Grass Carpet Using Steel Mesh?

[nLinked]

A few questions on dwarf hairgrass:

1. Would it be OK to put the grass through the holes of a stainless steel mesh like this one? I was thinking when the roots underneath spread out and the grass on top spreads out, it will be harder for the grass to pull out from the mesh? I have a large pleco, he's fairly gentle but I want to prevent uprooting if possible.
2. If that's OK, will the grass still be able to spread across the mesh through the unused holes when new grass grows? Similar to how java moss can.
3. Will coarse sand be OK for dwarf hairgrass as the substrate?

 

[chrisjj]

1. yes
2.yes
3.yes
IMO

 

[D4n.gr33n]

barbs are what you need to look out for every day ill end up with tons of dhg floating at the top of my tank

 

[nLinked]

1. yes
2.yes
3.yes
IMO

Very reassuring! Will the runners grow under the sand for dwarf hairgrass?

 

[hensonc4098]

1. yes
2.yes
3.yes
IMO

Very reassuring! Will the runners grow under the sand for dwarf hairgrass?

Yeah, then they just pop up new shoots randomly Just make sure your mesh is stainless steel so it doesn't go rusty

 

[nLinked]

1. yes
2.yes
3.yes
IMO

Very reassuring! Will the runners grow under the sand for dwarf hairgrass?

Yeah, then they just pop up new shoots randomly Just make sure your mesh is stainless steel so it doesn't go rusty

Sounds great! I was just concerned because I looked at pygmy chain sword and that has runners on top of the substrate. Hopefully with DHG it will become tangled well with the stainless steel mesh to make it more secure.

I'm going to do some research on other types of hair grass (or similar) because DHG grows up to 6 inches which is a bit long. Any other grasses which also grow runners from under the substrate but don't get too long?

 

[hensonc4098]

DHG will grow shorter if you trim it and "train" it to. It's also like a lot of other plants in that the more light it gets, the lower it will stay.

 

[nLinked]

DHG will grow shorter if you trim it and "train" it to. It's also like a lot of other plants in that the more light it gets, the lower it will stay.

Perfect, I've gone for the Eleocharis parvula variety, slightly shorter.

 

[hensonc4098]

Good stuff. Yeah, a few different eleocharis species fall under the "DHG" heading. Should be good