Randomly Got Plants

[Rex740]

Hey, A neighbor of mine has an aquarium and wanted to get rid of a certain plant. The reason for this is that his goldfish are eating it. Apparently he told my parents to tell me about it a month ago so it is in very bad condition as I picked it up today. Keep in mind, I do not know anything about aquarium plants. It is a type of grass and he just left it floating in a container outside for the past month... He told me that when he told my parents of it, it was completely green. Now it is mostly brown with some green. I would like to know if I can save this plant, and if I can, how do I take care of it? Right now it is just floating in a plastic bag floating in my tank. It is basically a floating mass of roots/thin grass/ and maybe dirt blob. Here are the pics for the ID.

 

[VaegaVic]

Looks like Dwarf Hair grass to me.

Although it's in a bad way, it's very easy to grow with the right lighting and care.

 

[Rex740]

Alright, I know I should look at FAQs but I am afraid something will go wrong. How should I do this plant stuff? I have no knowledge of aquarium plants at all, I have always used fake ones. My tank is 48 gallons with sharp gravel. So how should I, well, add the plants?

 

[Rex740]

I added some of the pieces that I can salvage to one side of my tank so far. I am not sure if I want to add to the other side, but if I do, it will be another day. Just to make sure I am doing this right, here is a pic. Is it looking good or no? I am expecting it to carpet.

 

[VaegaVic]

Looking great, given the right light and providing they don't get eaten, they should form a lovely carpet in the area you've placed them within the next few months.

 

[Ryefish]

can we get a full tank pic when it starts to 'carpet'? I imagine it would look VERY nice with the ornaments you've got in there

 

[aaronnorth]

you have planted it correctly.
trim it so the leaves are about 1cm in length as this will promote new growth and get rid of the old.
Just go along it with the scissors like a mini lawn mower

 

[Rex740]

I figured I would do only one side of the tank, but I am assuming the grass will spread to the other side eventually (right? if not then should I?) anyway so I will do the other side tomorrow. I will provide full tanks shots as it grows, maybe a weekly diary? I will try to trim them today I guess. They are not very deeply dug in so I don't want them to float out. It seems my flagfish are doing a great job at eating the dead plant debris that has been floating around. They won't eat anything that is rooted though, which is a good thing. Do I use just average scissors and should I clean them first?

This is a full tank shot from three years ago. The left side has changed a little since then but more or the less the same.

 

[aaronnorth]

It will take quite a while for it to spread to the other side, the more plants you can plant, the better,

As long as the scissors willl provide a clean cut (not snap the leaves off) then they are fine. Clean them if they have had any soap residue on etc.

 

[Rex740]

What do you mean by snap the leaves off? Also, I do not think it will spread well. I'm doing this low tech, really low tech. Only 30 watts, no CO2, and no fertilizer. With these conditions, they are not going to carpet like I want to right? Should I use fertilizer to get them to carpet possibly?

 

[aaronnorth]

its harder to see on eleocharis as the leaves are so small, but if you have a large echinodorous you can soon see the difference between blunt scissors and aquascaping scissors. You want to make the cut clean as possible to give the plant a better chance of survival.

The only way to get it spreading more quickly is to raise the lighting, so growth occurs quicker, but this then needs more CO2 & nutrients.

The otehr way is to buy more.

 

[Rex740]

If I don't plant more, will it slowly eventually carpet? I have more but I don't want to ruin what I have now by planting more in between the plants that are already there.

Also with the planting, I tend to pick up gravel, add plant, and drop gravel which moves everything around. Can I just push the roots down, even thought it's gravel?

 

[aaronnorth]

yes it will still carpet.

you can just push it straight into the gravel too.