How to plant HC - Aquarium Advice

marchmaxima · 03-26-2008, 06:40 PM

I'm sorry if this has been asked and answered, but a search didn't really get me any results.

I just got some HC delivered!! (yay!). I've never seen it outside pictures before, and now I'm now wondering, how on earth does one get this little delicate stuff into their substrate? I have white sand on top of JBL AquaBasis Plus substrate.

Any planting tips?

Zezmo · 03-26-2008, 06:55 PM

Break it into pieces with 2-3 plantlets (leaf nodes) per piece. Then plant these with tweezers. Bury one of the plantlets as an anchor, and leave the other sticking out a little. Plant them 3/4" to 2" apart (depending on how much you have and the size of the area to be covered).

It may help to lower the water level while doing this. It may also help to do it in several sessions. Work in patches, complete one 6 inch area before moving on to the next.

GlitcH · 03-26-2008, 08:12 PM

Also, if you're not injecting co2...or it'll be under medium light......it will grow considerably slower so depending on how much you have you may want to break it into larger portions. The larger the pieces the more quickly it will establish itself.
But like zez sez.......you'll want to use tweezers. Unless you like stress headaches.

marchmaxima · 03-26-2008, 10:49 PM

Oh yes, tweezers would work. Thanks!

Unfortunately, there's nothing to break up as such... It's all just floating as individual strands in water (if that makes sense). There is no substrate or soil.

And I got a fair bit, so yes I'll probably do it slowly over several sessions, I don't mind doing that.

Since I can only grab one bit at a time, should I plant the little individual peices a little closer together?

Thanks heaps