[csong30]

I'm trying out some S. Repens, in my 10 gallon tank with Excel. How long do they usually take to establish since I'm not using any actual c02? These were definitely a lot harder to plant and split apart for planting since my aquasoil isn't a powder type.. They get uprooted super easy..

 

[ct60g]

I have S. repens in my moderately planted, low-light, non-co2 tank. It's my low-tech solution to carpeting plants.

They grow very slowly, so don't expect them to start multiplying for a couple of months or more, depending on your lighting etc., but they should root themselves in a couple of weeks.

And yes, they are very difficult to plant. What I did was just start planting them in clumps. Over time they will be uprooted a few times, and they split apart on their own at the same time. Just keep planting them back in and eventually the roots will take hold. I have sand substrate, so mine took a while, but they are definitely rooted well now.

Their roots are actually quite strong and the plant is nice and hardy IME. I didn't have any melt at all when I planted them, while nearly every other plant I got melted at the start.

 

[csong30]

I have S. repens in my moderately planted, low-light, non-co2 tank. It's my low-tech solution to carpeting plants.

They grow very slowly, so don't expect them to start multiplying for a couple of months or more, depending on your lighting etc., but they should root themselves in a couple of weeks.

And yes, they are very difficult to plant. What I did was just start planting them in clumps. Over time they will be uprooted a few times, and they split apart on their own at the same time. Just keep planting them back in and eventually the roots will take hold. I have sand substrate, so mine took a while, but they are definitely rooted well now.

Their roots are actually quite strong and the plant is nice and hardy IME. I didn't have any melt at all when I planted them, while nearly every other plant I got melted at the start.

Thanks for the tips. I have the tissue culture s repens from tropica. It was a pain to get them to split up and half the plants I couldn't even use or I thought I couldn't because some of the roots weren't there. Just stems. So wasn't sure if it would be worth to plant since some of them were too small anyways.. I have another cup that I decided not to plant, but since you're saying I can plant in clumps. I think I may as well just do that.

 

[ct60g]

I would recommend that if you have a few that are just too small to plant, float them in your tank for a few days. Sometimes they'll shoot out some roots while floating, then you can plant them more easily.

Other than that, yeah I would plant the bigger ones in clumps, at least til they start putting out some roots. IME they were easier to split up after being planted in a clump for a while.