# Dwarf Hairgrass Care



## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

Pretty sure leaving the lights on 24/7 is counter productive. Dhg benefits greatly from a full line of ferts and pressurized co2, liquid carbon at the very least..


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## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

Leaving your lights on all day will kill your fish, stress out your plants, and grow an enormous quantity of algae. Get a timer and set it to something like 8:30AM-12:00PM, then back on again between 5:00PM-11:00PM.

CO2 will help with hairgrass growth, but it's not at all necessary. Pressurized CO2 is expensive and time consuming, and seeing as you have a low tech plant anyway, you might as well go without it.


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## zrb (Sep 10, 2014)

From what I have read, unless you have C02 then DHG is going to be SLOW to spread. 

I don't know how fast it spreads with C02 because I don't run that in my tank but I can say my DHG has been extremely slow to spread.


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## SageRaziel (Sep 14, 2014)

TyrannosaurusSex said:


> Leaving your lights on all day will kill your fish, stress out your plants, and grow an enormous quantity of algae. Get a timer and set it to something like 8:30AM-12:00PM, then back on again between 5:00PM-11:00PM.
> 
> CO2 will help with hairgrass growth, but it's not at all necessary. Pressurized CO2 is expensive and time consuming, and seeing as you have a low tech plant anyway, you might as well go without it.



I've left my lights on around the clock for about three years now. None of my fish have died yet, and I have successfully bred and raised several loads of fry during this time frame. I have virtually no algae growth, either, in any of my four tanks.

However, I didn't have real plants in those tanks, and I didn't fertilize them. I kept guppies, mollies, plecos, rainbow sharks, and ottos. I imagine the fertilizer in the planted tank I'm trying for the first time could spur algae growth.

I am looking in to what you said about CO2, and I wanted to thank you for pointing me in that direction.  I see the start up cost is about $70 for the system and the CO2 cartridge. After the large start up cost, about how expensive is it to maintain? I can't seem to find an estimate on around how long one canister of CO2 lasts. I mean per once, how much run time can I expect?

If it's a decently low maintenance price, I'll invest in the large start up fee. 

~Sage Raziel


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## brooksie321 (Jul 19, 2014)

That's sadistic bro, didn't even know you had fish in there.. i guess just keep telling them it Alaska and it will al be over soon..


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## bobfig (Aug 30, 2014)

SageRaziel said:


> I've left my lights on around the clock for about three years now. None of my fish have died yet, and I have successfully bred and raised several loads of fry during this time frame. I have virtually no algae growth, either, in any of my four tanks.
> 
> However, I didn't have real plants in those tanks, and I didn't fertilize them. I kept guppies, mollies, plecos, rainbow sharks, and ottos. I imagine the fertilizer in the planted tank I'm trying for the first time could spur algae growth.
> 
> ...


i wouldnt invest in those small co2 canister things. imo a paintball co2 setup would be as small as i would go. and thats going to run in the $160 range. i say that because once you start those small fluval kit or what ever each little tank is like $10 and last maybe 2-3 weeks. a paintball tank may be an upfront $20 but refills in the $8 range and last 5+ weeks and over time be cheaper.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

TyrannosaurusSex said:


> Leaving your lights on all day will kill your fish, stress out your plants, and grow an enormous quantity of algae. Get a timer and set it to something like 8:30AM-12:00PM, then back on again between 5:00PM-11:00PM.
> 
> CO2 will help with hairgrass growth, but it's not at all necessary. Pressurized CO2 is expensive and time consuming, and seeing as you have a low tech plant anyway, you might as well go without it.


You will have a much much much harder time getting DHG to spread without CO2. CO2 tremendously helps plant growth as it is the most important nutrient that plants uptake. How big is your tank? Tiny CO2 setups won't cut it if you have a decently sized tank. Paintball setups are good for smaller tanks but if you have a bigger tank I would get a regulator for a 5# tank or something. It is pricy but pays off in the long term. The little canister things run out fast and you are forced to buy replacements all the time. The cost can add up fast!

Don't leave your lights on 24/7. No living creature wants to deal with light around the clock. "I have been doing this for years" does not justify doing this to your fish. With lights that can grow plants / ferts you will explode with algae. The above lighting schedule sounds much better.

What lights are you using anyways? If you do not have algae issues from leaving your light on 24/7 then you are probs using an incredibly weak light that will not grow DHG.

Also I'm not sure why you put the DHG in a plastic dish? It won't be able to spread outside of the dish? This guy has a good vid of how to plant it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8t813dgPV0
Spread it out in very small clumps and it will spread better.

