MicroSword or Dwarf Hairgrass?

[MikeP_123]

Please post which you prefer out of these 3 and why. Also add negatives that others may have since I am looking for a good foreground plant.

edit: also, please add what substrate, lighting, and c02 you had success with. Thanks

MicroSword


Dwarf Hairgrass


Dwarf baby Tears

[eyebeatbadgers]

I've grown the latter two, and I prefer HC over dwarf hairgrass. The grass always seems to get infested with cladophora in my tank, and the HC is less susceptible. It really depends on the look you want to achieve though, as to which one you pick.

[Lorenmws]

I think I would rule out the micro sword (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis) . It grows very slowy and algae loves it. Haven't had the other two long enough to give you advice.
Have you thought about Pearl Grass(Hemianthus micranthemoides), I got it in my tank and it's going nuts making a thick carpet. Here's a pic of mine-

This is two weeks after buying a small pot.

Whats your lighting like?WPG?

Loren

[fishboy87]

I have had micro sword for about half of a year and all it did was get covered in algae (produced only about 5 runners of bad leaves). I have no experience with HC other than the immersed stage and I'm replacing the micro sword with hair grass possibly today. HM is not to far off from hc in look and from what I've heard is easier to grow. Like what EBB said, it depends on the look your going for.

[@marko@]

HC looks great, but i can only ever get it to grow as an emeresed epiphyte. others have it doe great in their tanks.

microsword looks nice, but its picky. i tried it and it grew, but it doesnt really flourish in my tank.

dwarf hairgrass is easy and resiliant. a bonus is that you can trim it to any size.

[JeremyofAZ]

HC would be my pick.

Microsword grew really well for me, a little to well. It ends up becoming very invasive if it grows well for you. Sends out tons of runners that end up getting tangled with all your other plants, kind of like glosso. Except the runners are sturdier. Then when its time to pull it out you end up pulling up a lot of other plants you have in areas you don't want it to be. I ended up getting rid of it since it grew a little taller than I liked.

[notropis]

Excellent post...I know it's a question I'm still pondering.

One suggestion, as the success of these foreground plants often depends on substrate, light, and CO2 conditions, you might want to ask people to describe these along with their success/experience growing these three.

I'll be following to see what choice you make and what kind of success you have!

[@marko@]

well both HC and MS like high light and high CO2. and both HC and DH like fine substrate. DH doesnt need high light or high CO2 to survive, but it wont carpet without it. so any tank should theoratically be able to grow all 3 or none, unless im missing something.

[MikeP_123]

thanks for the replies. I have 2.2WPG in my 56. Looks like not to many people like the Micro Swords... But we will see how they do. Another thing i might do is try all 3 before I actually aquascape it and see which grow the best with my conditions. I don't know much about c02 and the price is quite large, but I will try to get something going.

[nanojimbo]

i love the micro swords, dose with just api leaf zone and a few root tabs and a little diy co2 and ive already seen amazing growth within 1 week!

[Church]

I think the fact that not a lot of people use microsword makes it really stand out more when you get a nice carpet... because it's not too common. I love microsword, and it just takes a little while to "ramp up" its growth. Once it does, it grows FAST!

[markopolo]

well my light isnt that high less than 2 wpg and the hairgrass died, and the microsword is covered in algae. So make sure you have a high end setup for those two

[ikuzo]

go for micro sword and increase your flow. lilaeopsis is an algae magnet because they grow slowly and they form compactly between each other and make dead spots where there's no current and attract algae to grow.