# Enough light for dwarf baby tears?



## Mr. Bean (Jul 10, 2016)

I can tell you what my experience is for comparison. I have a 24 gallon (18x18.18") cube, CO2, Flourite substrate and one 18" Finnex Ray2 LED that I thought, based on reviews, would be more than enough light. It puts out about 40PAR at the 16" depth of the substrate so I bought baby tears for the front 4-5 inches of the tank. Mixed results. I planted in small bunches and spaced an inch or so between plantings; after three months I got so tired of battling the brown furry algae that quickly collected on them, and having to constantly replant the shoots because they'd pull out of the substrate whenever I cleaned off the algae...that I finally just ripped it out and planted dwarf hair grass (which is doing great). The baby tears did grow, did spread some...but never really thrived. By contrast, I saved a bunch that is about three inches in diameter and let if float on the surface. Its thick, free of algae and pearls when the light is on (it floats right underneath the light).

So, bottom line is I believe a very powerful light will make them thrive, I think my RAY2 just fell a little short; all my other plants and the hair grass are thriving...the baby tears really do need a retina scorcher!


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## Matilian (Sep 16, 2016)

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Since my post the baby tears are doing really crapy. About half of the mat has turned translucent. It's only been 5 days and dying quickly it looks like. At the same time other new plants are growing new leaves but no pearling on any of them. The Amazon swords are producing a lot of new leaves but they seem thin. The melon sword seems to be doing the best. It's new leaves look amazing and basically growing 1 per day. I got a banana plant too and it has two new Lillys/leaves and sprouting roots quickly. Maybe baby tears won't work till I upgrade lighting but really want ground cover. I'll try what you suggested once I give up on baby tears lol. I'm confused how you have them on surface. Are they exposed to air? Can they grow in water or in air as long as damp? I don't have any algae issues yet but sure they are coming lol. The fungus growing on the new wood has some brown stuff within it but none on the plants. Nitrates have been pretty much undetectable so far so dosed some fertilizer.


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## Mr. Bean (Jul 10, 2016)

Matilian...I had a matte of baby tears left after I planted the other two (after breaking them up and planting smaller bunches). I have my magnetic algae scraper resting just below the surface on one side of the tank so parked the matte of baby tears top of it directly under the light (about three inches or so) to keep the moving water from carrying it to a dark corner of the tank. It is 99% submerged, it serves no purpose other than I paid for it and if it survives I may take another shot at planting it again.

Reading your post, it seems to me you may also have some fertilizer issues, besides the light. Do you use fertilizer tabs/capsules of any sort to provide macro nutrients to the plants with roots? Do you add fertilizer to the water to provide micro nutrients? I am still struggling with just the right mix of light/CO2/ferts and finally seem to be getting there, but it has been a rough road...the algae issue was my main obstacle, my plants (except the baby tears) have done pretty well.


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