# How to care for Eleocharis Acicularis (Dwarf Hairgrass)



## LNicho (Jan 31, 2012)

Hello,

I have five 'plugs' planted in my tank. I tried my best to remove the rock wool and buried each plug with crushed root tablets. I started dosing liquid fertilizer. It is planted in sand.
The grass looks unchanged since I bought it a few weeks ago. I would like to have a 'carpet' of this plant. Could you tell me how to achieve this?


Do you know if this is sufficent lighting?
Lighting on box reads Beamworks, and also includes:
Model - power led 300
Type - led fixture
Input - AC 100-240V
Out put - DC 12V 500mA
Usage - Indoor

Lastly, I hear CO2 is necessary for this plant. I don't know how to dose CO2, and it seems very expensive. Is it?

Thank you!


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## forester (Mar 12, 2010)

u can always get some flourish excel (liquid carbon) can get expensive , also DIY CO2 witch is just fermenting yeast and sugar to produce it and diffuse it into the water with diff methods (good for most tanks) if really large tank pressurized CO2 would be way to go to get enough saturation in tank . i am about to go get a presurized system but DIY has worked well for me for a long time with good results . but i am big on basics ,lotsa of more knowledgable people on here that can help further  oh and i know nothign on LED ligths , i have t5ho


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## willknowitall (Oct 3, 2010)

costs about $200 and up to get pressurized co2
maybe $100 for second hand


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## LNicho (Jan 31, 2012)

That is expensive! Probably better for bigger tanks. Mine is a mere ten gallon! I'm still hoping to grow that carpet.


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## forester (Mar 12, 2010)

with a ten gallon i would just use DIY yeast fermentation or just dose with excel ^^


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## LNicho (Jan 31, 2012)

How long did it take you to grow a carpet? 
I left on a bit of rockwool, since I was afraid to damage the roots. It may take me a while.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Don't worry about damaging the roots. Hair Grass is one of the sturdiest plants in the hobby. I often use a blade to scrape it all off.

You'll get quicker growth if you spread the plants out a bit more. I.E., break the clumps up into smaller pieces and spread them around the tank. 

Sometimes takes a few weeks for runners to start but once spreading begins, it'll seem like the entire tank is covered in very little time.


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## LNicho (Jan 31, 2012)

Since they are already planted, I probably shouldn't dig them up, but I will keep that in mind for the future! 
I'm starting to see a bit of growth today. Can this plant grow in room temperature water?


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## Rev_jim_jones (Sep 25, 2011)

Unless your me in which case it never carpets



somewhatshocked said:


> Don't worry about damaging the roots. Hair Grass is one of the sturdiest plants in the hobby. I often use a blade to scrape it all off.
> 
> You'll get quicker growth if you spread the plants out a bit more. I.E., break the clumps up into smaller pieces and spread them around the tank.
> 
> Sometimes takes a few weeks for runners to start but once spreading begins, it'll seem like the entire tank is covered in very little time.


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## Patty LongD (Jun 9, 2013)

*Same boat*

I just loaded dwarf hairgrass into my 10 gallon as well. I'm using a gallon size bottle to create CO2. It's costing me about 30 cents a batch, i bought a cheap effective diffuser for 9.50. I use 4 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon of yeast and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, lasts about a week.

My lighting is 2.25 watts per gallon and I haven't used any form of fertilizer (YET!). The tank is shared by wisteria, anubias nana, and a moss ball, all of whom are rated for the low-light conditions.

Essentially I'm posting to say, you're not the only one making it happen, and I'll let you know how long it takes for this grass to propagate, if ever. I did separate my very similarly sized patch into about five different patches. My tactic is to let it chill out, get acclimated and keep it's color for about two, maybe three weeks. Hopefully it tries to grow taller, which I hear is a common effect of the low-light setup, at which point I'll trim it way down, which I hear causes the grass to grow runners.

Good luck


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