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Mine never took off in my nano. Never worked out why. It grew upwards but never out. I tried it with a number of different fresh pots from the LFS but still nothing. I've rescaped since with no HC

I'm going for a mossy look of tanks and wondered if forum users could post their wide range of experiences of mosses on this thread. I'm particularly interested in Christmas moss but others would be good for future reference and other forum users. I've never been able to keep mosses clean or...

HC is extremely difficult to grow with Easy Carbo alone as a source of carbon. You have been injecting co2 so that should of helped. Maybe having 56w over 100l (even for just 3 hours) could be a bit too much light with only dosing ADA Step 1. Step 1, only contains trace elements, you need to...

If plants are growing well, you can still have a situation that doesn't bring about pearling. If you're flow is good, then the o2 will be diffused into the water so quickly you won't see the build up of o2 on the leaf. If you want to check, turn off the filter for a while. Pearling is a good...

MY crypt undulata grew huge at about 30cms. Have a look into that.

Thanks Dan, it looks like mine is in it's emmersed form (see below), looking forward to it's submerged form.

I've just got this plant as I liked the look of it in the LFS. Details from tropica are as follows... The only thread on the subject was at: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=3890&p=43191 Does anyone have any other experience with this plant? I'm looking to use it in my nano and could replace the HM...

When I grew vallis it never stopped growing! 2ft should be attainable with good conditioned plants.

The roots will always happen, in photos many cut them off. The roots give you somewhere you can chop them down and replant. I would of thought that all plants will grow towards the light, but some of mine go horizontal to find light.

Are they little circular marks underneath the leaves? If so, then that's how the plans multiply! Nothing to worry about. More details in: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3780 Photos of my Java ferns plantlets:

The last photo doesn't look like HC for me, but don't know what it looks like.

In my nano, HC grew with dosing EC, but you see a massive step change when I moved to pressurised co2. I would say, you don't NEED pressurised co2 for a nice HC carpet but pressurised co2 will always be preferable. Remember that with DIY (yeast) co2, that it can be a bit fiddly, cause co2...

I managed to get some off a forum user under the "pay it forward" scheme. When I have cuttings, I'll be offering them up on the forum under the same terms. I would of thought I'd have some in the next few weeks.

I found that Java Moss clung well to wood and rocks after a while. I'm currently trying Weeping Moss and not sure if that's taken hold as yet.

I've not got experiance with your substrate and gravel, however, I would suggest that if possible you remove as much water as possible before a proper plant. Even take the fish out for a bit. That way, when your planting your hands don't get wet and if you disturb the substrate when damp, rather...

Good idea. To give you some confidence on plant growth even if you're crypts don't have many leaves left... Planting (which had serious melt after) [2008:11:09] 5 Months After: [2009:04:06]

The best way to tackle crypt melt is to remove the leaf at the substrate as soon as there's any sign of melt. That way the plant can concentrate on new growth rather than keeping the melting leaf alive. I would reduce the photoperiod (time the lights are on) to like 6 hours to allow the plants...

Just becareful when you've filled the pots, I had eco complete in some and there was the standard hole in the bottom of the pots. When I lifted all the eco-complete came pouring out of the hole! Doh! :thumbdown: :jawdrop

Funny you should say that yours grow sideways, my nano currently has two different sides of HM growth. - On the right is where I've planted it nice and neatly and that's lower at the minute but more dense. - On the left is where I've just planted it and I've not kept it tidy at all (mainly as...

I thought that I'd post on this thread rather than starting another one on the same subject. I asked the same question on another forum but thought I'd ask it here as there seems to be more people online here... I'd like to have something similar to saintly's pictures above in my nano. I'm...

I've used it and it works a treat. A few others have too. I found my supergule only worked on dry wood.

I've had tenellus and dwarf hairgrass in two different tanks, I wouldn't say the tenellus grows much taller than the hairgrass as it's leaves tend the fold over. Whereas hairgrass just goes upwards.

I'm still learning this plant, I found that it loves co2. Although, I'm not finding it easy for it to form a carpet.

