Moss and grass question..

[Chess46]

Could someone please tell me how to get grass to grow on the bottom of my aquarium as well as moss to grow on driftwood? I would like to have the grass on the bottom like a lawn. I have sand for substrate.

Thank you

 

[Discusapisto]

What's your tank perameters?(water temp,species of fish lighting,how long are your lights on for?,what type of lighting do u have?size of tank?)

 

[pleechford]

I have the same issue! my dwarf hair grass will not grow. It is in good health but just will not grow shooters. I have a t8 8000k 50/50 fluorescent bulb on there now. Do you think I need a little bit more light?

 

[Discusapisto]

I have the same issue! my dwarf hair grass will not grow. It is in good health but just will not grow shooters. I have a t8 8000k 50/50 fluorescent bulb on there now. Do you think I need a little bit more light?

Not sure what size tank this is I'd need to know how deep your tank is but typically t-5's ho 3600 k-6700k rating bulbs would get the trick done if your just using regular gravel though it won't work that plant needs iron rich substrate you could plant it in a pot with the proper substrate if you don't wanna redo your whole tank either way bright lighting rich iron substrate will help you out tons. Plus dosing ferts helps this plant especially in a fully planted set up where nutrients are being used up steady.

 

[Chess46]

What's your tank perameters?(water temp,species of fish lighting,how long are your lights on for?,what type of lighting do u have?size of tank?)

Thanks for your reply. My water parems are: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10, ph 7.6
I currently have neon tetras and german blue rams but will soon be getting discus. As far as lighting goes I have a marineglo flourescent 50/50 bulb I am not sure what the watts are. The lights are on all day and off at night. It is an 80 gallon tank. It is 24in high i believe.

 

[pleechford]

Not sure what size tank this is I'd need to know how deep your tank is but typically t-5's ho 3600 k-6700k rating bulbs would get the trick done if your just using regular gravel though it won't work that plant needs iron rich substrate you could plant it in a pot with the proper substrate if you don't wanna redo your whole tank either way bright lighting rich iron substrate will help you out tons. Plus dosing ferts helps this plant especially in a fully planted set up where nutrients are being used up steady.

Okay thanks! What is a good iron rich substrate that could be used? I am setting up a 20g soon and I want to get the best of everything for it

 

[Discusapisto]

Okay thanks! What is a good iron rich substrate that could be used? I am setting up a 20g soon and I want to get the best of everything for it

I myself have had amazing results with the fluorite product line but I've used Eco complete which works and Ive even used plan dirt and Canadian peat for a substrate before but for you get a bag of fluorite black sand your hair grass can grow it's runners in the sand and spread across the whole bottom it will look amazing!

 

[Discusapisto]

Thanks for your reply. My water parems are: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10, ph 7.6
I currently have neon tetras and german blue rams but will soon be getting discus. As far as lighting goes I have a marineglo flourescent 50/50 bulb I am not sure what the watts are. The lights are on all day and off at night. It is an 80 gallon tank. It is 24in high i believe.

Well a iron rich sand substrate will help your grass carpet better and spread across the bottom only problem you have is that's a deep tank you'll need much more lighting 2-3 watts per gallon to punch down to grow your lawn, also 50/50 bulbs don't grow plants as good as say something in the 3600-10,000 k range the key to grow carpet plants is to not let them get shaded and high light dose ferts on a regular basis flourish,etc., I've got a beautiful lawn of dwarf hairgrass I'm using a t-5 ho fixture with four 36 watt bulbs ranging from 3400 k- 6700 k over a 40 gallon breeder with fluorite black sand it grows great. I wish you same success friend btw nice water params and stock list discus are my favs! I answer discus questions too lol!

 

[Discusapisto]

Oh and as far as the moss goes get some easy java moss or willow or Christmas moss all easy growers tie on to natural driftwood or stones with green thread and it will attach itself eventually covering surface. Sit back and enjoy the beauty my friend!

 

[xander]

Sand substrate is great. You can add root tabs near the roots for the nutrients they need.

 

[Chess46]

Well a iron rich sand substrate will help your grass carpet better and spread across the bottom only problem you have is that's a deep tank you'll need much more lighting 2-3 watts per gallon to punch down to grow your lawn, also 50/50 bulbs don't grow plants as good as say something in the 3600-10,000 k range the key to grow carpet plants is to not let them get shaded and high light dose ferts on a regular basis flourish,etc., I've got a beautiful lawn of dwarf hairgrass I'm using a t-5 ho fixture with four 36 watt bulbs ranging from 3400 k- 6700 k over a 40 gallon breeder with fluorite black sand it grows great. I wish you same success friend btw nice water params and stock list discus are my favs! I answer discus questions too lol!

