What Are My Options

[mini_matt]

Hi i have a small tank with led lighting, doesnt seem very bright to me and not sure what i can grow well, i love the look of tanks with a 'lawn' what can i use to get that look? HC? Dwarf Hair grass? Pictures and tank measurements in my journal here Click me

Any opinions at all would be great!
Thanks

 

[Ps3Steveo]

To be honest we need to know the light specs, if it were an arc tank unit we might be more help, depending on what your willing to dose would help too, CO2, ferts etc as plants like HC need looking after well, with hair grass it will grow in most lights with just the fish waste fertilizing it and you can chop it nice and short too.

 

[mini_matt]

I have been trying to find any info on light power etc but there just isnt any on any of the packaging! Frustrating! Its 26 led ah cant see now after counting them! Lol

I dont think i will be going co2 just because of cost and i dont know anything about ferts yet any recomendations

 

[Ps3Steveo]

In this case I'd grab a pot of cheap hairgrass and give it a try, if it grows your in luck but I think it will after looking at your journal as it will grow in the same conditions as Anubias but very slowly. So give it a go and you may just need to buy a few pots and cut it short.

 

[mini_matt]

I may get some more moss at the same time as im getting shrimp and they would appriciate the moss more i think

 

[Ps3Steveo]

They'd love the hairgrass to I used to breed crystal red shrimp in a tank full of hairgrass they love it.

 

[mini_matt]

Sweet! Buying some!

 

[GrayScale]

Hair grass is really nice that grow in my high tech planted tank. i put some in a low tech I have but it grew super slow. One thing you can do to help is to trim a little off the top and off the roots. When you plant it make sure its in a spot you want it and just let it settle in. try not to stick it in a shaded area of the tank, grows much better in direct light.

PS. I cant get my cherry shrimp to stoo breeding in it haha.

 

[mini_matt]

I have been looking at the arcadia arc pod to go on my tank for a better light, this would give me 3 watts per gallon if i go for the9 W and more if i went for 11w maybe 11w is too powerfull??
I have also been told that if i do get that lighting i will need to dose tpn+ and something else, does that sound right to you? Want to get my plants to flourish!

 

[GrayScale]

9w should be fine. I would look into easycarbo or some other form of co2 additive with that much light or you may have algae issues. When buying the hairgrass, be sure it is in fact dwarf hairgrass. There are two different variations of hairgrass, with very slight difference, that are often sold under the same name. One tends to grow taller than the other. I can't quite remember the other differences off the top of my head. I know color and the the look of the leafs are different just can't quite remember which is which.

 

[mini_matt]

Easycarbo? Will have to look into it, i was told to try flourish excel seems quite cheap and worth a try, need to do a bit of research for dosing options

Thanks for the tip i will google it see if i can see thedifference i think latin names help lol

Thanks

 

[GrayScale]

Eleocharis parvula and eleocharis acicularis. Parvula is the one you want however acicularis is often sold under the same name... either way they can both be used to achieve the same effect, just one will require more trimming if you want it shorter. Flourish excel is a great product and is definitely worth it. Give it a shot but if you start to get algea growth after a couple of weeks, it may be due to lack of co2.

If this happens, you can dose with liquid co2, easycarbo, look into a co2 kit or do a diy co2. Reducing the length of time your lights are on can be a cheaper alternative. 3 watts per gallon is on the higher side for a planted tank.

 

[mini_matt]

I bought hairgrass yesterday but it wasnt under either of those names, but it still looked the same lol

I bought some flourish excel (liquid carbon) but i was tempted by gas bottle co2 kits they had but i wee bit expensive for me atm, also bought tpn+ just need to find a tiny syringe or something to measure out under 1ml