i started. I doubt the glass method will work as the hc might not receive the co2 and light. Anyway if you want to grow hc successfully i would suggest you use the normal co2 not the diy one.

[Shadow]

I normally plant one by one, just push it into the soil. I'm using ADA aquasoil shouldn't be much different than benibachi in soil size. Never have problem with floating up as long as no yamato inside.

[marimo]

wait .. i think C328 sells HC on mesh ? the usual one i think is grow emmerse

[eviltrain]

Benibachi soil grain is bigger than ada.

Ts, the method you mention is actually call dry start method or DSM in short.

Ie to say, you have to plants the HC first and let it boom before you start fill up with water can cycle the tank.

[Shadow]

Bigger than ADA? ouch , you might want to mixed with smaller grain soil. ADA have powder type but very ex. you can try gex.

[paradox]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah I've heard of DSM where it has to grow first. And the methods like planting root by root. And that it would be alot better to wait out for it to grow first before introducing livestock, especially shrimps.

However apart from those methods, since I already have shrimps inside, I'm just wondering if this method will work. Someone mentioned that glass may not allow light and co2 to reach the HC. Hmm, so how about putting the wire mesh ON TOP of a whole patch/lawn of HC. That's what I'm wondering about. Does anyone know if the HC will root when weighed down? Presuming sufficient light and co2.

Indeed, benibachi soil grains are big and would be better to mix it with other soils. I'm considering removing all the shrimps, emptying the water into a pail, run my filter through the pail water, so the BB dont die, then mixing up the benibachi and ADA Amazonian Soil II so that the grains will be smaller on average, and it'll be easier to plant (right now its a layer of benibachi above the ada II). But i'm afraid it'll release too much ammonia and etc that may be bad for livestock. Would this problem still occur if i totally drain the water from the tank, then mix the soil? After which, immediately put the water back and the filter back (using the plastic bag method so that the soil doesnt get mixed and cloud the water).

[Shadow]

you can use tooth pick and just pin it down to soil

[shikimijos]

What is HC. Pardon my ignorance.

[foocp]

HC is known as Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'

[shikimijos]

HC is known as Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'

This for enlightening.. I think I bought some..