# how to grow hc into a carpet



## elkhunter (May 24, 2012)

Hi to anyone who can help me im wondering how to get HC to grow in to form a carpet in my 29gal aquarium. I have about 3.3w per gal of T5 HO lighting. I have a diy co2 however not sure how well it works. I dose fertilizers every so often probably should do it more often than I do my tank is a couple years old now I have anubias nana, amazon sword that are growing like crazy, and right now I have microsword but im thinking of replacing with HC as it looks better. I have ecocomplete mixed with regular gravel. I just ordered a canister filter to replace HOB aqueon filter. No ammonia, no nitrates/nitrites or at least not at a harmful level. PH of about 7.4 which I think I need to lower which I believe is due to the driftwood. But if anyone could give me some tips on how and if I could grow it to form a carpet. And also I was wondering if it would be good to put it between mesh to keep it down however I dont know if that would look as good. 
Thanks to all who input.


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## Morgan (Jun 28, 2011)

Hc, imo, needs pretty heavy CO2. It will grow without, but slowly and always battling algae. 








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## elkhunter (May 24, 2012)

is there any way to increase my co2 without alot of spending


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## Sachin (Jun 13, 2012)

you can use a diy co2 generator with yeast and sugar its easy.


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

A couple of things... first of all, what is the exact light fixture? WPG isn't really relevant anymore; we need more specific information. That said, i would bet that you actually have **TOO** much light for HC. Instead, as others have said, you need more CO2 (and fertilizers in general) for the amount of light you have. 

I would (1) reduce the light you have now to 2 bulbs of T5HO, (2) tighten your fertilizer regime so you're dosing everyday and (3) either invest in a pressurized CO2 system or consider adding another DIY CO2 system so you're changing one of the bottles every week. The CO2 is probably the most important aspect to getting HC to grow well.


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## bradsd (Aug 19, 2010)

what is HC?


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

I think you won't reach sufficient co2 levels with diy co2. HC really needs a lot of co2 and light otherwise it will collect more algae than it will grow.


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## Morgan (Jun 28, 2011)

Uh


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## joshvito (Apr 6, 2009)

bradsd said:


> what is HC?


HC = Hemianthus callitrichoides


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