Opinions of Hemianthus callitrichoides or HC...

[HiJaC]

Hi,

I'm working on getting some nice carpetting going on in both my tanks and have seen the usual Amano stuff of Glosso and Ricca. Both which seem to demand alot of light and care.

I came across Hemianthus callitrichoides or HC mentioned a while back here and it seems to be a better choice for my Medium light 2wpg tank setups.

What are everyones experiences of using this plant in their tanks?

And can anyone point me to a supplier in the UK?

Thanks,

John

 

[Purrbox]

I really like Hemianthus callitrichoides when it's growing well. The problem is that I haven't been able to get it to grow well consistantly. Often you'll receive it in it's emersed form, so you need to expect some die back as it adjusts to being submersed. After that if it likes the conditions that it's in, it will start spreading beautifully. If you are lucky enough to get it growing really well and it forms a nice thick carpet, then you have to make sure to properly maintain it or it can get so thick that it pulls free from the substrate.

For your lighting you may be better off looking at one of the clovers. Marsilea minuta or Marsilea quadrifolia are a couple of good options. These tend to grow slower, but it means that once your forground fills in it isn't going to immediately get too thick and need maintenance. They are also much more low light tolerant than other carpet plants.

 

[HiJaC]

For your lighting you may be better off looking at one of the clovers. Marsilea minuta or Marsilea quadrifolia are a couple of good options. These tend to grow slower, but it means that once your forground fills in it isn't going to immediately get too thick and need maintenance. They are also much more low light tolerant than other carpet plants.

Hi,

I've had a look at the two clovers on plant geek and yeah I'll aim to pickup some of both. They look like a great mix.

Thanks for the tips.

I've got a sand substrate in my main tank (piccy's in the aquascaping forum) so i really don't think planting them stem by stem is going to last my 3 cori juli and tiger plec daily snuffling.

I've seen a few peeps with ricca wrapped on small slates or pebbles with net, would this be my best option?

Thanks,

John

edit - i've been looking for places to find M. Minuta in the UK but it seems to be totally unknown or mentioned. I have found a store selling Quad and M. Crenata (listed as "TRUE DWARF 4 LEAF CLOVER") and a mention on another forum saying this may be the same thing.... Is this correct? They have seperate listings on Plant Geek.

 

[Purrbox]

I'm not sure if they're the same or not. I've not read enough on the subject. Either one should work just fine for you though. I just list a couple of the clover varieties that are commonly used, but there are several others that would work equally well.

You've got two options with your fish. First you can just work on being more stubborn than they are and constantly replant them until the clover is fully established. The other would be to temporarily relocate the fish until the clover has had a chance to get established. I even have some minor issues with the Malaysian Trumpet Snails uprooting foreground plants for the first couple weeks after they've been planted. Unfortunately they're a bit harder to temporarily evict, so I have to go the stubborn route.

Generally I find that it works best to clip the runner so that you've got about 2-4 leaves per section. This gives you some runner that can be used to help anchor the plant which helps it stay put while settling in. Much longer than that and it's hard to plant and won't grow in as easily. With only one leaf and no runner it's much harder to get it to stay put.

 

[HiJaC]

Hi,

Just got my plants today and i'm a bit puzzled about what they are going to look like post die off.

I have approx 50 stems of the Marsilea crenata and a post of Marsilea Quadrifolia.

From what I read up the M. Crenata was the dwarf one but oddly in the packages i'm looking at it seems to be approx 10 cm high.

I expect the leaves will die back but it doesnt seem anywhere as small as the Marsilea minuta.

I'll stick it in and see what happens.

Best Regards,

John

 

[squawkbert]

I think all of the M. species try to reach the surface adn go to the immersed form if/when they can't.

I also have a recollection of reading that M. quadrifolia isn't the smallest leaved one, but it has the lowest light demands (so I'm looking for some too).

 

[Purrbox]

Most of the Marsilea sp. are grown emersed by the nurseries. This growth is much taller and more closely resembles a traditional four leaf clover like you'd find in your back yard. Once the Marsilea switches back to submersed growth it will be much shorter, probably only 1/2-1" and generally only 1 leaf per stem.

 

[Peyton]

Purrbox is right, I think most are grown emersed. When I got m. quadrifolia it was about 4" tall, then it switched to submersed growth and the stems are not over 1" now. In very low light it will grow 3 leafs per stem IME.

 

[HiJaC]

Hi,

So after I first put it in roughly how long before all the clover leaves die off?

Beyond that should I maybe just cut them off to start while initially planting?

Thanks,

John

 

[Purrbox]

I'd expect that it would take about 2-4 weeks for them to switch over, but I've never received emersed clover so that's purely a guess. I would leave the original leaves in place until they start to melt.

 

[travis simonson]

A picture of Marsilea sp. in emersed form after planting submersed:

A picture of Marsilea sp. (in background) after reverting to submersed growth form (note the single-blade leaf structure rather than the four-leafed structure of the emersed form):

I wish I had a better picture of the submersed growth form but I no longer keep Marsilea sp.

When trimming/planting the plant, make sure that all stems are attached to the runner/rhizome structure or they will simply die off. I've always allowed the emersed growth to die off naturally as it reverts to submersed growth and have not had any problems with it. HTH