# Can dwarf hairgrass roots take hold in...



## Barbels

Can dwarf hairgrass roots take hold in 100% Eco-Complete?

I saw where someone said that some plants' roots cannot maintain hold in Eco-Complete because of its consistency. That the roots, barely hanging on, just kinda hang above the surface.

Of course my tank is only 2 months old, but when I'm bumping around in there, if I'm not careful the hairgrass easily pops out. 
It is sending out nice little runners with green blades coming up, but I'm a little concerned...Well okay, I'm freaking out. Will it eventually get a good hold in 100% Eco-Complete? Do any of you guys successfully grow dwarf hairgrass in it?


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## aquarium boy

yea in all subtrate it takes the plants like one or two weeks to settle its roots


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## John P.

It most definitely can grow & spread runners in EcoComplete.


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## Barbels

John P. said:


> It most definitely can grow & spread runners in EcoComplete.


Can the roots go deep and get a good grip even in 100% EC?


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## trenac

Barbels said:


> Can the roots go deep and get a good grip even in 100% EC?


Yes, they can. I had a massive carpet of Hairgrass in 100% EC. They will not stay put intil they get a good hold, just be patience and keep pushing the strands back into the EC.


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## SnyperP

With my microswords, which i suppose are similiar to dwarfgrass, i planted a bit denser than i originally intended to. That way if some came out, i wouldn't be bother by it. I could either plant it or toss it. 

None of my plants are having issue rooting in EC.


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## FISA

I had the same problem earlier...my hairgrass would keep popping out of the Eco-complete and float on the top...I was getting mad...

at times I thought my flag-fish popped 'em out...

but I kept replanting 'em back deeper.....now they seem to hold down..


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## fishyboy

yes and it spreads so much faster in eco than flourite too


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## unirdna

Barbels said:


> Can the roots go deep and get a good grip even in 100% EC?


Here, my tank should answer all your questions .


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## Buck

Thats what Im talkin about !!!!! 
Thats beautiful unidurna. I just cleared out a bunch of dwarf sags tonight and I have 2 pots of hairgrass sittin in the tank thats getting planted this weekend I hope. 
A question , How deep do you think you can you tweeze this stuff before effecting the plant ?
I am thinking that as long as half the leaf is out of the sub it should be OK ? I really want the roots and runners to start deep, I figure it will take longer to thicken but be better off in the long run. My angels are gonna have a field day , they have been helping themselves to the runners growing off the pot... :icon_roll 
How deep did you start yours and what would you do different if you were to start again ? 

Thanks...


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## unirdna

Buck said:


> How deep do you think you can you tweeze this stuff before effecting the plant ?
> 
> How deep did you start yours and what would you do different if you were to start again ?


You can push hairgrass down pretty far, as the runners travel beneath the substrate. It's first move will not be to send out runners, but to send up new shoots. It then begin sending runners. Soon, you'll see little green threads popping up in the proximity of the parent blades.

I planted mine just below the substrate. I didn't have any snails, cories, angelfish , etc yanking at it, so there wasn't the need to secure it. My first time planting hairgrass I did two things that I would now do differently.

1. If primary growth starts to die off (usually because it was grown emersed), cut it down to .5-1 inch high. Dead grass is an ideal target for algae, and you don't want it to choke out the new growth.

2. Be patient. If algae does make it's move, don't try to remove it. Either cut the blades or wait it out. In my case it was staghorn that attacked the dead grass. After a couple weeks the algae ran its course, died, softened, and could be easily plucked off the grass without uprooting.

Thanks for the compliments, and good luck with those angels


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## Anthony

How long didi it take for your hairgrass to spread like that.


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## unirdna

Anthony said:


> How long didi it take for your hairgrass to spread like that.


Start









2 weeks









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25 weeks









30 weeks


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## plantbrain

It's a weed.

Takes a while to get going but once it does, it's a very nice foreground, midground plant.

Does well in ANY substrate, plain sand to soil based subs and kitty litter.

Main things, lots of CO2, good KNO3 dosing, like most plants.

EC is light weight and makes planting more difficult than others, I found flourite and onyx to do better with hair grass though than EC which I tried out with hair grass also.

The gar tank has onyx in it and it's 2-3x the density of EC. EC will grow it, I do not doubt that, but planting/replanting /uprooting is more difficult the lighter the substrate is. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## silicagel

lol, finally got tired of the micranthemoides, eh unirdna?

I think it'd be interesting to use the plant to carpet the foreground and midground of a tank with a lot of invertibrates.


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## Abrium

I don't mean to resurrect an old thread but I wanted to know if I can take HG blades and just shove them into the substrate to promote propagation? I don't mean the roots that have been unrooted I mean the actual leaves. If I push them into the substrate will they produce runners? Anyone came across this?


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## Jeffww

Nope they don't. But it's possible to do it with emersed leaves and in vitro cultivation.


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