# Dwarf Hairgrass and Baby Tears. Difficult without CO2?



## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

You will need co2 unless you plan on buying a lot more HC and Hair Grass.

It may still alive, but to thrive and make a carpet, these will need co2. You dont' need to spend a fortune from your local fish store. They mark stuff way up.

I would go with a 24 oz paintball tank for 25$ - Aquatek regulator mini - some co2 tubing - and a cheap diffuser. It will work wonders for your tank and cost you about $125 to get setup. Amazon is the best place for all that stuff too. 

If you decide not to go with co2, for sure buy some Flourish excel so you can get some active carbon in there.


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## Verivus (Jan 6, 2015)

You don't need co2 for DHG, but you probably will for HC. DHG will carpet slowly without CO2, IME, but it'll still carpet with adequate lighting and ferts.


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## crispin (Apr 24, 2015)

i am a college student. :icon_roll 125 bucks is quite a lot ... my whole tank with everything costs only 60 bucks. Made the lights and the cooling system with spare parts. 
if there really is no other way then i might purchase a bottle of CO2. 

but for now i want to try it without co2 for a couple more weeks. 

Temperature is around 73F. 
Have no algae. Water quality is really good, tested with JBL test kit.
should i increase my lighting? this is a 5 US gallon tank. Right now i have around 3600 Lumen 6500 K. Is that enough?


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## tamsin (Jan 12, 2011)

If you want a carpet quicker, nick a few bits out the tank, pot them up in damp compost/soil, pop a clear cover over the top and stick them on your window sill. They'll grow much quicker and you can fill in your carpet, and have a back up supply in case the ones in your tank keel over


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## chayos00 (Sep 22, 2013)

tamsin said:


> If you want a carpet quicker, nick a few bits out the tank, pot them up in damp compost/soil, pop a clear cover over the top and stick them on your window sill. They'll grow much quicker and you can fill in your carpet, and have a back up supply in case the ones in your tank keel over


Damned I like your idea for when I get my 125g going!! 

Also you could always try DIY CO2 to keep it cheap and if you like the growth, you could always save for a proper CO2 system one day!


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Maintaining an already established carpet is far far easier than getting one to establish w/o CO2


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## crispin (Apr 24, 2015)

tamsin said:


> If you want a carpet quicker, nick a few bits out the tank, pot them up in damp compost/soil, pop a clear cover over the top and stick them on your window sill. They'll grow much quicker and you can fill in your carpet, and have a back up supply in case the ones in your tank keel over


yeah that is what i did in a separate tank after reading about the "Dry Start Method". 
my only concern is about the sunlight and the inside temperature. how moist does the soil have to be ? water line is half an inch above the soil, i imagine these plants grow in swampy areas. Is that too much ?
i read that you can leave the lights on 24/7?


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## tamsin (Jan 12, 2011)

I grow it in moist soil - like a normal plant that's been recently watered, not in standing water. It does fine like that. If you do have some standing water, you want the water line below the soil or you'll get algae.


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

Hey I just realized, those tetras in your picture look like their purple?

are those regular neons?


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

crispin said:


> Hello,
> started aquascaping 2 weeks ago. Told the guy at the pets store that i want a nice carpet in my tank and he told me that eleocharis acicularis and hemianthus cuba are no beginners plants. Well... i still bought them.
> And they seem to do really well, i am no expert, check out the pictures. the dhg has a lot of runners and the HC is pearling like crazy. I just have shrimp soil nothing else. I use Easylife Profito as fertilizer. No CO2.
> my question. do i really need CO2 to get a carpet? Or is he just trying to sell me some really expensive equipment. I mean the "CO2 Systems" would cost twice as much as my whole tank with everything in it.:help:
> thanks guys !


Technically you need Carbon, plants will die without it as you know. In your case it seems there's enough co2 naturally occurring in the water coming from somewhere, but I think it's too early to make a precise determination so see how things progress. You might need co2 in the future. Co2 is the easiest means for plants to obtain carbon. Adding co2 would not hurt.


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## Malakian (Aug 23, 2014)

In my experience Hair grass will do ok without Co2, and still grow, just very slow. HC will more of less stop growing, but survive. When I added excel it grew slightly, but only upwards. So if you want a HC mat, you either need press. Co2 (no experience with DIY)or do a dry start and use excel after filling. My 2 cents.


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