Help with planting teardrops/sword grass.

[17inchpleco]

I've bought 3 2x2in blocks of Sword Grass and 2 2x2in blocks of another foreground plant and I need advice on planting them. As they are now, I just stuck the blocks in to the substrate. Will they spread evenly like this? I've seen the technique where people cut them in to smaller sizes and plant them evenly all around, but I've already filled the tank with water and it seems like that would be difficult to pull off without the tank drained. Are there any techniques to aid me with that? Like a tweezer or something? Thanks.

Pic below:

 

[Fat Homer]

Hard to say as there is a lot more to growing HC other than just planting technique... Without adequate lighting and Co2 it becomes very hard to get it growing...

As far as planting though, i've done both 3"x3" patches as well as planting individual stems... Both work, but only if you give it everything it needs and some patience...

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[ChipChipperson]

The tank setup looks really nice

 

[17inchpleco]

Hard to say as there is a lot more to growing HC other than just planting technique... Without adequate lighting and Co2 it becomes very hard to get it growing...

As far as planting though, i've done both 3"x3" patches as well as planting individual stems... Both work, but only if you give it everything it needs and some patience...

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I've got a full spectrum light in there, good fertile substrate, and i'm using Flourish Excel for CO2 and regular Flourish Comp Suppliment in addition. I am going to try to set up a DIY CO2 diffuser using yeast/sugar/water. Do you think I will need anything else to get these bad boys to grow? Which way worked better for you? If it isn't worth taking them out and cutting them up I'd try to avoid it, but I could buy a patch or 2 more to try and fill in those empty spaces. Getting rid of them all together is also an option for me.

 

[17inchpleco]

The tank setup looks really nice

Thank you, I've had the idea floating around in my head for a while. I installed a shelf above the tank and drill some screw eyes in to the top of the hood so I could hang it from the shelf. I'm really proud with it. Just got to finish planting it out and get some fish in there and it will be my nice little desk decoration.

 

[Fat Homer]

I can tell you from experience without Co2 its really really difficult to get HC to grow even with excel, so maybe try and at min get the DIY Co2 going to see how that works for you...

As for planting, honestly, i found doing it as individual stems or very small square patches around 2cm x 2 cm worked best for me given the current doesnt blow the substrate so much it uproots the plant...

But as a large patch it also works but may take a little longer to spread evenly around the tank for the carpet effect...

So really depends on how much current is in the tank and how much patience you have planting it, since i know i had a sore back for a few days after planting my tank


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[Batboi3000]

Nice looking set up! What sized tank is it? I have some tears in my fluval edge as well as in a little craft cube I got from hobby lobby and turned it into a little

So far these in the cube are doing pretty good. The tears in here melted back a good bit, but there is definitely is new growth now. All I have in there is a couple of white cloud minnows, a couple red cherry shrimp, black sand, and it sits under an LED desk lamp about 9 hours a day. No ferts or anything.




In my EDGE I have some organic miracle grow on bottom, with a cap of black gravel. Just a red cherry shrimp tank. No ferts. No Co2. This is a slightly old pic already. I have some new fluval LED 10,000k bulbs on the tank with an extra 10w Compact Fluorescent that I think is rated at about 6500k. That's it. The tears are definitely stabilizing and have new growth here as well. Everyone I keep talking to says, "You need Co2! You need Co2!" I think I just need to be patient and watch nature grow.




Good luck man. Tears definitely look awesome if you can get them going. If this were my tank, or if I were you, I would put a patch of tears on each side of the white sand. Then maybe move one of the taller plants to the back left side of the tank and put the small sword grass in the back middle. That would look pretty cool and balance. That's just me... But I also have a bad case of self diagnosed OCD. Looks great! Let us know how it goes.

 

[17inchpleco]

Nice looking set up! What sized tank is it? I have some tears in my fluval edge as well as in a little craft cube I got from hobby lobby and turned it into a little

So far these in the cube are doing pretty good. The tears in here melted back a good bit, but there is definitely is new growth now. All I have in there is a couple of white cloud minnows, a couple red cherry shrimp, black sand, and it sits under an LED desk lamp about 9 hours a day. No ferts or anything.

View attachment 894010


In my EDGE I have some organic miracle grow on bottom, with a cap of black gravel. Just a red cherry shrimp tank. No ferts. No Co2. This is a slightly old pic already. I have some new fluval LED 10,000k bulbs on the tank with an extra 10w Compact Fluorescent that I think is rated at about 6500k. That's it. The tears are definitely stabilizing and have new growth here as well. Everyone I keep talking to says, "You need Co2! You need Co2!" I think I just need to be patient and watch nature grow.

View attachment 894011


Good luck man. Tears definitely look awesome if you can get them going. If this were my tank, or if I were you, I would put a patch of tears on each side of the white sand. Then maybe move one of the taller plants to the back left side of the tank and put the small sword grass in the back middle. That would look pretty cool and balance. That's just me... But I also have a bad case of self diagnosed OCD. Looks great! Let us know how it goes.

Yeah I think I'm going to move the swords in to that back middle patch that way I can just put them right there without having to cut them up or anything, I just hope I don't uproot the plants adjacent to that area when I try to dig a whole big enough for the patches. I'm also going to move the tears to the front right empty patch of the tank for the same reason. The left side of the tank will just be filled in with the same types of plants on the right - crypts/bigger stuff.

 

[17inchpleco]

I can tell you from experience without Co2 its really really difficult to get HC to grow even with excel, so maybe try and at min get the DIY Co2 going to see how that works for you...

As for planting, honestly, i found doing it as individual stems or very small square patches around 2cm x 2 cm worked best for me given the current doesnt blow the substrate so much it uproots the plant...

But as a large patch it also works but may take a little longer to spread evenly around the tank for the carpet effect...

So really depends on how much current is in the tank and how much patience you have planting it, since i know i had a sore back for a few days after planting my tank


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Thanks for the imput! I think i'm going to avoid cutting up/replanting them because I don't think I will be able to do it properly. I'm just going to move the swords to that gap in the middle so I can keep them bunched up like that and move the tears to the right front portion of the tank. The current is very minimal in the tank.

 

[Fat Homer]

@batboi3000, honestly until you have a full carpet grown in without Co2, i find it hard to believe that HC will do well in a regular size tank without all the extra bells and whistles, since trust me when i said i tried it before and i was very patient...

But with that said, if i works for you great, and would love to see more pics of your tank with a full carpet

@OP: if you want to separate them a little, just place the smaller patches a couple CM's apart from each other and watch them fill in over time


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