Whilst I've not had every aquarium plant (yet!), I think that Crypts are the plant which shows its conversion from emerged to submerged growth the most. Sometimes when I get a new pot of Crypt and split it into plantlets, each one converts differently. The best way I've found to limit "crypt...

It will start blue and will take a few hours to get a true reading.

Crypts melting is usual, to keep on top of it remove any effected leaves asap to help the plant grow new leaves. As Steve said, keeping the co2 high can help as well as lowering the lighting for a while to allow the plant's root structure to establish nice and quickly.

You could get a small powerhead to help. The co2 bubbles don't need to go over the HC but it helps. Put a drop checker with 4dkh water right above the HC to check the co2 concentration (remember to give it a few hours to right itself)

That means in your 40ltr tank you're getting (what's rated) about 400lph + 135lph = 535lph. Is that 40ltrs in total or with the substrate, decor and filters in. In a smaller tank, it's easier to make sure that flow is good as the filter output will cover a higher percentage of the tank. Can...

HC never took in my larger tank but it's taking in my nano. HC likes good co2 and good flow which could be the same thing. I know that LD's tanks would of been well circulated but are you making sure your flow is sufficient?

I never cut down before planting and do never had any short clumps. You could remove it but then it'd only pull up all the runners and it might be more hassle than it's worth? Could you cut the clumps even shorter?

I've chopped the tops off in the past and replanted, but I've waited until there are white "roots" forming up the main stem.

Here's my recent addition I mentioned earlier... IMO better value than the potted stuff.

On this subject, I picked up a massive narrow fern on tropica wood from my LFS for only £18! It's huge, there must be at least 5 pots worth on there and it's well matured. I can't wait to properly plant it!

I was thinking of getting and XL to improve plant mass instantly, they do list the narrow XL at: http://www.tropica.dk/article.asp?type= ... tic&id=209

Do they do an XL Java Fern Narrow?

Thats right. Once the new growth is continuously healthy then you can replant and remove the old murky growth.

By the sounds of things when new growth is green and the old stuff is browning/melting highlights a fert issue. You're only dosing "Tropica Plant Nutrition" which is only traces rather than NPK which is contained in "Tropica Plant Nutrition Plus (TPN+)". The TPN+ capsules isn't enough on it's...

There's two options.. 1) You buy plants for an instant effect, costing a fair bit 2) You buy plants to grow on, saving money How I'm sure everyone will agree that getting tropica and aquafluer plants from either TGM and or AE means you'll be getting good quality and you have to pay for that...

My dwarf hairgrass has started to grow nice and tall in my nano, I'm thinking of moving it to an all hairgrass effect in the future. Cyperus Helferi grows very tall and was 40+cm when I pulled it out the other day, but as can be seen in a TGM's display tank, it flowers above the water really...

My HC in my nano is going leggy as I don't really have any decent photoperiod setup on it as I need to get a timer.

Cool, I want something similar to your avatar pic. Think I'll wait for the rhizomes to kick in again and then keep replanting.

Next question in the Superman vs Java Fern series.... How do people create the bunched effect of a java fern? I've got a few rhizomes with a few large leaves on them but want to create a dense bunch. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm going to be using Crypt Balansae for the first time in a scape. With other crypts you place them somewhere so they can create the bunched effect but with balansae whats' the best way to plant them so that they flurish? I'd using them as the height in my tank but don't want just a flat...

I've seen p Helferi attached to wood more often recently online and in shops. I've never seen it in an established setup, so this will be interesting to see how it goes along.

When I'm replanting these, is it best to only plant the rhizome by removing all of the leaves or plants with as many leaves as possible? I would of thought the latter due to the plant not having any plant mass to grow, but I've read that it's best only to plant the rhizome?

Superglue works a treat.

My arcuata has much more fine leaves, although depends the scale of the photos I guess!

Re: Aaron, How did you get on with this? Soon I'm going to have to trim mine for the first time.

Took me a few hours to plant my nano carefully, I think Steve too ages on his 90cm!

