# Hemianthus Callitrichoides (cuba) growth problem...



## ata326

Hi people, 

I've been trying to grow HC in my 20gal aquarium for 8 months, but I couldn't succeed. At first I'didn't have CO2 euipment and enough lighting. I've bought new ones. Then I had some algae problem and also some filtration problems and had to set up the aquarium for one more time.

I've cleaned all the aquarium and started from the beginning, but I don't know what is wrong with them...

20 gallon:
6*15=90 watts light (4grolux-1aquastar-1plantcolor)
tetratec ex600 filter
5kg pressurized CO2- redsea vortex reactor/selonoid valve
Hagen black glossy substrate.


I have 4 pots of HC, they placed seperately from the plastic cover and placed 1 inches distance from each root. There is no other plant or fish. 

I'm using 2grolux and 1aquastar for 4+4hours. The water level is about 3-4 inches low to increase the total amount of light going to HC's. I add tropicas NPK fertiliser 0.3ml each day. I have a 2gallons water change every day to provide other minerals from the water. The temperature is about 29 (because in istanbul it is too hot:shock 

The only thing that is not very suitable for HC is the substrate. Should I've used aquaclay or something like that?

I really need some help, I couldn't find any solution on Turkish forums... :smile:


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## Newt

HC likes carbon more than light.
Do you have a drop checker?
What style bulb are the GroLux? T12


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## khanzer22

+1 on what Newt said, HC favors CO2 more than light... And IME, I grew HC on inert substrate (SMS) with great success... Here's a pic of it before I remove them and change it with another foreground plants...










I grow this emersed for a month, filled it with water and crank up the CO2 and it didn't melt during transition...


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## ata326

Bulbs are T8. CO2 is 1 bubble per second. I am not very sure that I can success with emersed method because of my substrate. Thanks for your concerns...  by the way khanzer22 your HCs look really great. What is your substrate?


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## khanzer22

Hi ata326,

At 1bps, it could be not enough CO2... So better get a CO2 drop checker to confirm that you have as much as 30ppm (with 4dKH solution, turns green) of CO2 present in your water column... Thanks for the compliment, the substrate I'm using in the pic is an inert substrate I bought from Aquariumplants.com... But many hobbyists discovered that it's exactly the same as the SMS (SoilMaster Select), only refined/filtered, that we can buy from landscape stores/companies... This substrate has high CEC so it's good to absorb/store nutrients for plant use...


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## Newt

Finally a peak at one of khanzer22's tanks......................very nice indeed

I dont mean to hijack the thread but I'm having trouble getting my HC to stay rooted in flourite. It may just be the cories uprooting it but any thoughts, suggestions?


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## khanzer22

Hey Newt, 

That pic was taken a couple of months back so there's been a lot of scape changes already, and of course, more plant spp 

About your HC, did you grow/plant it submerse? If so, you prolly added the cories prematurely when the HC's roots are not (or have not) penetrated too deep into the substrate yet that's why it's getting uprooted (+ add the HC's bouyancy)... My suggestion are: 1. You might have to transfer the cories to another tank giving time for the HC's root system to establish. 2. Use a mesh and tie the HC to it and burry the mesh under (masking) and leave the HC on top of the substrate. 3. Use a small (plastic/stainless) pegs/pins and nail your HC mat into the substrate to hold it from floating... But, if it's possible, I'll just grow it emersed because the roots is longer and will hold to the substrate very well compare to sumbersed grown HC IMO...


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## Newt

I bought a hunk from APCRandall and I believe it was grown emersed and I just plunked it into my 75 and sprinkled some flourite over it to keep it down. Getting the cories and other bottom dwellers out of a heavily planted 75...............ya right > LOL. 

I have a honeycomb hairnet I can try. Thanks for the input.


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## khanzer22

I knew #1 is way not gonna work/happen because they're in a 75gal tank, duh!  

Got my HC from APCRandall as well... And there were some pieces of hairgrass as a bonus, does yours have that too?

Good luck with the Honeycomb hairnet!


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## Newt

Nope, no hairgrass. I thought he only grew HC being the 'HC King':rofl:
I have some dwarf hairgrass in my 10 gal shrimp tank but its being over run by HC and moss.


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## ata326

khanzer22 said:


> Hi ata326,
> 
> At 1bps, it could be not enough CO2... So better get a CO2 drop checker to confirm that you have as much as 30ppm (with 4dKH solution, turns green) of CO2 present in your water column... Thanks for the compliment, the substrate I'm using in the pic is an inert substrate I bought from Aquariumplants.com... But many hobbyists discovered that it's exactly the same as the SMS (SoilMaster Select), only refined/filtered, that we can buy from landscape stores/companies... This substrate has high CEC so it's good to absorb/store nutrients for plant use...


