Growing Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC)

[thengz]

yes will try .. getting my soil soon
any scoop of HC to spare? should get emmerse form? like from C328?

Hey Marimo, I've some HC but their condition can be pretty crappy already. Can give them to you free though, if you are at a convenient place. I'm mostly at either Bukit Timah or Bukit Merah area.

I bought them emersed from C328. Was thinking of throwing them away before going to my holiday.

Can email me at [email protected] if you're interested.

[daniel19831123]

I'm not sure about the comment about HC needing cool water. I've seen HC in the highway stops in malaysia grown wildly in one of those fountain pond submerged and subjected to full blast sunlight. I'm pretty sure the temperature there will be at least 30 degree and it was growing well.

[marimo]

Hey Marimo, I've some HC but their condition can be pretty crappy already. Can give them to you free though, if you are at a convenient place. I'm mostly at either Bukit Timah or Bukit Merah area.

I bought them emersed from C328. Was thinking of throwing them away before going to my holiday.

Can email me at [email protected] if you're interested.

gotcha, as long its not rotted or melting, i stay jalan bukit merah
i can try to give them a boost experiment to see if they revive from torpor

[felix_fx2]

I'm not sure about the comment about HC needing cool water. I've seen HC in the highway stops in malaysia grown wildly in one of those fountain pond submerged and subjected to full blast sunlight. I'm pretty sure the temperature there will be at least 30 degree and it was growing well.

Think it's more like grows faster and nicer.
The hc and glosso tank I have thats quite exposed to hot sun grows VERY slow and it barely creep more then 1 inch (3cm). Fact is it look quite nice for a small bunch.

IMO, how many hobbyist willing to wait long periods? I too fell short of patience.

[marimo]

if 3 months and its working , its worth
but if 3 months and it fail or you cant keep up with the WC and stuff, thats really sux

so i be using hopefully the same setting in a dummy tank to test if HC will creep.. if doesnt , going to abandon carpeting HC

[felix_fx2]

Agree haha. 1st time I fail in dsm. But my 1st try at HC.

So when you starting?

[felix_fx2]

This is the submersed grown hc outside my flat. Started about the time of my 3 feet dsm. Not much growth lol

[ralliart12]

Hi fellows, I have also recently started DSM on HC, but I may have flooded the substrate with too much water & will like to seek some suggestions on how to remedy the blunder.

These were taken last Saturday. I didn't manage to push the tufts of HC deep enough into the substrate but I was going to remedy that by "burying" their stems & roots with a layer of "New Amazonia" POWDER-type). Anyway the point of the 3 following photos, is to highlight the flooded area in the centre of the "lawn", a.k.a. the problem/blunder:


P1000116.jpg

P1000119.jpg

P1000121.jpg

This photo is the one directly after I remedy my bad planting (using POWDER-type of the "New Amazonia"), taken last Saturday also:

P1000137.jpg

These photos are taken today (for the purpose of growth comparison):

combine_last3_small.jpg

As sort of expected: the HC ain't doing so hot in the flooded regions.

Remedy? Use serviettes to absorb the excess water & drain them onto the higher grounds? Or wait for the the tufts in the flooded area to convert to submerged form? But my fear is that they will rot before succeeding the conversion?

Alternatively, I can dispose the melted/gone-case tufts in the flooded regions > " un-flood" the regions > plant some newly-bought tufts (by laying them directly onto the soil & then using powder-type to "plant/bury" them, as per how I planted the 1st wave). & proceed (to do nothing but wait) as per normal.

Any suggestion?

[ralliart12]

...

Here's a larger photo of the "problem" area:

P1000196.jpg

[marimo]

tilt ur tank backwards by using some support at the front tank

[Shadow]

look like too much water. You should not put too much water in DSM, not until you can see water from the soil top surface.

[ralliart12]

tilt ur tank backwards by using some support at the front tank

Considered that before, but abandon the idea as it is too risky (my tank stand has no "rails" in front or behind to guard against the tank slipping off the rack).

look like too much water. You should not put too much water in DSM, not until you can see water from the soil top surface.

So Shadow, may I interpret this as, you are in favour of my "alternative in green"?

