# Tips on trimming hair grass?



## lovingHDTV (Oct 15, 2008)

I like to trim my hair grass to be about 1.5 inches tall. So I end up trimming it every 2-3 weeks. Trimming is fine, I just use my scissors to keep it nice and neat.

However, cleaning up all the floating trimmed pieces is a PITA. I basically scoop them out with a small fine net. Sometimes I can get the outflow from the filter to push them into the net, but it takes 20-30 minutes to get them all out.

How do you clean up after trimming grass? Is there a neat grass catcher I can put on my scissors 

david


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

I did just what you stated... I used a net or a cup to capture all of my trimmings... but it was only on a 10 gal tank so not a lot of room for them to blow around, the filter did a good job pushing them all to a corner.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

I have to do the same thing for my foreground: trim and net. It's all part of the fun!


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

bereninga said:


> I have to do the same thing for my foreground: trim and net. It's all part of the fun!


yeah... fun...

Takes me easily an hour and a half to trim the DHG belem carpet in my 75g and scoop out 99% of the grass clippings. I dread this task. Do it once every month or so.

After seeing this video I kind of want to make one just to get rid of trimming. Some of the larger trims I do on my tank produce a LOT of stuff to clean out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEVvMsp17C4

I have spare little koralia pumps I might try to rig into something like this in the most ghetto way possible


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## Kramflowz (Aug 6, 2014)

Turn the filter off when trimming. This will cause the blades of grass to just float to the surface rather than being blown into every nook and cranny in the tank. Then proceed to net them out, or if you have a shop vac, vacuum the top surface of the water til it's all gone. When I trim my DHG I just follow behind my scissors with a siphon tube and suck them up as I trim. It's convenient when doing my weekly water changes. Hope this helped


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## Birdo (Oct 28, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDbB77cl4c4

this is a cool method .. 
water change, trim and clean up all at once.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

klibs said:


> yeah... fun...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This looks like a great idea for larger tanks! Btw do you trim the tops of belem?


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

I was under the impression that DHG would only grow to a certain height and then be done growing vertically, unlike dwarf sag, which grows 6" or more when you neglect it. I guess I was wrong. I will say that I had lilaeopsis 'mini' that I got from somebody-or-other as a RAOK several years ago, before it became available from retailers, and it only grew to 1-1 1/2", which was an inch or so shorter than lilaeopsis brasiliensis. It spread outward, mostly at substrate level, rather than upward. So, if you prefer not to deal with vertical trims, there are options, even with the "grass" look.


UG and HC are other short-growing foreground plants that I'm fond of.


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## SL Dan (Sep 20, 2015)

Birdo said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDbB77cl4c4
> 
> this is a cool method ..
> water change, trim and clean up all at once.


This is similar to what I do when I trim my DHG. Except, my method is a lot more chaotic and less precise. I use my python water change tube which is wide. I suck up the ends of the grass prior to cutting, and then when I trim the grass it goes up the tube and down the drain. An extra set of hands would make this much smoother. I do like the rubber band idea in the video, but I'm not sure that would really work with the python tube.


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## lovingHDTV (Oct 15, 2008)

I had wanted the "mini" version, but didn't specify correctly when I purchased what I have. It grows very well, just requires maintenance. 

david



kevmo911 said:


> I was under the impression that DHG would only grow to a certain height and then be done growing vertically, unlike dwarf sag, which grows 6" or more when you neglect it. I guess I was wrong. I will say that I had lilaeopsis 'mini' that I got from somebody-or-other as a RAOK several years ago, before it became available from retailers, and it only grew to 1-1 1/2", which was an inch or so shorter than lilaeopsis brasiliensis. It spread outward, mostly at substrate level, rather than upward. So, if you prefer not to deal with vertical trims, there are options, even with the "grass" look.
> 
> 
> UG and HC are other short-growing foreground plants that I'm fond of.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

kevmo911 said:


> I was under the impression that DHG would only grow to a certain height and then be done growing vertically, unlike dwarf sag, which grows 6" or more when you neglect it. I guess I was wrong. I will say that I had lilaeopsis 'mini' that I got from somebody-or-other as a RAOK several years ago, before it became available from retailers, and it only grew to 1-1 1/2", which was an inch or so shorter than lilaeopsis brasiliensis. It spread outward, mostly at substrate level, rather than upward. So, if you prefer not to deal with vertical trims, there are options, even with the "grass" look.
> 
> 
> UG and HC are other short-growing foreground plants that I'm fond of.