It is best to plant it stem by stem to achive a quick carpet but can take an age to plant. Planting it stem by stem does mean you use fewer pots to cover an area. Once I got a tropica pot of HC, used a razor blade to cut it into 6ths or 8ths and planted them about 2-3cm apart. It all depends on...

When planting it, leave some room between it and the glass of say about 5cm and you'll get a nice effect. At first I planted right upto the glass but then realised the bunch effect was lost.

Mine has grown to about 5-7cm with full EI and injected co2.

Thanks for the advice. When I initially plant how long should the stems be? Should I cut it short to encourage new growth? My current stems don't seem to be coping well and wonder if I should trim them and start all over?

Try moving the drop checker around as the co2 concentration won't be the same all over the tank. It would be good to chop off the the melting leaves as rotting leaves can only cause more problems, plus it should encourage new growth.

Whats the best way to create a bush type effect with the above plant? I'd like nice compact leaves too. I planted it in single stems but am wondering if I should of put a few stems all together?

I wouldn't pump o2 into my tank through a pressurised system, its just a waste. My 180ltr pearls excessively sometimes and it's unsightly. Whilst pearling is a good sign that plants are doing well, it's not something I try and max out.

Mine currently pearls slightly after water change but it's not 100% established yet. I think we've discussed previously the water change effect on pearling and I believe it to be the case for me. That is, the water entering into the tank during water change will have higher concentration of...

They'll end up like this...

Yes, that's how it reproduces. Wait for them to fall off or snap them off when they have roots formed. 100% natural.

I would do what I've done in the past for normal plants. Put the plant pot in a bowl of water so that the roots can uptake when they need it. As long as the plant is in an environment that won't totally dry out then I would of thought it'd be ok.

When I've seen hairgrass at TGM growing emmersed, they're not all stuck together but they're not finely fanned out. It's about half way. I would of thought once they dry out a bit they'd breakup?

I get that problem when the plants are a little crowded so flow doesn't get to all leaves. Can you see them sway in the flow?

12 hours of lights seem a bit excessive, I'd reduce that to like 6 to start with until you get the hang of dosing etc.# I have co2 on an hour before lights off and on, with a constant rate throughout.

When I first put Staurogyne into my tank most of the leaves became black - like green spot algae that I get on my anubias but black. Anyway, I found that by upping my co2 levels (as they were poor at the time due to a ran out FE), every thing's a lush green. One thing I have found is that I...

I think Clive has answered evertying really and it sounds like he's got a fan club! The basics of plant keeping should be looked into first to solve the co2 and ferts levels in the water and then the flow of water around to deliver those to the plants. Failure to solve poor co2 and ferts will...

Buying tropica plants from retailers (online or store) can vary loads. They all have the same amount of plants in them from experiance but the older the plant the more established it'll be. For an example, I can buy very small crpyts from AquaJardin but they also have the same type of crpyts...

Crypts are sensitive to change and looks as though yourdosing change has made them melt. Not to worry, they'll grow back quickly just keep on top of the melt by removing effectedr leaves asap.

I've got tropica planted substrate (been there for a while) and gravel cap, dosing EI (high dosing tbh) with 2x39w PlantGrow tubes. I think it'd go better if I move it, but I've got no space to move it!

I've got some cyperus helferi and it's not going great. Would be interested to see how yours does. Although, its visually better than vallis, I've not had much growth and the leaves seem to burn when they get near the top where the flow is (they're planted right under the spray bar).

I echo what's above. The deeper you can pit them in the substrate the better. I remember putting a crypt in for a few weeksand then moved it, when I put them in there was the usual inch of root but when I piled it out it has a root system of about 6 inches. Whilst the plant above the substrate...

Photos of all the new plantlets... As you can see the new plants at all over the older leaves!

I have a bucket which houses spare plants that I intend to use in the future. It's just left in my dining room near the window. Doesn't seem to do any harm. But then its not HC that I'm keeping in there!

