# Low Tech and Dwarf Hairgrass



## natebuchholz

It will do fine under those conditions. It will just take much more time to get the carpet you are looking for. It really depends on how much patients you have.


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## Raymond S.

I find that my native "collected" DHG gets more green and seems to have more leaves(if you call those points leaves) when I put a single piece of Osmocote under it with a pair of tweezers. They have never sent out runners. But that's likely because of the light.
Two 10g tanks each have a couple of the small bunches of it in them.
One has one T8 bulb for 9 hrs and a second T8 bulb on for 2 hrs in the middle of it.
That's at about 10.5" up from the sub. The other tank has one T5 bulb on for 7.5 hrs
and about 12" up from the sub. That tank has Excel. The DHG is growing best in the one without Excel...LOL...


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## leemacnyc

It grows like a weed in my "no maintenance," low-light nano...


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## kelsier25

Every low-tech tank I've had it in, I've had the same experience. It lives, but it doesn't spread. There's a chance you'll have a better experience though because you're dirted. I still can't decide if my current DHG carpet is so successful because I have high light and co2 or because I went dirted.


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## CannaBrain

I would consider this set-up pretty low tech. mts capped w/ sand. 2.5 g, 1 10w cfl. 

Only here and there dosing of phos for the staurogyne which was needing some help to get established. Other than that, the DHG took off and started spreading w/ in a couple weeks after flood.


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## shloken38

Nice CannaBrain! I have all low tech tanks, and all plants are hit or miss. That grassy knoll just motivated me.....Think I'll pick up some dwarf hairgrass and try it out in all my tanks to see what happens....haha


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## grail63

I added a 3rd clamp light for a total of 3 13w 6500k bulbs 18 inches above the substrate in hopes of getting the DHG to carpet in y 20gallon long. I don't want to do CO2 but I am dosing flourish excel every other day. Is this to much light for a non CO2 tank? am I asking for trouble with algae? should I take it back down to just the 2 clamp on lights?


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## burr740

Dose Excel every day. It is only active for 12-24 hours


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## Nolan

No CO2 or excel here..


















I think the shallow water is key. I put some in my 37g of similar setup and it didnt do well at all.


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## Optix

DHG will do fine in a low light tank

it will just spread slower...its actually a pretty easy plant


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## sleepswithdafishez

Nolan said:


> No CO2 or excel here..
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> I think the shallow water is key. I put some in my 37g of similar setup and it didnt do well at all.


Do you agitate the surface in those bowls somehow?How often and how much water do you change?


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## Smitty06

If you want a faster carpet you can carpet it with DSM then fill.


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## Django

grail63 said:


> I added a 3rd clamp light for a total of 3 13w 6500k bulbs 18 inches above the substrate in hopes of getting the DHG to carpet in y 20gallon long. I don't want to do CO2 but I am dosing flourish excel every other day. Is this to much light for a non CO2 tank? am I asking for trouble with algae? should I take it back down to just the 2 clamp on lights?


I have 2 10w CFLs about 20" from the substrate. I have been trying to bring them down some - one is clamped to a photographic tripod and the other to a floor lamp. I had them at about 24" and the tank was doing well.

I use 10" "Brooder" clamp-ons on a 10 gallon tank and the reflectors (domes) are very good - aluminum, I think. Plants are growing faster, but I'm watching for the CO2 limit and an algae breakout as I lower the lights to increase intensity.

I have Miracle-gro potting soil under an inch of sand and I'm doing 1/4 to 1/3 EI ferts.

I think the problem with low-tech is low CO2 for DHG. But you know what's funny, I don't imagine there's that much more CO2 in natural waters. So how do the plants grow in the wild - the sun?

Sorry for rambling and good luck with the DHG!


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## sleepswithdafishez

Django said:


> I have 2 10w CFLs about 20" from the substrate. I have been trying to bring them down some - one is clamped to a photographic tripod and the other to a floor lamp. I had them at about 24" and the tank was doing well.
> 
> I use 10" "Brooder" clamp-ons on a 10 gallon tank and the reflectors (domes) are very good - aluminum, I think. Plants are growing faster, but I'm watching for the CO2 limit and an algae breakout as I lower the lights to increase intensity.
> 
> Sorry for rambling and good luck with the DHG!


just out of curiousity ,what are the first algae which usually appear when reaching the co2 limit?


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## Django

sleepswithdafishez said:


> just out of curiousity ,what are the first algae which usually appear when reaching the co2 limit?


I don't think I can help you conclusively with that one. For me it was thread algae. I think just about any of the real nasties might come up, not just the kind that invades the glass, which came up first.


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## mvbis

Nolan said:


> No CO2 or excel here..
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> I think the shallow water is key. I put some in my 37g of similar setup and it didnt do well at all.




Wow. These look amazing!! What kind of light do you use on them?


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