# Dwarf hair grass OR dwarf baby tears?



## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

I'm contemplating which would make a better carpet foreground in my tank. I've got a 30" tall aquarium so I'm concerned that if I turn up the light enough for the foreground algae will become a problem on the taller plants. I also have fish that will like to eat this stuff so I need something that grows like California wild-fire. So far, baby dwarf tears or dwarf hair grass sound like the best options. I think my fish would eat the hair grass a little less but I think the dwarf tears would look a little nicer. 

Also, I have sufficient but not stellar circulation and that can't really be changed at the moment. (In case that should play a role in the decision.)

Your thoughts?


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## ryndisher (Jun 1, 2010)

Love the look of dwarf baby tears so id go with them.


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## timwag2001 (Jul 3, 2009)

i've tried so many times but i just cant get dwarf babies tears to do anything but die

so i vote dhg


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## Saintly (May 12, 2010)

Just added some Hair Grass to my tank and I am loving the change it has made to the tank, just need to wait till it spreads like a nice lawn.

So my vote is for DHG


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## jeffvmd (Apr 16, 2010)

Why not do a scape with a mix of both? :smile:
I am currently trying to do that. HC in front and little clumps of DHG near rocks
I just got 2 pots of HC ang just put the slab on the substrate. 
the first batch I got and tried planting individually melted away.


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## jreich (Feb 11, 2009)

i have DHG in my high tech 29 gal and it looks nice but in a high tech set up i have to mow the lawn 1x a week, and its a huge mess to clean up. Its next to impossible to get every little clipping out. i have DBT in my low tech nano and it has not really started to spread yet, but i really like the look of it. i just dont know how much of a hassle its going to be to keep it trimmed.


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

Well, dwarf hair it is. Should be delivered by the fedEx man today.  I'll see how it goes.


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## newday3000 (Nov 4, 2009)

HC doesn't grow that fast.. It needs lot's of CO2. are you using pressurized?


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## MONARK (Jun 4, 2009)

To me; under high light and CO2, they grow like crazy and both are a pain to clean after trimming.

My experience with HC taught me that you have to have it trim or it will have to start turning yellow and then die in the lowers layers of the plant were the light can't reach, this means you have to trim every week to keep it nice but then comes the pain on skimming the surface.

The DHG is too tall for a foreground in my opinion they can grow more than 3" tall and can spread everywhere in your tank if you are not using barriers; this means that if you have HC in the foreground, you will start seeing nodes of DHG coming out of you HC and will soon take over your HC; also I would say it even grows faster than HC.

To me the perfect foreground is Dwarf Hair Grass "Bellem", it is like regular DHG but its leafs curves down to the substrate and they won't grow more than 2" long, you would have a nice carpet no taller than 1.5", you don't have to trim it as often and it does not spread as crazy as regular DHG.

Here is a pic of the DHG "Bellem" in my mini M:


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## Oreo (May 6, 2008)

Interesting. I am using pressurized CO2.


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## kbomb (Jun 14, 2014)

I have a nice carpet of dwarf hair grass in my tank, but I'm thinking about putting babies tear in the carpet to give it a more full look.


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## 180g (May 20, 2014)

DHG all the way


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## n8quick (Jun 12, 2017)

howd mixing the two work out for you?


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

I know it's to late now but dwarf hair grass Belem is a nice looking option that you don't really need to trim, unless it's growing on top of itself. I like the look of it and it stops growing in height once it hits about 2-3 inches.


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## Raizinhell (May 26, 2017)

Dwarf baby tears are so challenging. Im on my third attempt with ray2 leds, ada aquasoil amazonia, and co2 injections.


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