[Shadow]

Actually I will go for both of your idea I use tissue towel to dry the excess water, remove the melted HC and plant new one if necessary. By the way you don't really need the cling wrap, it can work without it as long as you spray with water 2 or 3 times a day.

[felix_fx2]

The word is moist soil. I think IMO the best way I can put it.

You can use a paper towel for kitchen. If you remove the cling warp can just let evaporation do it's job

[ralliart12]

...By the way you don't really need the cling wrap, it can work without it as long as you spray with water 2 or 3 times a day.

...If you remove the cling warp can just let evaporation do it's job

NHHe2.jpg

Actually, I am no longer using cling wrap shortly after the 1st batch of photos were snapped last Saturday; I am using a thin piece of acrylic to lock the moisture in & prevent too much drying-out.

P1000141.jpg

The reason I switched from cling-wrapping the whole thing to a piece of acrylic is because of my routine, i.e. every morning before the lights come on I will remove the wraps & air the tank to allow a fresh supply of carbon-dioxide-filled air to enter the tank. I will make use of the opportunity to mist the leaves and environment using de-chlorinated (but not de-ammonized) water that has some SeaChem Excel flourish mixed in. The single piece of acrylic proves to be easier to manipulate day in & day out than wrapping & unwrapping multiple pieces of cling-wrap. The acrylic solution is also more air-tight than cling-wrapping due to my light stands' design. However, the acrylic has a down-side which I'll elaborate later.

Actually I will go for both of your idea I use tissue towel to dry the excess water, remove the melted HC and plant new one if necessary...

...You can use a paper towel for kitchen. If you remove the cling warp can just let evaporation do it's job

The downside of the acrylic solution is that it warps when it is exposed so near to my light for long period of time. So I flip it everyday when I air the tank. I forgot to flip the convex/concave side yesterday & come this morning the flooded regions in my tank has significantly less water (honestly I'm surprised by the rate of evaporation in my room).

Nonetheless, I still use some serviettes to drain away the excess & planted some new tufts of HC. This photo is taken today right after I laid them new tufts onto the previously-water-logged areas (btw, I couldn't manage to remove the melted ones easily so I intend to let them rot further & serve as nutrients):

P1000199.jpg

& this photo is after I "bury" them with POWDER-type AquaSoil as per how I planted the 1st batch:

P1000203.jpg

So I hope these 2nd batch will manage to catch up with the 1st.

The word is moist soil. I think IMO the best way I can put it...

I hear you crystal clear. In response, for today, I left the acrylic cover off & hence allowing evaporation to further reduce the amount of "water-logged-ness" from the surface layer of my soil. I may or may not replace the cover from tomorrow onwards as I do not intend to mist more than once every morning.

[ralliart12]

Lastly, since I have excess HC, threw some onto a tray of GEX "PLANT" Soil to grow outside my flat using natural sunlight. Think of it as a control. I wish to see if the different lighting environment, as well as air temperature plays a part. & "just nice", I have a newly-planted batch starting from today in my indoor tank so timing remains a constant factor, i.e. same "Day 0". Photos as follows:

P1000208.jpg

& coated with small mounds of POWDER-type Aqua Soil:

P1000209.jpg

[darter]

Marimo bro also staying Bukit Merah area? Cool. One more hobbist that i know here staying near me.

Is HC really so hard to grow? Thinking of using that only for my new 40cm tank. I can split my existing CO2 tank to cater for this tank, but my avgerage temperature at home is about 29-30 degree. Will this have an effect on the growth? No access to chiller as the filter im using is a eden 501.

[Neondagger]

Stay toon to my planted tank post. My first panted tank with hc. Next week might be starting. Might do more research. But what I hear. Co2 and light most important. Not temp. But I think low temp would help also. Hc is like Ferrari. Will not be cheap. Dsm is the easier to spread. The difficult part is the conversion from emerged to submerged. Easily 50% not making it. After that slow growth as converting. Then need to wait at least 1month before fully emerged and need wait 3 months at least to spread. A lot people fail during the converting period.

In the process of learning but fun!

[darter]

Hmmz. Besides HC, what is a good nice carpeting plant? Dont i wan moss, maybe jus some java moss to rub on the rock surface like how Amano does it.

[Shadow]

you can try glosso.