Baby tear requirments

[Fishe]

Im looking for a hearty carpet plant for my first planted tank. Can someone please tell me if baby tears would work for my setup. 29 gallon. No co2. Coralife t5 10,000k light. And eco complete substrate, thanks

[AzFishKid]

CO2, CO2, and more CO2.

In short, I wouldn't recommend it for your tank unfortunately.

[GMYukonon24s]

Originally Posted by AzFishKid

CO2, CO2, and more CO2.

In short, I wouldn't recommend it for your tank unfortunately.

I definitely agree


I've never been able to keep baby tears. I don't use any type of CO2.

A grass plant that I grow in one of my tanks is dwarf sag. (Sagittaria subulata) which grows good for a tank that just has a light does not have CO2, ferts, excel or anything.

[Fishe]

Do i need to dry start dwarf sag? Also i want it to cover alot so i see no dirt, and does it grow fast?

[HybridHerp]

would dwarf hair grass work?

[mistergreen]

Is baby tears HM or HC again?

You can grow HM without CO2. It'll grow straight up and won't carpet like you'd expect.

[AzFishKid]

Baby tears is generally a name for HC unless it was recently changed.

Edit: Apparently baby tears is HM and dwarf baby tears is HC. OP might want to clarify which sp. he's referring to.

Dwarf baby tears (HC) definitely needs CO2 though.

[Chaoslord]

I've growen baby tears into a nice carpet with no co2. This was not the dwarf variety though.
This was with eco complete and a 24 watt 10 k light. I also used root tabs.

[kevinmichael77]

That's gorgeous. I have co2 and can't get mine to spread at all. Still green just not spreading, also have Eco. Maybe I planted it wrong!!

[Mr. Fish]

HC needs rich substrate, EI dosing, High light and Co2 to fully carpet.

[Fishe]

Sounds like too much work since its my first planted tank, dwarf sag sounds like a good choice but does it carpet well and densley or will it look weird and blochy

[Fishe]

Bump

[Markahsf]

Originally Posted by Fishe

Sounds like too much work since its my first planted tank, dwarf sag sounds like a good choice but does it carpet well and densley or will it look weird and blochy

From personal experience, dwarf sag carpets better under high light. It also stays shorter. I put some in my 10 gallon with low light and it grew to fast and tall. It didn't look much like a carpet. It looked like weeds I find in my backyard.

[Fishe]

Would my bulb be considered high light? Its made for coral and has 10,000 k ( whatever that means) bUt only 17 watts

[Fishe]

Bump