I have 2 drop checker. 1 as normal drop checker and one with check-valve. I know that it is about 50-65 drops per minute. I'l be buying a CO2 test next week, to make sure whether the problem is CO2 but it looks like it is not...

The best solution might be changing the substrate with a rich one and starting from the begginning again; because I really want to have HC in my tank. :mrgreen:


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## Tex Gal

What is a CO2 test? Never heard of that.

Also I think you may have a drop checker confused with a bubble counter. A bubble counter has fluid in it and the CO2 bubbles up through it so that you can see how fast the CO2 is coming out.

A drop checker is a vial that is filled with a few drops of 4dkh water and a ph reagent. It is then attached, usually by a suction cup, under the water level to the side of your tank. When the CO2 reached 30-40ppm the liquid will turn from blue to green. The more the green heads to yellow the greater the concentration of CO2 in you water. This is a sure fire way to tell how much CO2 is in your water. Make sure you use 4dkg water and not tank water. They come in all shapes and sizes. This is my favorite as it's easy to clean and refill.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Co2-Drop-Checker-Set-CO2-pH-Test-Live-Aquarium-Plant-/180474724790?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0521c1b6


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## ata326

Sorry people, 

We buy the thing you call "drop checker" as CO2 Test here. :mrgreen:
Then I have 2 bubble counters and no drop checker. But I'll be buying a new one next week.
Is that clear enough, sorry for misunderstanding... :icon_keel


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## ata326

I think I'm gonne switch to glassostigma elatinoides... HC does not grow -.-


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## wet

Plants need time, man. Time and CO2 cures almost anything.


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## ata326

For 3 months i couldn't observe any growth. They are like plastic plants... There must be something that I'm doing wrong...


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## wet

I know it's been a while, man. But seriously: time and CO2. And I hope you don't mind a tangent:

Over recent threads, I've begun to think we should list plants in some new class, like we do now with light classes, except bot with any dependency on light, because that's silly. Class where the only thing we think about is what certain plants have in common while acknowledging all plants need good light and nutrients (and from the perspective of your plants, CO2 is a nutrient).

One of these classes would have the Blyxa japonicas, the Hemianthus species, the harder Rotalas and Ludwigias, the Pogostemons, to name a few. You can get these plants in the mail from great gardeners, place them into your tank with good light and nutrients, where all sorts of other stuff grows great, and they'll just sit there or even stunt. But if they aren't dying completely, you're doing just fine. You can move them from one tank in your house to anoter and they'll stunt, because they all need time to adjust. And a little more CO2 won't hurt the plants if it doesn't hurt the fish, too. Then in a while, you'll have a beautiful plant you'll be trimming for hobby cash on the regular. 

Over in the paludarium section you'll find a log of my thingy, which was a previous incarnation of my favorite tank. You'll see in that journal that the HC didn't fill in for like 6 months. I'm just like the other gardeners in this thread telling you the same thing while being able to grow whatever plants we want while having the pictures to prove it. If you do move to Glosso, tuck some HC into a spot where it'll look cool, then keep the Glosso away from it. Work on your CO2. And you'll see what we mean.


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## ata326

Actually you pointed a right thing. Trying other plants while HC is in the tank wont hurt anyone. Which means that HC has more time to get itself growing and also means that I can go on with other plants... 

I'll wait a few weeks until the temperatures drop down a little. Then I'll buy some new plant and also some fish. :mrgreen:


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## ata326

I've bought Glossostigma Elatinoides, and Utricularia Graminifolia. Both are doing well for 4 days. I observe big bubbles coming from glosso... Also Utricularias colors are very vivid. 

Some may say that utricularias and glossos can't live together. I agree/disagree with them. I just wanted to make two different carpet for my aquarium. I there will be a DPZ zone :mrgreen: (DePlantedZone) to hold them away from each other. If I change my mind, I'll be choosing one of them. 


The aquarist of the Aquabotanic Turkey told me to get only one fish to try instead of buying many and harming them. The aquarium is ready, that neon is still alive for 4 days and he looks pretty healthy. After 10 months of only plant aquarium, now I've decided to have many plants and some fish.

PS: After trying Cuba for 2 goddam years, with wasting and killing 15+ pots of Cuba, I realized that the time had come for me to forget cuba's. THEY DO NOT GODDAM GROW. I'm cursed on growing cubas.


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