DHG Belem stays under like 2" at a maximum. This is what I use. It will start to bend over as it grows and caps out around 2".

Other species (parvula) grow much taller and get up to like 6" I think. I believe acicularis is the tallest and grows very tall and is more sturdy/thick.

Bump:


kevmo911 said:


> I was under the impression that DHG would only grow to a certain height and then be done growing vertically, unlike dwarf sag, which grows 6" or more when you neglect it. I guess I was wrong. I will say that I had lilaeopsis 'mini' that I got from somebody-or-other as a RAOK several years ago, before it became available from retailers, and it only grew to 1-1 1/2", which was an inch or so shorter than lilaeopsis brasiliensis. It spread outward, mostly at substrate level, rather than upward. So, if you prefer not to deal with vertical trims, there are options, even with the "grass" look.
> 
> 
> UG and HC are other short-growing foreground plants that I'm fond of.


DHG Belem stays under like 2" at a maximum. This is what I use. It will start to bend over as it grows and caps out around 2".

Other species (parvula) grow much taller and get up to like 6" I think. I believe acicularis is the tallest and grows very tall and is more sturdy/thick.

Bump:


kevmo911 said:


> I was under the impression that DHG would only grow to a certain height and then be done growing vertically, unlike dwarf sag, which grows 6" or more when you neglect it. I guess I was wrong. I will say that I had lilaeopsis 'mini' that I got from somebody-or-other as a RAOK several years ago, before it became available from retailers, and it only grew to 1-1 1/2", which was an inch or so shorter than lilaeopsis brasiliensis. It spread outward, mostly at substrate level, rather than upward. So, if you prefer not to deal with vertical trims, there are options, even with the "grass" look.
> 
> 
> UG and HC are other short-growing foreground plants that I'm fond of.


DHG Belem stays under like 2" at a maximum. This is what I use. It will start to bend over as it grows and caps out around 2".

Other species (parvula) grow much taller and get up to like 6" I think. I believe acicularis is the tallest and grows very tall and is more sturdy/thick.



kevmo911 said:


> I was under the impression that DHG would only grow to a certain height and then be done growing vertically, unlike dwarf sag, which grows 6" or more when you neglect it. I guess I was wrong. I will say that I had lilaeopsis 'mini' that I got from somebody-or-other as a RAOK several years ago, before it became available from retailers, and it only grew to 1-1 1/2", which was an inch or so shorter than lilaeopsis brasiliensis. It spread outward, mostly at substrate level, rather than upward. So, if you prefer not to deal with vertical trims, there are options, even with the "grass" look.
> 
> 
> UG and HC are other short-growing foreground plants that I'm fond of.


DHG Belem stays under like 2" at a maximum. This is what I use. It will start to bend over as it grows and caps out around 2".

Other species (parvula) grow much taller and get up to like 6" I think. I believe acicularis is the tallest and grows very tall and is more sturdy/thick.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

I've had belem for a few months now and have yet to trim it. It's starting to get thick now, but I may pull out a few to thin it out vs trimming the tops. It's already very short. I guess if you don't want to deal w/ a trimming and netting plant, you should try belem.


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## Rossfett (Jul 16, 2011)

I have UG and DHG belem. DHG in my 25 gallon cube, and UG in my 12 long. I find the UG is significantly more problematic then my DHG. So I developed a multistage system that cuts my time in half. 
-First I drop the water level down about 2 inches. 
-Take some filter floss and wrap it around the intake and keep the filter on. 
-Use a cheap surface skimmer, oddysea, put it in the tank and turn it on. 
-Trim.
-Use a bamboo skewer or the like to shake loose any cuttings. 
-Fill tank. Any trimmings attached to the sides should be released. 
-Fold the filter floss over the trimmings and remove. 
-Turn off filter. 
-Let surface skimmer pick up and stragglers. 
Sometimes it's helpful just to run your finger along the waterline to shake the stragglers into the skimmer. 

It seems like a lot of work, but after you do it a few times, it goes really fast. 
On a side note, I just recently learned the DHG will bend and block out light to its neighbors if not properly trimmed often and leave you with bare spots.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Rossfett said:


> On a side note, I just recently learned the DHG will bend and block out light to its neighbors if not properly trimmed often and leave you with bare spots.


Yes I have experienced this too. For all but the slowest growing aquarium plants you should regularly trim for best results. Once DHG gets too dense it starts to grow over itself


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