# Eleocharis Acicularis vs Parvula



## invisibleshopper (Jul 6, 2006)

Hi Everyone,

Can someone tell me what the difference is between these two species? Which is shorter? Which (if either) is easier to keep and propogate?

Thanks,

KLT


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

*Eleocharis Acicularis *
Grows to 5-8" tall
Growth is slower the _E.Parvula_

*Eleocharis Parvula *
Grows to 2-3" tall
Growth is faster than _E. Acicularis_

*Both* *Species* are easy to grow, I'll lean to E.parvula being vastly easier. They grow by shooting out runners and will spread evenly if planted in thin 1 inch spaced patches. The runners will fill in empty spaces.

Be sure to give adequate flow or clean any unnessary debris that collects onto the grassy leaves. In my experience, these plants tend to get algae infested or "dirty" quickly if conditions aren't correct.

-John N.


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## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

and be sure not to have any SAEs! my 3 sae is destroying my carpet of hairgrass by pulling their root out of the soil. Every week when i do maintainence, there are handful of those floating on top of the tank from the saes pulling them out.

the grass is easy to grow after it switches from emerse to submerse mode. Mine grow fine 2WPG. But you definitly need co2 injection for healthy growths, when i didnt change my diy co2 injection for a week, they all turned brownish. Then 1 day after i refilled the co2, they all came back to nice green and growing again. 

except my sae keep pulling them out argggg!


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## invisibleshopper (Jul 6, 2006)

So is Acicularis still considered a dwarf? What is the tall hairgrass called? Is it any more difficult?

Thanks,

KLT


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

_*Eleocharis montevidensis*_ - Giant Hairgrass, Tall Hair Grass
Grows pretty tall 10"+
Needs lots of light (3.0+ wpg) or it will brown.

I consider _Eleocharis Parvula _ to be dwarf hairgrass and commonly available. _Eleocharis Acicularis _ grows a little taller so I wouldn't consider that to be all that dwarf.

All the grasses will need lots of light and good water column fertilization. Additional CO2 (recommended) will help increase growth and the spread of runners.

-John N.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

_E. parvula_ grows to about 2 inches if it isn't crowded and makes a much better fore ground. You can use a real comb to loosen moss pieces and dirt. A light vacuuming is recommended every once in a while to. Those two things combined with good water flow keep it looking a lot nicer.

I'd like to point out that species names aren't capitalized. Just a small aside there.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

There's also _E. vivipara_ which grows new plantlets on it's leaf tips. Doesn't stay "grassy" like the others, though.


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