Hair Grass

[StanChung]

normally with anyplant that i buy that has short roots, i will just let it float till the roots are longer before planting. sure it looks ugly but ignore it. grows out quickly enough. this is esp the case for glosso and other fg plant.
to plant in amano amazonia powder is actually quite difficult if the plant does not have roots. that why i float the plants to let root grow first.

Tip- to plant hg you need fairly fine gravel. ~1mm.[so that it doesn't float easily and a really pointed pair of tweezers.[throw away those blunt tip ones, the plants float when you try to remove them]

~4-5 plants per stab at 5mm apart makes a really nice dense carpet in a month. tried other methods but this really IMO is the nicest and looks very natural. trim it like hair. give it a layered cut. seriously. you will be paying extra attention when you go to the hair salon i kid you not. [great if you got hairdresser friend to teach you how]

nye nye nye bla bla bla...

[StanChung]

Kinda difficult to get Eleocharis parvula in Singapore, I think... The commonly found hairgrass here are Eleocharis acicularis and Eleocharis vivipara.

Amano cannot speak nor understand English leh, he needs a translator...

he does need a translator and hopefully will not be lost in translation. haha.

e p. we do get it once awhile, sometimes hard to tell what you are buying because they sell it as emersed form. i've used vivipara but i don't like it cos it has those plantlet tips if i'm not mistaken. threw it all away.

[V31]

Please, can anyone recommend me how to make e.accicularis grow faster?
I've planted few stems per 1cm. It grows slowly and the 'lawn density' is poor in spite of 1W/L lighting, daily fertilizing and CO2 adding.

What will kick my eleo 'up'?

Thanks for your replies.

[Justikanz]

If there ever is a way to up their growth rate, I would like to know too... I totally give up hairgrass... But I don't mind trying them again...

[V31]

If there ever is a way to up their growth rate, I would like to know too... I totally give up hairgrass... But I don't mind trying them again...

Would you know about alternative plant of similar look?
I love eleocharis.

[StanChung]

grow faster ar? grow nice i know lor. cool water 27c is good. all with acceptable range. but the lighting i notice medium better than high. rich substrate seems to work well... poor root fertilisation usually results in dwarf type. like 2 in tall. good means can reach 4 inch or more...

[V31]

Dwarf growth is better for me - it's planted in 25cm high tank. Without pruning is my e. approximately 3inch tall. I'll try to reduce lighting and move temperature a bit up (it's 25C now).

thx for your advice

[|squee|]

I planted my hairgrass at the back of the tank for about 2 weeks, nothing much happened to them. I gave them a prune.. and the next week I saw runners to the front of the tank.

[Justikanz]

Oh... So, the secret is to prune them after they are settled? Hmm... Can try... Prune how much? 50%... Interesting...

[ranmasatome]

most runners spread by pruning.. give them a few weeks to settle in then prun the crap outta them..they will start their invasion shortly after..
i usually cut them to about 1-2 cm tall

[Justikanz]

I see... Like that I think I will use them again, this time to fill in the space in between my crypts... Thanks!...

[V31]

I prune it once or twice per month, i'll try to do it more often.

This is my dream : http://www.charm.jp/showroom/xk022714.htm

[|squee|]

Thomas, it's recommended by Amano in Aquajournal too. He says to trim them to a height of 3-4cm after newly planting. I've read stuff about giving them a good haircut when the lawn is complete for maintainence too.

[Valjean]

Just to ride on this thread for a bit. How do you do pruning? When pruning a lawn, how do you remove the cut sections of leaves from the tank? Thks!

[|squee|]

I use a pair of scissors and just snip away at the strands. They'll float up, get blown all over the tank; basically make a big mess if you have a big lawn. I sometimes run my hands through the lawn to free up cut strands. Cleaning up is a chore.

[V31]

I always switch off my filter and catch floating strands with tweezer. It trains my patience ^_^

[PeterGwee]

Focus more on the CO2. Use the pH/KH to get 30ppm (stable) throughout the photoperiod and then dial in by adding more very slowly and watching the fish response. If they gasp, back off a tad and you are good. Just make sure you have some surface movement and be around the whole day when you do this.

Most foreground plants does not grow much the first week or two but takes off at great speed once they start growing.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Valjean]

I use a pair of scissors and just snip away at the strands. They'll float up, get blown all over the tank; basically make a big mess if you have a big lawn. I sometimes run my hands through the lawn to free up cut strands. Cleaning up is a chore.

I always switch off my filter and catch floating strands with tweezer. It trains my patience ^_^

Exactly as I feared.

[StanChung]

hahaaahhaaa!

tweezers? teasing you i think...

[Plantbrain]

Hair grass is quite easy to grow.
You just need good CO2, shrimps help also.

If it gets covered in any algae, mow like a lawn.
Hair cutting scissors work nicely for nice even cuts.

It takes about 2-3 weeks before nice new shoots start filling in.
So be patient.

CO2 is the main thing though, it grows very well with 2-3w/gal of light, it grows well in plain sand, ADA substrates, flourite, onyx sand all somewhat equally.

I used RFUG and it grew the best. Probably because the RFUG keeps the bottom of the grass clean.

I'd expected better growth and more even growth from the ADA substrate but it was not that great.

You can do well with it, but it does need good CO2 and the shrimp will help.
Regards,
Tom Barr