# Dwarf Hairgrass 'Belem'



## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

I've been letting my tank "stagnate" a bit after a long battle vs various algae which I somehow won. 

My entire substrate is now covered in hairgrass. I'm looking to revive my tank and I'm wondering what would contrast well with this solid green? I also have quite a bit of downoi but the color is almost identical and is pretty much overpowered by the hairgrass. I don't have a digital cam so I can't really give any pictures.

I'm also thinking of adding some stone since this seems to be one of the best ways to go about hairgrass scaping.

Any help would be appreciated!

edit: tank specs are ADA 60-P w/ Eheim 2113(I think?) Tek 4 light suspended about 8 inches off the top w/ 2 of 4 bulbs running and CO2, no stones or wood in the tank currently, just downoi a ridiculous amount of hairgrass and my pea puffer.


----------



## freydo (Jan 7, 2006)

adding some stones would be good as well as some stem plants such as Ludwigia palustris, which is a reddish plant, would be a great contrast.


----------



## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

freydo said:


> adding some stones would be good as well as some stem plants such as Ludwigia palustris, which is a reddish plant, would be a great contrast.


What kind of red plant do you think would be good? I've tried a red stem but didn't really like it, forgot the type. I've had my eye on several darker crypts but they're rarely available in our LFS's.


----------



## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

lotus?


----------



## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

Aquaticz said:


> lotus?


ah yes, those are nice!


----------



## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

So, I've decided I'm probably going to add some stone, perhaps some wood and I'm pretty set on adding some trident mostly for the low maint. and deep green. I'm also going to try a lotus or two, and some darker crypts if I can find some good ones to add some contrast to the overpowering light green of my tank. I'm also curious if there are any low growing dark plants, maybe of a stem variety that ground crawls or stays below 4" high at high light? 

I'm not too fond of rotala in general, I have tried macaranda and green and it just didn't do it for me and ended up tearing it out. I do have pearl type 1(I believe) in my tank and I really enjoy it, but it is very slow growing which is actually a blessing to me. my maracanda and green required insane amounts of maintenance and grew unsightly air roots- the pearl grows at about the same rate as my downnoi and is actually growing wide(shoots) and maxing out at about 6" tall. Very happy with that purchase. But if it grows wild like green/maracaranda + air roots I'm prooooobably not going to try it!

Oh, I also added some fissidens fontanus from another tank which was a hitchhiker in one of the plants I bought from one of APC's sellers, forgot to thank him for that. I would have never known how great dark green looks with my current plant setup!

I'm also thinking of adding some mini pellia but I'm not entirely sure how I would go about growing that. Maybe attached to rocks? Another concern is the slow growth rate I hear about. It's pretty pricy and I don't want to over-commit to that plant if it doesn't work out.

Any thoughts would be great! I'm also going to be ordering a camera so I don't have to describe everything!


----------



## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

http://i.imgur.com/HvDjF.jpg

Finally got a cam! Halp!


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

BTW - you might want to invest in clear in/out lets for your filter water.
it seems a shame to have a hanging fixture, pedestal and rimless tank
without a clear water apparatus. clear pipes have to be cleaned more
often, and there is the cost... your grass growth is stunning work 
maybe instead of rocks you might try manzanita twigs, as they add 
some red character without displacing the established grass carpet.


----------



## Stimz (Aug 18, 2009)

spypet said:


> BTW - you might want to invest in clear in/out lets for your filter water.
> it seems a shame to have a hanging fixture, pedestal and rimless tank
> without a clear water apparatus. clear pipes have to be cleaned more
> often, and there is the cost... your grass growth is stunning work
> ...


Yeah, I was thinking about it. I actually just switched back to spray bar to add some flow and I broke my glass diffuser trying to get the air tube off it so I've just been using a lee wood diffuser. I never thought of that actually, the wood to contrast with the blob of green I have in there instead of adding reddish plants. Thanks!


----------

