orion2001

Hey everyone,

I just started my experiment with growing a dwarf hairgrass carpet using this method. My setup is pretty much the same as HoppyCalif's current setup for his experiment with emersed Glosso (http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...ed-glosso.html)

My tank is a 10 gallon tank with 2*15Watt CFL's (spirals) with not so great reflectors. I'm planning to have lights on for 12 hours during the day.

Substrate: 1/2 inch of diamond black (leonardite) and topped up with 2-3 inches of Flourite Black Sand.

Here is my starting pic:



This was just after planting. The glass has completely fogged up now.

I think I need to replant tomorrow...I probably need to separate the stalks out further. Some of my clumps seem to be too thick. Also I'll probably trim them down to 1/2-1inch height to stimulate growth and to make them send runners out. Does this sound like a good idea?

I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions. If you'll see anything wrong with what I've done, do let me know. Btw, do you think the java fern will be able to grow the way I have it? I made sure not to bury the rhizome.

For ferts I dosed the whole substrate with a mix of Seachem Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Flourish and Excel. Potassium should be here tomorrow so I can dose it then. I'm still waiting for my dry ferts from Rex...till then I can use up my stock of Seachem ferts. I'm also spraying now and then with a dilute mixture of all of the above.

Well wish me luck and I'd love to get some feedback from everyone.

PS- The plants were from my local petsmart so I'm not very hopeful about whether they'll survive. I did make sure to get the newly shipped batch...but some of the stalks had already browned.