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Dwarf Hairgrass vs. Micro Sword

nabokovfan87
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nabokovfan87 Grand Master

nabokovfan87

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Hey Everyone,

I am continuing my what feels like 3-4 years long project of "fixing" my tank.  I had a 55g that was wonderful, then a 75g upgrade that used the same materials. Once every 6 months (up to a year) I would hit the tank with a massive trim and get things back to looking nicer (trim the length, but let the plants fill in areas).  Even with a sand substrate everything was going fine. I also had the tank without CO2 and with C02 for multiple years in either configuration without issues.  Seeing anubias flower, plants pearling, I want to get back to that.

For a variety of reasons I am now in a solo 29g tank and working on taking those plants remaining from "the big crash" and working to fix the tank.

I have a few plants I am trying to get to carpet, having some issues, but moreso I am posting this to take a deep dive into what exactly is the factors that make these two plants carpet without CO2.

Micro Sword

  • Scientific Name: Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
  • Native To: South America
  • Skill Level: Easy
  • Placement: foreground
  • Co2 Requirement: none

Dwarf Hairgrass

  • Scientific Name: Eleocharis acicularis
  • Skill Level: medium
  • Placement: foreground carpeting plant
  • Co2 Requirement: Will grow much faster with Co2, but not required


I guess the best place to start is by clarifying a few things about these plants. Information wise, I have websites I've looked at and I have the details on the co-op listed above as well as my experience with them.

1. Do they generally grow to the same length? My understanding is microsword is every so slightly shorter.

2. In terms of color, is there *really* going to be any difference?

3. In terms of ease of planting, staying planted, does one have any advantage over the other?

4. Is there any general recommendations for either one of these in regards to planting directions (depths, size, etc) that would be out of the norm?  (I lost the first 4 pots because of flow, not planting them deep enough and constant uprooting)

I have gone through about 8-9 pots of the DH right now and I am about to order more (shrimp and otos arriving this week).  I just pulled off the dead chunks of anubias, sprayed the rocks with hydrogen peroxide, cleaning the filter every 4-5 days, and I have been keeping a very close eye on the water parameters for dosing Easy Green. 

I can.....

Add more plants, add more algae fighting machines (love you Amano shrimp), keep trying to balance things out and stay to that schedule.  I was doing well, seemingly winning the fight, but I have more things to get tuned.  Lights have been fixed, and as I have said I am keeping a close eye on everything and ensuring the water and plants have everything they need.

I just don't want to keep going through pots of plants, and I do want to do everything I can to keep these guys growing and filling out the carpet. My general preference is for the dwarf hairgrass, especially with amanos as a feature in the tank.  In your experiences with the above plants can anyone speak to the differences or quirks between the two?

I can put MS on one side, put the HG on the other and see which one thrives, but I don't think that is the best approach either. I know both of them will grow and do fine, once I get this algae kicked in the teeth again.

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nabokovfan87 Grand Master

nabokovfan87

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On 3/16/2022 at 7:30 AM, Widgets said:

I picked up some Dwarf Hairgrass from a chain pet store. It is putting out new roots, but not thriving and slowly dying.

I picked up some Micro Sword and Dwarf Hairgrass from ACO. The Dwarf Hairgrass from ACO looked different (better) than that I already had. I am now seeing which grows better before I get more.

Sounds good. Best of luck. Let me know!

Edited by nabokovfan87
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Widgets Experienced

Widgets

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On 3/19/2022 at 6:03 PM, BAT said:

Not sure why its upside down. Not so on my iPhoto.

The phone stores the image in its native pixel orientation with an EXIF tag for the needed rotation for proper viewing. If the EXIF tag is dropped from the image, the needed rotation is lost. If you load the image into an editor,  crop, then save; the new image will have been rotated and will not need an EXIF rotation.

 

 

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nabokovfan87 Grand Master

nabokovfan87

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On 3/20/2022 at 6:33 PM, BAT said:

i leave it on 10a-5p

I think my tank has slightly higher power (I run it at 80%-ish, but I don't run it as long. I think I run it 7-5 or so with a very long ramp up/down time.

Interesting!

I saw a video of Jimmy's where they were talking about the tanks and they had one with DHG and microsword. The HG was a lot shorter in length.  It may have just not been in the tank as long. Difficult to say, but I am leaning towards one more shot with the hair grass and trying to not mess it up again.

I moved the scape around slightly to try to give a bit more room for carpeting. We will see. The new otos and amanos are doing some work!!! It was very fun to watch them this morning.

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