Growing HC

[Philip99]

So i have been looking at my tank recently and have been getting board of the way that dwarf sag is looking. Do you think that i would be able to grow a carpet of HC? Or maybe DHG or even Glosso?

Here are my tank specs
55g long (48)"
T5HO light fixture with 2x 54watt 6700k bulbs
Pressurized co2 3BPS
fluval C4 filter
Flourite substrate

Tank levels:
nitrate: 30ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
ammonia: 0ppm
Ph: 7.6

Dosing:
5ml of flourish excel (daily)
5ml of Flourish Iron (daily)
5 ml of flourish trace (daily)
KN03 every week to keep nitrates at 30ppm

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

So i have been looking at my tank recently and have been getting board of the way that dwarf sag is looking. Do you think that i would be able to grow a carpet of HC? Or maybe DHG or even Glosso?

Here are my tank specs
55g long (48)"
T5HO light fixture with 2x 54watt 6700k bulbs
Pressurized co2 3BPS
fluval C4 filter
Flourite substrate

Tank levels:
nitrate: 30ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
ammonia: 0ppm
Ph: 7.6

Dosing:
5ml of flourish excel (daily)
5ml of Flourish Iron (daily)
5 ml of flourish trace (daily)
KN03 every week to keep nitrates at 30ppm

I have that 60g long tank, and I had the same lighting you did (48" long T5HO with 2 54watt 6700k T5 bulbs) and I too wanted to grow a carpet of HC or something like that, but I figured out that the lighting I had, or we have, was not enough and didnt get really good PAR to grow the compact carpet plants like HC and another AA member reccomended me to the Current TrueLumen Pro LED's and I would too recommend them. I got 2 48" 8,000K LED strips Sun White and I can now grow those plants very well an it makes the tank look a lot nicer and brings out a ton of more color in the plants and fish...but if you dont want LEDs or any new lighting you could try to grow them, but I found out that they will grow upwards toward the light "reaching for more" instead of spreading to make the carpet...HC would be most high maintenance I would think but you could try

 

[Rivercats]

Actually HC is one of the few carpets you can grow in medium lighting with liquid carbon so using CO2 along with it is very helpful. It will take longer wiht your light so you are going to have to have patience. One thing I noticed is your nitrates are alittle high. In a planted tank nitrates are best at 10-20ppms and phosphates .5-1.0ppm.

 

[Philip99]

Actually HC is one of the few carpets you can grow in medium lighting with liquid carbon so using CO2 along with it is very helpful. It will take longer wiht your light so you are going to have to have patience. One thing I noticed is your nitrates are alittle high. In a planted tank nitrates are best at 10-20ppms and phosphates .5-1.0ppm.

alright thanks for the advice, do you think that DHG should be a problem for me to grow?

 

[Rivercats]

I think you would need higher light if you want a rich carpet of DHG.

 

[Philip99]

I think you would need higher light if you want a rich carpet of DHG.

Alright are there any other carpeting plants that you can think of off the top of your head that would work in the tank that i have?

 

[Rivercats]

Marsilea Minuta, 4 leaf clover is one. Micro or dwarf chain swords and one I can't think of the name of and will post later if I remember it.

 

[aqua_chem]

I would depend on the fixture you have. A cheaper model will probably give you some issues with DHG, borderline I would say, but a better quality fixture would probably set you up fine.

 

[aqua_chem]

Marsilea Minuta, 4 leaf clover is one. Micro or dwarf chain swords and one I can't think of the name of and will post later if I remember it.

You're thinking microsword, lilaeopsis brasiliensis.

 

[Philip99]

I would depend on the fixture you have. A cheaper model will probably give you some issues with DHG, borderline I would say, but a better quality fixture would probably set you up fine.

The current fixture is a coralife aqualife 48" fixture.

 

[Philip99]

Marsilea Minuta, 4 leaf clover is one. Micro or dwarf chain swords and one I can't think of the name of and will post later if I remember it.

Alright thanks ill have to look into some of those