Can i mix the iron substrate in with the regular sand that I already have?
Also, I am very glad the you know about discus. I have no problem adding more light but isnt that much light bad for the discus? Ive heard that they dont like that much lighting.

Could you send me a link to a product that you would recommend? I want to make sure I will have enough light for the plants that I want. Is there a single bulb that would be strong enough to work?

Thanks for the comment on my water params..I am very glad I am finally cycled!

 

[aqua_chem]

Ok, a lot of very questionable information going on in this tread.


#1 In order to get any plant to flourish, whether it be moss on a log or grass on the substrate, you need to give it what it wants to grow: light, nutrients, and carbon. This forum, more than others, seems to neglect the lattermost of these necessities. All the biomass needs to come from somewhere, and the CO2 dissolved in water generally isn't practical to support the necessary growth.

#2 I'm not sure where this iron-fetish has come from... The fact of the matter is that while iron is necessary for healthy growth, it is a secondary, if not tertiary need for the plant. You're not going to stunt growth by denying the plant iron, although you might get some chlorosis. Coupled with the fact that most carpeting plants are at best partial root feeds, and it makes even less sense.

#3 I've seen fine hairgrass carpets done in PFS with root tabs.

#4 WPG is crap. There are newer, better ways to describe lighting.

#5 I wouldn't advise 4x T5HO on a 40 breeder. 2xT5HOs on a 40 is a lot for non-excel, and you'll probably still be getting algae. I know that it sometimes works for some people (I hate you rookie....), but getting too much light for one's needs is one of the most common mistakes people make. Many of the bigger names in planted tanks actually recommend growing plants in medium light, but with supplemented CO2 and nutrients.

Mo' light, mo' problems.

#6 Please please PLEASE use more periods. I'm not going to flip about it, but it makes your posts difficult to understand at times.

 

[Discusapisto]

Ok, a lot of very questionable information going on in this tread.

#1 In order to get any plant to flourish, whether it be moss on a log or grass on the substrate, you need to give it what it wants to grow: light, nutrients, and carbon. This forum, more than others, seems to neglect the lattermost of these necessities. All the biomass needs to come from somewhere, and the CO2 dissolved in water generally isn't practical to support the necessary growth.

#2 I'm not sure where this iron-fetish has come from... The fact of the matter is that while iron is necessary for healthy growth, it is a secondary, if not tertiary need for the plant. You're not going to stunt growth by denying the plant iron, although you might get some chlorosis. Coupled with the fact that most carpeting plants are at best partial root feeds, and it makes even less sense.

#3 I've seen fine hairgrass carpets done in PFS with root tabs.

#4 WPG is crap. There are newer, better ways to describe lighting.

#5 I wouldn't advise 4x T5HO on a 40 breeder. 2xT5HOs on a 40 is a lot for non-excel, and you'll probably still be getting algae. I know that it sometimes works for some people (I hate you rookie....), but getting too much light for one's needs is one of the most common mistakes people make. Many of the bigger names in planted tanks actually recommend growing plants in medium light, but with supplemented CO2 and nutrients.

Mo' light, mo' problems.

#6 Please please PLEASE use more periods. I'm not going to flip about it, but it makes your posts difficult to understand at times.

First off my tank is pressurized co2 by green leaf aquatics so that much light over my 40 breeder is working fine with no algae. Check my profile pics you'll see I'm offering this fella some advice my iron fetish is not what you believe, it's for that particular type of hair grass he has and yes root tabs contain iron this I'm aware. I simply said iron rich sand/ substrate cause he wants a carpet so in the long run start them off right so he doesn't have to plant a bunch of root tabs. And yes medium light tanks are the best I just prefer my own to be high light I enjoy growing red plants and light hungry plants. I dose every day dry and liquid ferts I've been keeping planted tanks and run a planted tank set up business for 15 years now. I'm not gonna overwhelm anyone with a barrage of facts just a few pointers to get them in the right direction. Im just here to help guide young planted tank enthusiast one step at a time thanks

 

[Discusapisto]

Can i mix the iron substrate in with the regular sand that I already have?
Also, I am very glad the you know about discus. I have no problem adding more light but isnt that much light bad for the discus? Ive heard that they dont like that much lighting.

