Growing HC

**prodrive** · 11th Jan 2012, 01:44

Hi Bros,

I have decided to start a planted tank.
Bought a patch of HC from a LFS that is tied to a wire mesh.
My tank is a 2ft x 1ft x 1ft.
using ADA amazonia soil.
Only 1 bigwood with with erect moss on it now. ...... don;t look very healthy though as I bought this from c328 for about 2 weeks and in my tank already with all the wrong setup......

Need help with a few questions.
1. I have a covered tank. only 1 stock fluorescent tube which is T8 15w. I read that light's impt so
i will be out getting a T5.....maybe a T5HO. Any specific wattage I should be looking at? i scan through the threads and places seem to be selling the tubes for open tanks.....with the overhead aluminu, casing and for clamping on the side of the tank
As my light casing in my covered tank has a specific dimension.... around 40 to 45 cm.
Do they sell just the T5HO/T5 tubes and i plug and play? one more silly question, can buy from homefix those fluroescent tube with high wattage?

2. I do not intend to invest in a CO2 setup. can i use CO2 tablets instead?
Or instead just douse with Seachem Flourish Excel?

3. I have 2 sucker fish and 2 pink convicts from my previous setup. haven't put them in as i just started rescaping the last few days. my water is from my previous setup so fishes should survive in it...... but my question is will the sucker fish stir up my substrate?

4. so planted tank means i buy the plant and sink their roots into the substrate? no point buying plants that are tied to bogwood right?

5. This may be far-fetched as I don't even know will i be successfull in having carpet HC ..... but I only bought 1 patch of HC...... is it must buy many and plant around and wait for them to merge the gaps?

Sorry if i lor soh and type so much but I'm just very excited over this new hobby ....

Prodrive.

**felix_fx2** · 11th Jan 2012, 03:41

1. The ballast type are not same. If you want to retain the cover you'll need to ask lfs change for you. And cover affects temp will affect how plants grow. You may want to look at getting a fan too

2. You can try excel, IMHO most if not all members don't believe in tablets. Btw hc grows slow as hell without enriching water with additional co2.

3. When you just plant try not to have fish inside till they root in. Else you'll suffer having we keep on replant. That is regards to sucker fish. Convicts I no experience, so best not to advise.

4. Your half correct, you need to plant them so the roots are inside the substrate. There are alot of you tube videos for this. Some plants only grow or rather grow well if roots are not inside substrate. You'll need to know some. Typical ones are like nana tied to wood or free floaters like hortwort.

5. They do grow if given time and good conditions. As the above, your not enriching co2. So you "may" want to buy abit more. Hc as not beginner plant btw. If you search up old topics, lots of folks tried and failed. That includes me.

You should avoid typing hokien, we do have non Chinese. But lol most of us understand.

And all this type from iPhone hehee

**Neondagger** · 12th Jan 2012, 00:08

Hc will be a challenge that's for sure.

**prodrive** · 12th Jan 2012, 02:50

Armed with a screwdriver and pliers, I've ditched the tank
Cover...... Since I need lights! Hahahha.

Gonna get some lights these few days. What's the recommended
Light and wattage to get for T5? Do I need up to 4 of them? It comes with clamps to
Attach to the tank right?

My temperatures around 27-28 recently when I lift uP the tank cover
This few days.

Still not getting CO2....The cylinder too conspicuous. Wifey will see and complain....
So stick to excel.....

I guess it's either another unsuccessful HC hobbyist story
Or even If the hc do carpet..... It may be a long wait of many mths
...... Either way, it's fun!

**felix_fx2** · 12th Jan 2012, 03:22

Hi,

You might want to get 2 or more.
The wattage goes according to the length. Do note t5ho not the other, lfs only stock t5ho.

It might get lower when you employ a fan to cool further.

Ah ha, icic your co might not approve for the time being. either ways non enriched just means slower growth.
do some homework and check out the others who tried. I had my fare share of problems & surrendered to co2.

Best of luck and hope to see a journal soon.

**thebaldingaquarist** · 18th Jan 2012, 22:49

i am trying a tank with HC, running on no CO2, excel dosing daily.

2 weeks. my HC is not dying. not spreading either. some is uprooting, could be strong current..

Think i will surrender and get a small CO2 tank or stick to my DIY.

**felix_fx2** · 19th Jan 2012, 02:15

HC without Co2 spreads slow... be patient.. else get co2 (coupled with good strong lighing and fert dose they go BOOMZ)
If you can see younger roots in the uprooted ones, your HC is growing well..

P.S, i have a 2 footer setup likely around the same week is having HC + glosso. weak current due to no filter... same stage... rooting.. annoy to not see it creep right?

