HC problem

[benetay]

Hi all,

First and foremost i'll like to know why my HC doesn't seem to be growing at all or is it due to it's slow growth?

Here are my tank parameters.

2ft x 1.5 x1.5

2x36watts.
Co2 at 1b/s

May i know what fert do i use to make them grow a little faster?

[gchoo]

I'd rather be a bit more patient than to cause an in balance and algae sets in... Its anyway a relatively slow growing plant...

[benetay]

okay thanks. Just hope that 7 pots of HC doesn't go to waste. I can see they are growing slowly..just too slow to actually see them crawl like glosso does.

My best bet will be remove any fish that might disturb the plant to prevent it from being uprooted before even rooting itself to the ground.

So far no algae has set into the plant leaves and such in the tank. I'm trying to grow them and see how will the effect be in the tank.

Anyway the PP and ludwigia cuba is still relatively easy to be rooted and growing nicely.

[victri]

They are very slow growing. How long have you had them and how much have they spread? As a gauge, I've had mine about 2 weeks. Planted small chunks about 2-3cm apart and they are merging already. Runners have grown about 3cm long.

Ludwigia "Cuba" grows about 2-3 inches a week. PP not doing as well as the rest.

[BFG]

Guys, what are your tank temp for growing HC ?

[PohSan]

My HC is growing fine in my 2 ft tank. The HC is spreading outward slowly. I think the key to grow HC is to be patience. The growing rate of the HC is slower than Glosso.
Also in the tank is my pround collection of downoi on the left (very small plantlet) and erect moss on the right. (which I do not have time to tie it to log or rock)

The temp is around 28 degree C.

[eric_kclee]

My HC stunt, grow but very very slow..and many leaf turn transparent, new leaf get smaller and most of the time transparent.

Can anyone who has grow HC sucessfully share their tank parameter? KH, PH, Light, Substrate(ADA?), Temp?

[bclee]

This is a public forum with people from everywhere and with different level of experience. I guess it will be better if you can spell out what is HC (which btw is Hermianthus callitrichiodes) for the benefit of all who visit AQ.

Thanks.

BC

[taz]

BTW, how do you guys plant in this plant. Do you remove the wool completely or trim off 3/4 of the wool. I've removed mine completely as seems to be a bad decision. The plants got uprooted quite often.

[ESee]

Sorry benetay, "tompang" your thread...

Where can I buy HCs? Any bros or sis selling???
Teo aquatic dun have leh...

Thanks...

[victri]

Hemianthus callitrichoides

There's not a lot of info available online for this plant. It's challenging, but not very difficult. Mine were going translucent for awhile and then suddenly there was a turnaround and now they're growing in lush and green and have merged from the 1-2cm gap between each bunch. They're even creeping up my driftwood! Have yet to determine what it was that I did. The turnaround happened while I was trying to balance my tank to combat some BBA I had, so I had been adjusting everything from CO2 to lights to ferts. I have a few suspicions, and I'll post them once I've more concrete testing done.

I planted both ways with wool cut down to 0.5cm left and completely removed. Both do fine if your gravel is small enough to hold them in. The roots take awhile to establish, but they are about an inch deep now. Looking forward to seeing it thicken and cover up my foreground.

parameters-
kh: 5
ph: 6.6
temp: 27degC
3wpg
JBL base with Lapis gravel

[limsteel]

Does teo have them? I would really love to try it out! I am now uprooting Glosso for other foreground plants...

[cheeboonyong]

I believe Karin from Far East Aquatic is bringing a shipment in on 31st Jan. This plant is probably available from Tropica only at this moment. If Teos has it, trust me, the price will plummet in no time and this plant will be readily available all over the place.

As it is right now, still selling at a premium price...

[eric_kclee]

[quote:ac7cacbf16="victri"]Mine were going translucent for awhile and then suddenly there was a turnaround ......Have yet to determine what it was that I did.
[/quote:ac7cacbf16]

Thanks, my plant just suddently begins to turn around after I post the question....My parameter is very close to yours...I suspect it take nutrients from the base...it takes time to reach there (5cm deep) and turn around (revive) once it reach there...just hypothesis...lets wait for more data for confirmation...

[cheeboonyong]

Victri,

saw your latest post selling the HC. Suppose your HC is growing very well.

Have you had any conclusions yet on what are the ideal conditions for growing HC? I believe there are many people are there who are just as curious... Would really appreciate your expert knowledge here.

[victri]

Not expert by any means, but just as Eric suspects, I think it's slow nutrient uptake from the roots. I received some feedback from other ppl, and I would think that the plant mostly takes in nutrients from the slow-growing roots and not so much from the stems. Those I planted on driftwood seems to grow better than the ones in the gravel, so I assume it's because the roots are finding it easier to take in nutrients from my fert-overdosed water.

[cheeboonyong]

If they take in nutrients from the roots, then I suppose we shouldn't cut their roots together with the wool when we first plant them? That should help me settle in faster right?

[victri]

You can cut some of the roots to help promote some root growth. Just make sure you leave enough to enable easy planting.

[Plantbrain]

These and most foreground weeds are, well weeds........they grow fast and at high light they need lots of NO3, more than many think.

Keep things rich CO2, moderate light, not overshadowed by other plants(keep them trimmed). NO3 try of the higher side, PO4, etc and more traces.

Root/water column difference mainly seem to be a function of iron and porosity providing anaerobic/aerobic conditions on each grain. Some are trying out the lignite and other substrate base admenments in place of peat, lignite is something between coal and peat. "Activated" carbon is "Coal" essentially.

Adding this will help vs not, but which is better remains to be seem but I suspect the lignite and activated carbons to work well at absorption of NO3/NH4 and hopefull the plant roots can extract these. Humics wil,l cause some more reduction but not too much, lighnite should last longer at adding some slow release humics to the lowest regions of the substrate.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[confusekid]

I realised that if I let the HC float on the water surface they tend to grow faster with more roots. Maybe you can cut some of them and let them float to develop roots before you plany them into the gravel. Anyway I bought 1 pot since Aquarama and they are a 6 inch patch now. Slow or not???