The amazon frogbit I had provided long roots, only problem with it was the rotting of old leaves. Had to chop it each week. I got some of that Salvinia natans which has smaller leaves than Amazon Frogbit but is behaving itself with regards to the leaves. It produces runners really really...

They could be emmersed leaves as they're fairly new and they're not the usual shape. So is it best to remove them from the leaf asap? I'll take photos tomorrow as it looks rather strange as I've never seen this rate of new plants from this plant before.

My leaves are covered in new plantlets. :D I'm waiting for them to develop as big as possible before removing and attaching to the wood. Is that correct? As they seem to be growing the rhizome is getting bigger whilst they're attached..

I fancy trying to grow a few things emmersed before my new scape, one thing at a time tho!

I think a web based database wouldn't be a problem to create, given the proper setup. Even then, if you don't want anything unique, you could use a wikibased program that'll use php and mysql databases. Plus, I would of thought that a plant database would be a good way of getting ukaps more...

For my newer layout in my tank (see journals), I had about 3-4 weeks of crypt melt over the tank. Each plant deciding to melt at a different time. Although now they've stabilised and new growth is sprouting through. My tip would be for anyone growing crypts would be soon as they see a leaf or...

It was an interesting read. What does Tom mean by CO2 mist injection? Is that with a ceramic diffuser?

I generally class it as fake pearling as its down to what I'm doing to the tank, rather than the tank doing it for me.

I would of thought along that the water is saturated with O2 after the water change. Although, I do get this fake pearling before I add new water sometimes.

I guess it depends on the area you wish to cover and the impact you want from the start. If you want to have a big impact from the start it's more pots or if your happy to wait a bit for it to grow in, then it's less! What area are you looking to cover?

Now you realise why they are classed as #1 for aquatic plants.

He should go on dragon's den, business opportunity there.

Maybe ask in the Buy/Sell/Swap forum for some P. Helferi, I'm sure someone will have some cuttings going spare soon.

AquaJardin always have some in and Aquatic Habitat do now and again. Not sure if they do mail order but can always ring them to ask.

It must be something else, I've always thought about water parameters or maybe the fact that my substrate could be harbouring large amounts of trace elements (like copper) that they don't like - could build up over time. The local water report doesn't provide anything into the fact that I have...

I have mainly crypts and one big anubias and cannot keep shrimp, they die in less than a week. Even with changing dosing levels of traces and Nitrates they just die. I've tried drip aclimitising them and have tried algae and cherry shrimps. I would love to find out why inverts (including snails)...

Its not Parva, think John's got it spot on.

I think your on about... Pogostemon helferi

I've just been reading this, makes sense with whats been going on it my tank. The tips of my old leaves Cyperus helferi started to go kind of "burnt" look and now from the tip they have become yellow and have died off. The only thing I have changed with my dosing regime is reducing the 36gs of...

Thanks Garuf, although my leaves are large rather than plant mass. I've tried to split the leaves up as much as possible. At least the large leaves causes an impact straight away! I'll post photos tomorrow

Bought some today, but the plants I got were rather large! Hopefully it'll develop like yours.

Think I'll give it a go and also get some unusual crypts at the same time like crypt. retrospiralis

Wow, so it'll grow rather quick. So I'd need a horizontal piece of wood to stick it on to form a decent clump. My wood goes upwards (ooo-err mrs!) I think I might rearrange it.

Didn't realise these were about, I might take a trip as it's not too far away from me.

So, I'm looking to make an addition to my plants possibly Christmas pressies. I love the look of this plant can make when planted in a massive clump like on this photo: http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2 ... l=3&id=101 Any idea how its done?!

I remember a while ago that I made a mistake for weeks with my drop checker. I had used a GH reagent rather than the pH reagent and so my drop checker was always yellow! Doh! In my experience, adding EasyCarbo does not change the colour of the drop checker.

I doubt it's a Crypt, as they have a steam going to a leaf. How about 'Echinodorus quadricostatus' http://www.tropica.dk/productcard_1_popup.asp?id=068 it certainly looks like the Echinodorus family.

As promised... Amazon Frogbit...