10 Gallon - Hairgrass and Cherries

[Bazurk]

I know I said I wasn't going to add another picture for about a month, but I made a somewhat major change that I thought ya'll would like to see.

So I trimmed all of the grass and slightly rearranged the rocks.














It took a couple hours to do, but hopefully a month from now the grass will grow back much fuller

[Bazurk]

Also, here are the inhabitants of this aquatic residence:

Mandarin Shrimp:




Cherries and the solo Japonica (I intend to add more later on):

[OiZO]

the new rock layout is awesome. I hope the grass grows out even better then before!

[Bazurk]

Originally Posted by OiZO

the new rock layout is awesome. I hope the grass grows out even better then before!

Thanks OiZO! I sure hope so too

[Musclecar67]

Very nice ! I just planted some HG in my 6G Edge. Keep us posted!

[jart]

Very nice tank!

I think it may be only a matter of time before you need to supplement the plants with some other ferts. But I guess this would depend on your light. Do you consider your light to be low light?

I'm wondering if the weekly Excel is adding any benefit (it only stays active for a day or so). You could try dividing up the dose and adding a constant amount every day. (Or, you could just keep doing what you are doing... it obviously is working!).

This size tank really has my interest. I think if I were to try it in the future, I might use the sand as you have, but use it to cap a layer of soil. I would think a tank like yours might be perfectly suited to such an approach, as you really wouldn't need to uproot the plants very much. Any thoughts on this?

How often do you trim your hairgrass... and how short?

You have no algae to speak of but I think a few otos would be a pretty cool addition
Keep posting pics!

[jingleberry]

Nice tank, it looks soooo bright.

[Bazurk]

Originally Posted by jart

Very nice tank!

I think it may be only a matter of time before you need to supplement the plants with some other ferts. But I guess this would depend on your light. Do you consider your light to be low light?

I'm wondering if the weekly Excel is adding any benefit (it only stays active for a day or so). You could try dividing up the dose and adding a constant amount every day. (Or, you could just keep doing what you are doing... it obviously is working!).

This size tank really has my interest. I think if I were to try it in the future, I might use the sand as you have, but use it to cap a layer of soil. I would think a tank like yours might be perfectly suited to such an approach, as you really wouldn't need to uproot the plants very much. Any thoughts on this?

How often do you trim your hairgrass... and how short?

You have no algae to speak of but I think a few otos would be a pretty cool addition
Keep posting pics!

Thanks jart!

Ya, I'm figuring that I might have to dose a few times in the upcoming weeks as it starts growing back in, but I can't say for sure yet. The lighting is 2 13watt cfl's placed vertically, and at about 6 inches above the water line. I would consider it high lighting, but honestly, I can't say that for sure either. What I really want to do is check it with a par meter to know the exact measurement, but for the time being I'm just going by reaction of the HG.

I considered using soil as well, but since I haven't tried that method yet I wanted to wait to try that on a future project and instead see how this setup would work with just the sand. But ya, I think it would be interesting to see how this setup would work with soil.

This would be the 3rd time trimming it. I'm doing it about once a month, and I try to get as close to the substrate as possible.

Ya, its looking cleaner right now, but believe me, it had some serious algae issues in the past lol I'm hoping those days are over though and I can maintain its current look, but we'll see.

[mattrt09]

This looks great! its exactly what im shooting for in my identical 10 sitting in my room waiting to be set up. I was also considering using the moon sand but i was going to try to use it on top of some miracle grow dirt and see how it works

ill keep checking back here for sure

[Bazurk]

So, it's been a few months since I last updated this thread and that's because my tank went thru a green water algae bloom phase. But luckily, it has started clearing up lately, so here's what it looks like nowadays:






Here's a more artsy shot:

[SaltyNC]

Bazurk,

I've enjoyed following your progress. I planted DHG as my carpet, and it was hard making that first trim...sort of like starting over. Was it hard for you, as well? It looks like it is worth it in the end, though. Do you happen to know which DHG you have? Sorry if I missed that. I planted "parvula" but after trimming, my new growth is curling down like "Belem" and I understand that sometimes these different cultivars get confused.

In your first series of pics, you said it was about 3 months from start to finish. Were the progression pics taken about 3-4 weeks apart?

[Bazurk]

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

Bazurk,

I've enjoyed following your progress. I planted DHG as my carpet, and it was hard making that first trim...sort of like starting over. Was it hard for you, as well? It looks like it is worth it in the end, though. Do you happen to know which DHG you have? Sorry if I missed that. I planted "parvula" but after trimming, my new growth is curling down like "Belem" and I understand that sometimes these different cultivars get confused.

In your first series of pics, you said it was about 3 months from start to finish. Were the progression pics taken about 3-4 weeks apart?

Thanks SaltyNC. Ya, the trimming is the tricky part. I threw off the balance of the tank with a full carpet trim twice and had to overcome a green water bloom each time. I'm guessing that it's better to trim in sections rather than the whole carpet at once. I'm going to try that method next time and I'll make an update on how it goes.

I'm not sure what type of dwarf hair grass I have, but from comparing online, I would think it's the Eleocharis acicularis, not parvula or belem.

It took about 3 months from the second pic to the last, from Jan 4th to March 25th, to be exact. The gap is just shy of 4 weeks between pic 2 and 3, and like 2 months between 3&4 and 5.

[Williak]

Looks excellent, really great scaping!

[sype2470]

Last pic is what I'm going for but with some trimmings. Just started my Dirtd Plant tank and put some of these Dwarfs hair grass in. Just wish I cuold speed things up because I want a carpet already. It's only been 5 weeks. Sweet tank and hope you keep it up.

[Bazurk]

Hey everyone,

Here's an update of my tank: