Planting Eleocharis?

[IrvineHimself]

By upgrading my filter, I liberated the space previously occupied by my old sponge filter and its' camouflage. I want this 70cm^2 area to be a grass like habitat and bought a 1-2 grow tub of eleocharis. Before planting, I was going to sand vac the area to clean up any detritus, but, thinking about it, if it was my back-garden, since we are talking bio-matter, I would just dig the detritus into the soil.

So, in a planted tank with fish, when planting new plants like eleocharis; crypts; lobellia, or even a tiger lilly or banana plant, should I clean up any detritus, or just dig it into the sandy substrate?

Note, since I was primarily interested in keeping kulhis, I am not [as yet] using grow tabs, aqua soil nor any other source of nitrates [except my fish].

 

[OllieTY]

I'd probably just stick them in and do a water change afterwards if it was cloudy. Are there Kuhlis in already? Because they might start digging up all your nice new plants until they establish a root system

 

[IrvineHimself]

I'd probably just stick them in and do a water change afterwards if it was cloudy.

I think that is the best bet. It is actually the plan for the morning 🙂

Are there Kuhlis in already? Because they might start digging up all your nice new plants until they establish a root system

Yes there is: They excavated a bowl shaped depression in the corner where they like to play. I removed a few small pebbles to slightly increase the size of the kuhli playground. The biggest problem is that there is a crypts ajacent to this area on which one of the kuhlis likes to repose like an arboreal snake. (It also poses on a few other plants and hardscape).

So far, they have shown no interest in the area I intend to plant with eleocharis, but I have suspicions they have been doing a bit of gardening on my stem plants🙁

 

[IrvineHimself]

Well, I got it planted:



The left hand wall and para-cord liana are seeded with 'Weeping Moss', whereas the right hand wall and boulders are seeded with 'Christmas Moss'. I think once everything grows in, it is going look quite impressive, assuming all my plants don't die on me My kulhis seem to approve of the eleocharis and my rock gobies love it.

By the way, the snail shells are dead. The rabbit snail died shortly after I got it, (the other one is doing fine). I was keeping the assassin snail in a tupperware tub as a backup option, but it also expired. Anyway, I thought they make nice tank ornaments

 

[OllieTY]

Nice looking tank!