Advice on growing Dwarf hairgrass and hottonia palustris

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Also i was thinking of getting hottonia palustris as i like the look of this plant and was wondering if anyone has any tips on growing this plant and how easy it is to grow?

It is <"fairly easy">, but its better in a pond with cooler water.

It has never lasted long in the tank for me, but it is long-lived in apond.

cheers Darrel

 

[Bhavik]

Tropicas site Choose the correct light source for your needs well worth a read IMO

View attachment 105250
So say you have 40 Lumens per watt ( as the link suggests for T5 tubes)

40 x30 x 2 = 2400 Lumens total from your lights

2400/200 = 12 Lumen per litre (low)

Do you have refectors for your tubes that will help

What are the dimensions off your tank, or what is the depth from surface off water to the deepest part off your carpet?

Will LCO2 help - well still newbie myself but with your low Lumen to litre ratio I think light is the main limiting factor

That's for the link it's interesting I'm going to read it properly when I get a chance!

As for the depth to the carpet it's around about 50-52cm as the depth of the tank is 60cm

As for reflector I'm going to add tinfoil to the top of it or just paint it white just about the lighting but I need to get a new one!

Hi all,It is <"fairly easy">, but its better in a pond with cooler water.

It has never lasted long in the tank for me, but it is long-lived in apond.

cheers Darrel

You say cool how cool are we talking? My heater is set at 26C

 

[Bhavik]

Any help?

 

[Bhavik]

hello anyone?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

You say cool how cool are we talking? My heater is set at 26C

You would probably need @Mick.Dk to give you a definitive answer on temperature.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mick.Dk]

Hottonia palustris can be grown continuously at 24 - 26 C.
- most of my test-tanks run in this temperature during the calender-year, and it has been growing for testing well over a year on several different tanks in this temp.
- do bear in mind, though, that there is a "link" between temp. and light-level; lower temperatute can help plants a lot, when grown in low light-levels. They tend to try to grow a lot if temp. is high - and if light is (too) low, it will not support this growth. This is what happens to many plants in your windows at winter, causing long and leggy growth.
When I worked in a zoo-exibition, we allways "put the tropic trees and palms to sleep", by lovering temperature in the winter, for exact same reason 😉.

 

[Bhavik]

Hottonia palustris can be grown continuously at 24 - 26 C.
- most of my test-tanks run in this temperature during the calender-year, and it has been growing for testing well over a year on several different tanks in this temp.
- do bear in mind, though, that there is a "link" between temp. and light-level; lower temperatute can help plants a lot, when grown in low light-levels. They tend to try to grow a lot if temp. is high - and if light is (too) low, it will not support this growth. This is what happens to many plants in your windows at winter, causing long and leggy growth.
When I worked in a zoo-exibition, we allways "put the tropic trees and palms to sleep", by lovering temperature in the winter, for exact same reason 😉.

Thanks for that I appreciate the reply I didn't know about temp having an effect on growth of plants that's new to me!

Well my heater might be a bit over 26C so should it still be fine? But it does range from 26-29C according to the thermometer but it's not very accurate as I think it takes into account the room temp as well
Also for light I have a 2x 30watts t8 so would lighting be enough?

Thanks

 

[Mick.Dk]

Temp. have an impact on all life.
If your fish do not need the 26 C. - you should defenitely set a lower temp.
Something between 18 - 24 C. is much better with your light-level (=very low) and plants will accept this temp. without problems. Growth will be slower, but this is benefitial in your conditions, as explained earlier.
To be honest, the quite deep watercolumn of your tank will make the very low light-level extreemely low at the base, where your carpeting plants grow - it will be very close to absolute minimum for these plants, or possibly really too low. Adding reflectors (or your tin-foil) may be enough to make the difference, but then again, maybe not - you are working on the absolute edge, light-wise, for these plants.
- personally, I would find a way to add at least a bit more light, to grow what you want to grow.
Fertiliser-wise, you will need to add some full-spectre (=micro- and macro-) nutrients to water-column, too. Your root-tabs will not be enough on their own, I am pretty sure. Especially not in a substrate of only gravel. In my "gravel-based tanks" I allways have a thin layer of substrate underneath, to ensure storage of the water-dosed nutrients I give.

 

[xim]

Temp. have an impact on all life.
If your fish do not need the 26 C. - you should defenitely set a lower temp.
Something between 18 - 24 C. is much better with your light-level (=very low) and plants will accept this temp. without problems. Growth will be slower, but this is benefitial in your conditions, as explained earlier.
To be honest, the quite deep watercolumn of your tank will make the very low light-level extreemely low at the base, where your carpeting plants grow - it will be very close to absolute minimum for these plants, or possibly really too low. Adding reflectors (or your tin-foil) may be enough to make the difference, but then again, maybe not - you are working on the absolute edge, light-wise, for these plants.
- personally, I would find a way to add at least a bit more light, to grow what you want to grow.
Fertiliser-wise, you will need to add some full-spectre (=micro- and macro-) nutrients to water-column, too. Your root-tabs will not be enough on their own, I am pretty sure. Especially not in a substrate of only gravel. In my "gravel-based tanks" I allways have a thin layer of substrate underneath, to ensure storage of the water-dosed nutrients I give.

This could explain why some of Mark Evans tanks worked so well (some stems plants showed elongate growth though) with very low light. He didn't use heaters on any tanks.

 

[Mick.Dk]

This could explain why some of Mark Evans tanks worked so well (some stems plants showed elongate growth though) with very low light. He didn't use heaters on any tanks.

He he - we actually discussed this, one time I picked him up from airport. Personally I have no doubt it was of help - but practice, experience and skills are still unbeatable, when working with complexe systems (=ex. aquaria) 😀 .