can two carpeting plants exist in one tank?

[JackBlasto]

Can two carpeting plants exist in one tank or is it going to end in one plant overtaking the other? I guess I'm asking to see if any experienced aquascape people out there have anything like I do (dwarf baby tears and dwarf hairgrass) and what it's going to become (a mess or not) in a few months. Thanks for any advice.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

I am planning to do HC and DHG in my 6g iwagumi, and yes, after time the DHG will invade the HC and vice versa, but you can keep it groomed fine...

 

[JackBlasto]

DanTheGuppyMan, Glad to meet you since I've been trying to get some feedback on this subject matter for a while and you're the first with experience. Now, my next question is how would you recommend grooming it? I am new to this. Would I have to physically pull the hair grass out of the substrate when it gets into the dwarf tears OR could I cut it low (I'm thinking of attaching a waterproof beard trimmer to a pipe, yeah crazy but) and thus it would die off, etc. Let me know my options. The reason I'm a little scared is my tank is DEEP... I have to drain water to reach the bottom with my full arm emerged. Tank is almost 3 feet deep.

 

[JackBlasto]

To ask a little more. I have read hairgrass spreads by runners and those runners can be kept from moving by putting plastic dividers in the substrate. How would this prevent the runners since the plastic would be BENEATH the plant thus in my imagination runners would still be produced at the stem and move right along? I'm not opposed to laying plastic in between the plants BUT I don't want plastic being seen to reduce the runners (meaning if the plastic has to come above the substrate then that seems silly). Has anyone laid plastic dividers or know how to explain how to do this for me?

 

[Rivercats]

I have a 220g deep tank also and have 3 carpets... one HC (dwarf baby tears), Pogostemon helferi, and Crypt Parva which is a super slow spreader. I stear clear of DHG due to the depth of the tank and the trimming issue. Due to the depth of your tank I would suggest Blyxa Japonica over DHG. The blades may not be as fine but it's a good looking ground cover.

All you have to do is carefully remove any of the DHG or HC that is growing too close to the other. I have imaginary lines that my plants aren't allowed to cross, if a plant gets too close to crossing over I just carefully remove it. It's not hard. And I actually have a set of 24" stainless steel planting tool I use.

What type of lighting do you have since carpeting plants need high light and you have such a deep tank.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Rivercats is right, it's not hard you just need a steady hand...but yeah I have heard of people using dividers (I plan to use them also) what some people did was they cut up some of those little plastic pots plants come in and use them-you just bury the plastic under the substrate on the line you don't want the plants to spread, or as Riverctas said her "imaginary line" and bury the plastic just so it's barely visible from your view under the substrate, but don't have it so its like a centimeter above the substrate...if that made sense. This just blocks the runners from spreading into the other areas. But, you could just carefully remove the invading plants as Riverctas said, but with such a deep tank and considering how fast these plants grow will probably be an inconvience to you. B. Japonica is a beautiful plant, I WAS going to use it in my iwagumi tank but I went with DHG because it went better with my scape, but in such a large tank the japonica would also look very nice...and yeah, both of these plants need lots of light, especially being at the bottom of this tank.

 

[JackBlasto]

Light isn't too big of an issue luckily. My hood has seven T5 bulbs, put together with the knowledge of the tank depth by an aquarium plants company. Thanks for the advice! I will pick up some plexi glass at lowes soon as they are currently spreading and I best stop it sooner than later.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

7 T5 bulbs is awesome lol. Good luck!

 

[aqua_chem]

HC and DHG are notoriously bad at mixing. Considering that one spreads above ground (HC) and one spreads underground (DHG), they don't really "block" each other like two plants that grow similarly might. I've seen the plastic sheet method mentioned several times, but I've never actually heard of anyone using it to great success.

When considering something like this, you need to consider what you're going for. In a style like dutch, you definitely don't want plants to be growing together, but if you're going for something a little more wild, it would probably look pretty cool. One of our members, Ziggy953, had something like the latter going on in his tank:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/ziggys-corner-planter-135620-88.html#post2247875

 

[Rivercats]

IMO 7-T5 bulbs over a tank that is 36" deep is not going to be strong enough for light to penetrate that deep. AquaChem could give you more of an in-depth explaination. I have 4- 39w T5HO's and 3- 150w HID Metal Halides in my 30" deep tank. The Metal Halides light can penetrate deeper.

 

[Rivercats]

This might help better explain about the lighting... Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts

 

[aqua_chem]

What are the dimensions on this tank again?

 

[JackBlasto]

36 tall x 36 wide x 18 wall to front... Looks like a giant square from front and a rectangle from the side. 98 gallon.

 

[JackBlasto]

This was the tank I was copying when I told the aquatic plant store what I wanted to do. At the time I didn't realize that the mix was not really suitable for a real tank. Maybe this tank was a show tank for like a week and then they tore it down or maybe it needs crazy grooming. I don't know. I wish the store would've told me the complexities of what I was going for heh. Oh well, this hobby is trial and error, right? hehe.

 

[Rivercats]

Is that DHG growing already? The tank is bright I will say that.

 

[JackBlasto]

Also, I don't know much about lighting but I do know that the seven T5's in there have had the HC and DHG spreading like crazy in the two months since I planted them so I'm not really thinking the lighting is a problem. The problem I'm having is two carpeting plants now battling for real estate

Yes, in the pic of my tank the DHG was started from small mats but is now about twice the size as two months ago.

 

[Rivercats]

Now I'm curious as to what type K rated bulbs are you running and are they T5HO's?

 

[JackBlasto]

The light fixture is called LumenBlaster T5 Retro Fit Kits (the finest most powerfull retro lighting)

I think I have 10k HO bulbs in it but need to call the store and ask what they shipped. It's a ma and pa type of internet store that actually specializes in aquarium plants that sold me the stuff so I do trust that they sold me the required gear for plants as they don't even sell fish they sell plants. He told me that he was building my system identically to what they grow with in the store there.

http://www.aquariumplants.com/LumenBlaster_T5_Retro_Fit_Kits_p/lb01.htm?1=1&CartID=0 is the fixture. They are 36 inch long bulbs and literally span every square inch of the hood. I had to cut my hood to accomodate lights in every portion. Turned out well.

 

[JackBlasto]

Also, if I might ask a few questions about the topic when it began, how do I weed out the dwarf hair grass? I am going to place plastic dividers in but before I can do that I need to uproot or cut the overgrowth so I can have room to put the dividers in place. Because of the depth of the tank if cutting was an option this would be optimum as getting to the bottom with my hand to carefully pull is difficult. If I could cut it at a length it would kill it I'd be quite happy. Any experience with the most effective way to KILL dwarf hairgrass? Yes, I want portions dead and my T5 lighting is apparently not doing the job of killing it.

 

[aqua_chem]

Unless you get the rhizome, it will likely keep coming up. You best bet is to find some long tweezers and pull it out.