Could you send me a link to a product that you would recommend? I want to make sure I will have enough light for the plants that I want. Is there a single bulb that would be strong enough to work?

Thanks for the comment on my water params..I am very glad I am finally cycled!

You won't need as much light as I listed earlier not for a discus tank your right they like dimmer conditions you can also use floating plants to give them good cover if you choose to do higher light to shade them a bit. You can mix different products but I won't recommend any thing cause each is to their own what works for me may not for you just do a little research and you'll be fine I promise! I'd imagine one t-5 over your tank would do the trick but look into LEDs they are some nice lights as well! Cheers friend!

 

[pleechford]

You won't need as much light as I listed earlier not for a discus tank your right they like dimmer conditions you can also use floating plants to give them good cover if you choose to do higher light to shade them a bit. You can mix different products but I won't recommend any thing cause each is to their own what works for me may not for you just do a little research and you'll be fine I promise! I'd imagine one t-5 over your tank would do the trick but look into LEDs they are some nice lights as well! Cheers friend!

Would a t5NO running at 6700k suffice for carpeting? That's what I'm looking into getting for my 20g.

 

[aqua_chem]

First off my tank is pressurized co2 by green leaf aquatics so that much light over my 40 breeder is working fine with no algae. Check my profile pics you'll see I'm offering this fella some advice my iron fetish is not what you believe, it's for that particular type of hair grass he has and yes root tabs contain iron this I'm aware. I simply said iron rich sand/ substrate cause he wants a carpet so in the long run start them off right so he doesn't have to plant a bunch of root tabs. And yes medium light tanks are the best I just prefer my own to be high light I enjoy growing red plants and light hungry plants. I dose every day dry and liquid ferts I've been keeping planted tanks and run a planted tank set up business for 15 years now. I'm not gonna overwhelm anyone with a barrage of facts just a few pointers to get them in the right direction. Im just here to help guide young planted tank enthusiast one step at a time thanks

You never specified that you have CO2 in your tank, nor did you say that you would need CO2 one got the lights that you have. That's a very important consideration when deciding on lighting that is too often neglected when people start suggesting high light fixtures.


Iron and carpeting are not related in any meaningful fashion. In fact, I would be willing to bet that one could grow a better carpet using iron-poor top soil and inert sand than with iron rich substrate because it has more macronutrients, which is what plants need to grow. If you're properly dosing ferts, plants should have all the iron they need from CSM+B or other micro mixes,

While any help is always appreciated, I believe that knowledge without context is almost as dangerous as no knowledge at all. High light tanks are complicated systems that can easily be oversimplified.

 

[Discusapisto]

Would a t5NO running at 6700k suffice for carpeting? That's what I'm looking into getting for my 20g.

Sounds perfect! Please post pics it's gonna look nice!

 

[jetajockey]

T5NO on a 20H might leave you wanting more IMO, but it'd be fine in a 20L.

 

[Discusapisto]

You never specified that you have CO2 in your tank, nor did you say that you would need CO2 one got the lights that you have. That's a very important consideration when deciding on lighting that is too often neglected when people start suggesting high light fixtures.

Iron and carpeting are not related in any meaningful fashion. In fact, I would be willing to bet that one could grow a better carpet using iron-poor top soil and inert sand than with iron rich substrate because it has more macronutrients, which is what plants need to grow. If you're properly dosing ferts, plants should have all the iron they need from CSM+B or other micro mixes,

While any help is always appreciated, I believe that knowledge without context is almost as dangerous as no knowledge at all. High light tanks are complicated systems that can easily be oversimplified.

I get what you are saying about everything I just think you jumped the gun before I could get all the info to our fellow hobbyist here but hey more input is always needed and yes co2 is important I didn't realize I didn't put that in my earlier post in my defense it is in my profile script. And again I stressed the sand substrate would help the plant carpet out with it's runners more so than the iron would the iron is just a plus I have carpet plants growing in plain soil as we speak so I've done it many ways. But for a first time guy if he used a product such as fluorite black sand he'd get good results with co2 and ferts and medium lighting just to get him started. Also he wants discus which I'd never keep in high light tanks too much light and messing around to bother the discus with all of that so I'd deff be happy if he ran with medium lighting.

 

[pleechford]

Sounds perfect! Please post pics it's gonna look nice!

Will do!!