SUCCUMB TO THE URGE OF CO2 =X

**weijie1986** · 19th Jan 2012, 09:28

HC is very sensitive to light, temperature and co2 supply.
You would need at least 3watt per gallon, maximum 28C water temperature and either excel or pressurize co2 to make it spreading.
If your aquarium doesnt match any of the criteria, HC will stay same or start dying.
IMHO, growing HC in 2feet tank without using chiller would be hard, because with high light power, water temperature is quite high even 4/7 with fan.
I have problem growing it in my 2feet tank previously, but once i transfer the same patch to my 3feet, they spreading like wild fire

Good luck ~

**Numbskull** · 21st Jan 2012, 15:12

Originally Posted by weijie1986

HC is very sensitive to light, temperature and co2 supply.
You would need at least 3watt per gallon, maximum 28C water temperature and either excel or pressurize co2 to make it spreading.
If your aquarium doesnt match any of the criteria, HC will stay same or start dying.
IMHO, growing HC in 2feet tank without using chiller would be hard, because with high light power, water temperature is quite high even 4/7 with fan.
I have problem growing it in my 2feet tank previously, but once i transfer the same patch to my 3feet, they spreading like wild fire

Good luck ~

I agree with lighting and co2 but not the temperature. Look at bro shadow thread and you will realise temperature does not affect the growth of HC.

And a lot of people assume 3wpg is the correct measurement for a planted tank. Browse on other planted website and you will realise its more than that. Tom mentioned it before as well.

Dose fert, co2 and light are essential for healthy and growth of HC

**Neondagger** · 23rd Jan 2012, 08:52

Originally Posted by Numbskull

I agree with lighting and co2 but not the temperature. Look at bro shadow thread and you will realise temperature does not affect the growth of HC.

And a lot of people assume 3wpg is the correct measurement for a planted tank. Browse on other planted website and you will realise its more than that. Tom mentioned it before as well.

Dose fert, co2 and light are essential for healthy and growth of HC

Ya seems like shadow was able to do it without low temp. But I wonder would lower temp helps the plant growth or survival? Will be help to make the plants green? Or more compact?

Can someone give me some enlightenment lol.

**prodrive** · 24th Jan 2012, 00:18

Just an update..... I succumbed to co2..... Got it set up since last week. No obvious change for my hc. But my other plants seem to be growing very fast.

Can I ask the experts here. For plants that come with small little pots, do I just plant them into the substrate with the pot or must uproot them from the pot and plant? Them seem to be doing fine..... For hc...... No visible growth. I pull out 3/4 of the sponge and plant them in. I have piece that is tied to wire mesh that I place in the tank for 2 weeks already. Some melting and some of the hc seems to be taller. But when I left up the whole thing today, I don't see any roots coming out from the mesh.... Do I also need to remove the wire mesh?

Co2 running 3bps. Daily excel flourish.

**felix_fx2** · 24th Jan 2012, 17:41

Hi bro,

Need to take them out of the pot and rockwool and plant that way.
Same goes to the HC, no wool needed. Hc will have enhanced growth when in co2 enriched water.
If they grow upward too much, it's a general indicator that light is not reaching them well.

Happy cny

**Shadow** · 24th Jan 2012, 18:44

If this your first time growing HC? if so I suggest to inject CO2. Secondly don't put any shrimps before the HC start to creep.

Your 15W light is too low for 2ft tank. I would suggest at least 36W, I never try growing HC with light below 36W on 2ft tank so I'm not sure whether it can be done or not. Do not that the higher the light wattage, you need to inject more CO2 and fertilizer.

Is there wood in your tank? Tannin from the wood will block light as well, so you might want to do more frequent water change.

**thebaldingaquarist** · 2nd Feb 2012, 11:43

Originally Posted by prodrive

Just an update..... I succumbed to co2..... Got it set up since last week. No obvious change for my hc. But my other plants seem to be growing very fast.

Can I ask the experts here. For plants that come with small little pots, do I just plant them into the substrate with the pot or must uproot them from the pot and plant? Them seem to be doing fine..... For hc...... No visible growth. I pull out 3/4 of the sponge and plant them in. I have piece that is tied to wire mesh that I place in the tank for 2 weeks already. Some melting and some of the hc seems to be taller. But when I left up the whole thing today, I don't see any roots coming out from the mesh.... Do I also need to remove the wire mesh?

Co2 running 3bps. Daily excel flourish.

how much fert do you dose? also, CO2 is diffused effectively? what is your PPM for CO2? What are the other plants?

I have setup a DIY CO2 system, 0.2bps. HC is growing, but slowly. not other plants in the tank.

Diffused via ladder AKA flipper. not very effective but still better than none.
Temp is 28 +- 1 degree

**felix_fx2** · 3rd Feb 2012, 21:52

Bro new light set?
Saw your sales thread.

Don't give up

**prodrive** · 4th Feb 2012, 14:17

Bro, not giving up yet... Heh heh.
Just upgraded my lights to 4 tubes of T5 lights.

**felix_fx2** · 4th Feb 2012, 23:17

power! that's the way.
btw, in a general sense that shadow mention. you will need to take note, as the instructions on ferts are a guideline and there as reference..

the higher the light wattage, you need to inject more CO2 and fertilizer.