If will probably take a few weeks for the hair grass to take hold. I am assuming you bought it emersed so it will have to transition to submerged form before it starts to get going. This can take a few weeks.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

not to kill off your dream or anything, but..
you wount be able to grow DHG at selling rates without co2. i can suggest you swiching to pygmy chain sword insted. 
im ignoring the part where you keep your lights on 24/7, making mistakes is the way to learn.


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## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

I missed the part about selling the DHG. For aquascaping, I think DHG is an absolute blessing because it is the hardiest plant I've ever owned and it carpets at a reasonable speed without CO2, so long as you have it planted in soil. I advised against using pressurized CO2, not because it wouldn't increase growth (it would), but because it just seems a waste of one of this plant's best qualities.

That said, if you want to make a profit selling dwarf hair grass, you're better off not growing it underwater at all. With electricity bills (particularly if you're not using LEDs) and the cost of pressurized CO2, you will probably be unable to turn a profit growing DHG submerged. Most commercial aquatic plant retailers grow plants in green houses emergently, where CO2 is available in abundance and for free.


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## mot (Sep 17, 2011)

Wow at $12 per bag. I bought mine at Petsmart earlier this year for $7 per bag. That's a crazy price difference. I throw out dhg clumps weekly because it has no value when you factor in $6 for shipping plus my time to ship it and the easy availability in the big chain stores.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

I can't find DHG around me locally... Not many good LFS around here at all.

I would have to special order or buy from a user here. No problem buying at a premium here though... Buying submerged DHG is well worth the extra few dollars if you ask me. Not dealing with emersed -> submerged transition is worth a few bones in my book.


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## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

klibs said:


> Buying submerged DHG is well worth the extra few dollars if you ask me. Not dealing with emersed -> submerged transition is worth a few bones in my book.


This would normally be a very good point, but this isn't really an issue with hairgrass. Like most grasses of any type, hairgrass is very hardy.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

TyrannosaurusSex said:


> This would normally be a very good point, but this isn't really an issue with hairgrass. Like most grasses of any type, hairgrass is very hardy.


I'm just impatient lol


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## SageRaziel (Sep 14, 2014)

klibs said:


> You will have a much much much harder time getting DHG to spread without CO2. CO2 tremendously helps plant growth as it is the most important nutrient that plants uptake. How big is your tank? Tiny CO2 setups won't cut it if you have a decently sized tank. Paintball setups are good for smaller tanks but if you have a bigger tank I would get a regulator for a 5# tank or something. It is pricy but pays off in the long term. The little canister things run out fast and you are forced to buy replacements all the time. The cost can add up fast!
> 
> Don't leave your lights on 24/7. No living creature wants to deal with light around the clock. "I have been doing this for years" does not justify doing this to your fish. With lights that can grow plants / ferts you will explode with algae. The above lighting schedule sounds much better.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the post! Since people here told me leaving my lights on all the time was bad, I've since purchased a timer. I allow 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. I think it came off wrong when I said, "I've been leaving them on for year." I wasn't trying to say that made it okay. I was trying to say that none of my fish died. Some people PMed me that all my fish would be dead in a week if I left my lights on. They were, obviously, wrong about the fish dying. Anyway, I did buy a timer, and I love it.

As for my tank size, it's a 55 gallon, and I'm dosing with weekly fertilizer and root tabs. So far there's still been no noticeable growth. =/

How do the liquid CO2 boosters work for you? Is it a cheaper alternative?


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

You need to answer the question about what lights you use.

Everything else will depend on your lights. Again, if you left them on all the time and did not get algae then I can only assume that your lights are incredibly weak / in the wrong spectrum and will have no chance at growing plants.


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## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

Sage,

You mentioned you have a "really bright LED Light" but didn't tell us which one. I hate to say it, but if you weren't growing algae with it on 24/7, its probably not nearly as bright as you think. (which I now see mentioned above).

One does have to be patient with plants in low tech setups, but they do grow! The plants both need to re-establish themselves and then devote strength to growth. Check out my pictures to see what I mean. First planting, Three weeks later (actually LESS plant mass), Three months later.

First Planting










Three Weeks










Three Months


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## Kwaters240 (Apr 7, 2015)

I have a 25 gallon tank I planted my DH 3 days ago from of the topfin petsmart brand and broke the package in 4 sections. I have a 14" l.e.d on for 8 hours and 2 hours blue and a diy co2 system and some driftwood florite substrate and my DH had runners on all 4 this morning when I checked. Try turning off your light some


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