Baron

i should clarify, i'm very happy that it grows vertically, but i'm upset that it isn't also growing horizontally

i bought a big java fern on a mat from my LFS long ago, and it had basically done nothing other than give me snails, it wasn't growing but wasn't really dying either a few weeks ago i bought dwarf hairgrass and easygreen and now the java fern is seeing a lot of new growth with the easygreen and the dwarf hairgrass is growing well i bought the dwarf hairgrass with the intent of it taking over the substrate and making a "lawn" in the tank, it hasn't done that and instead only grows vertically is it supposed to expand horizontally? how do i make it do that? also, there's a lot of "dead" growth or old growth on the java fern, can i just cut that off or is it better to just leave it be and let the plant deal with it itself? i've heard they'll consume and wither away an old leaf to help create new ones

does the pH or hardness bother plants? hornwort withered away quickly for me and java fern just isn't growing, those are pretty hard to mess up from what i understand i hit them with easy green a day or two ago to see if the situation improves

after learning how high dean's pH is, i guess it doesn't really matter either way should i increase the hardness and carbonate and hold a steady 8.0 pH like my raw well water, or use this filtered water i tested?

i had done the strips a few times before assuming the water was around 6.0 but decided to see what it really is with the master kit as i only really use the strips for rough numbers every time they were sharp yellow like that

strips say it's <6.4, API pH says it's >7.6, and high range pH isn't a color on the chart is it in between all of them?