# Dwarf chain sword, E. Tenellus



## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

I've had E. Tenellus in my tank for quite a long time, and thouroughly enjoy them. The plants have grown and sent chains all over my tank...like I wanted them too. 
The plant leaves ave grown tall now; around 6-8" tall. I was wondering if there is anything you can recomend to keep the plant short. Can I affect light settings over them? Can I cut the leaves short like mowing a lawn, or will the cut leaves not grow anymore?

Recomendations?

btw, 36 gal, 90watts, diy co2, dose with flourish products. I've attached an older picture of the tank to give you an idea...


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

the chain sword is at least 2-3" longer now than in the picture


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Really?? Wow that's crazy! I recently set up a tank with tenellus-- this is the first time for me with the plant and so far I really love it! It's fast, dense, and just the right texture I wanted!

No idea how to make it shorter as I don't have much experience with it but good luck!


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## abnormalsanon (Jun 6, 2006)

I've heard planting dwarf chain sword farther apart will make them grow lower, so maybe removing some of them would help. I'm having the same issue though--I've only had the plants for maybe 2 months, and already one of them is growing 6 inch leaves! Otherwise they're very cool plants and carpet quickly.

Something else to try might be micro sword, which has thinner leaves. These seem to stay at 3-4" max and will also carpet densely. I don't see too many people using either type of plant though, I think because they find the runners annoying.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

HC seems to be the most popular foreground plant these days, and the grass one seem to have fallen out. it's true that the more levels you have, the more dimensions you can get, so sand and super low-grown foregrounds of course give you some added dimension. However, IMO, the only way to really take advantage of things like that is to have a progression in the mid-ground too. 

Therefore, I find some of the formerly popular foreground plants like e. tenellus, can make really great mid-ground plants if the foreground is sand or HC. Actually in my tank HC is a mid-ground plant and tenellus is a mid-back ground XD


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

abnormalsanon said:


> Something else to try might be micro sword, which has thinner leaves. These seem to stay at 3-4" max and will also carpet densely. I don't see too many people using either type of plant though, I think because they find the runners annoying.


What do yo uean by micro sword??? The scientific name would be nice.

Also, Greenmiddlefinger... I'm not familiar with the plant HC. What is this?


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## abnormalsanon (Jun 6, 2006)

Micro sword = Lilaeopsis brasiliensis


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

do you mean Hemianthus callitrichoides?
isn't this called pygmy pearlweed or something like that? or baby tears?


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

and by micro sword do you mean lilaeopsis novezelandia? sp?


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## abnormalsanon (Jun 6, 2006)

HC is not baby tears--that's HM, or hemianthus micranthemoides. HC is smaller and carpets more thickly. HM can be grown as a carpeting plant or as more of a bushy stem plant, depending on how it's trimmed and the light conditions. HC is also a lot more expensive than HM!


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Yeah, HC = hemianthus callitrichoides. It's confusing when there are so many common names-- the name "baby tears" is especially annoying since Hemianthus micranthemoides, Micranthemum umbrossum, and hemianthus callitrichoides can all accidentally be referred to as "baby tears" so it really is a worthless name!!

From my experience, most people on english forums refer to Hemianthus callitrichoides as HC for short. Amano calls it "Cuba Pearlweed" to increase the confusion. XD

chain sword = e. tenellus
micro sword = lileopsis sp.

damn these common names are worthless!! lol


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## abnormalsanon (Jun 6, 2006)

Here's a pic of dwarf chain sword and micro sword from above. You can see the difference in leaf size/shape. Both have been planted for about 2 months.


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

Thanks for the great replies. I'm also setting up a tank at the LFS, and I just set up a planted tank with HM, and lilaeopsis Novaezelandia. Unfortunately we cannot order true "micro sword" and HC. 
The plants have been in the new tank for a couple of hours and are pearling already under 3watts/gal and no co2. Wow, I can't wait until I start injecting!


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Those look great!


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

I grow both outdoors and find the micro sword runners irritating as well, they dont fill in but run in lines around the nearest rock or tank face, trying to keep it tidy is kinda like hairgrass, a pain, unless you pull carefully, you get this long string of plants that dont go back in the substrate easily at all.


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

dhavoc said:


> I grow both outdoors and find the micro sword runners irritating as well, they dont fill in but run in lines around the nearest rock or tank face, trying to keep it tidy is kinda like hairgrass, a pain, unless you pull carefully, you get this long string of plants that dont go back in the substrate easily at all.


Try cutting the runner before you pull it up. Use some small sewing scissors because you don't want to ruin expensive scaping scissors trying to cut rock  . It's usually pretty easy to spot the runner.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

I'm at the point where i may just pull it all out and compost it.... cant seem to get it to fill in, i put it in the middle of a pot or water garden and it makes a bee line for the nearest hard edge and proceeds to grow along that. maybe just not meant to grow this plant.


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