View Full Version : Why does "grass float"
SuperCar
12-08-2002, 6:54 PM
How do you get your "grass" to form a nice carpet. What I have wants to float up into the water column forming more of a "floss" than a carpet.
About once a week, I try to push more of it down into the substrate, but any new growth just seems to float up rather than growing from under the substrate.
I can't remember what type of grass I have. Here is a picture.
SuperCar
12-08-2002, 7:10 PM
Hmm... Didn't get the picture the first time.
punch
12-09-2002, 12:43 PM
I have never seen an aquatic grass with that fine (thin) of a leaf.
It looks sepisiously like java moss! which would account for it always floating to the top. If it was moss it would need to be tied down. I have seen a guy that used pcs. of metal rods (thin) shaped in a curly que shape that he used to weight down riccia.
I think that would work here. I don't know the web site but someone else may.
Shiftaltumlock
12-09-2002, 1:55 PM
Yeah, I think it Java Moss too. If you want a carpet plant, get some Glossostigma.
SuperCar
12-09-2002, 10:31 PM
No, it is definitely not Java Moss. I've had that before. This is a grass-like plant. When I bought it, it was in a bundle and looked like grass. The leaves were much thicker and taller. I was told at the LFS that new growth would be shorter and thinner (sure enough it is). The original growth was from being emersed rather than submerged.
Here is a picture of it in it's original state. The picture is small, but it is the best I have.
Thanks,
Dave
SuperCar
12-09-2002, 10:52 PM
By the way, I was searching around some more and I think what I have might be a Lilaeopsis.
I also found some old discussions on "The Krib" about it not being the easiest to keep rooted.
Faramir
12-10-2002, 6:54 AM
I've had this. Didn't last long. Horrible stuff to work with. Floats up like mad.
Cheech
12-10-2002, 8:22 AM
could those be micro-swords? I had the same plants, (or at least they looked exactly the same, more like the way it used to look like) They never grew that tall though... ?
Shiftaltumlock
12-10-2002, 9:53 AM
The second pic you posted is MicroSword. I have never seen it grow like it is in the 1st pic. It looks just like Java Moss in that pic.
wannabesan
12-10-2002, 7:20 PM
Its not Riccia is it? That tends to float when mature. And looks close to java moss. I believe its alternate name is crystalwort. :confused:
No its not riccia. I have some of that and there are no leaves to speak of. Riccia almost looks like a whole bunch of little snow flakes that cling together. And you couldn't plant it in the substrate. Theres no stem!
wannabesan
12-12-2002, 2:29 PM
Originally posted by punch
No its not riccia. I have some of that and there are no leaves to speak of. Riccia almost looks like a whole bunch of little snow flakes that cling together. And you couldn't plant it in the substrate. Theres no stem!
Ah I see what you mean, I didn't see the second pic till just now. WOW thats radically different than the first.:eek:
Raithan Ellis
12-14-2002, 8:56 AM
SuperCar - Lilaeopsis brasiliensis (microswords) is what the second picture certainly looks like. However, the first picture tends to remind me of L. mauritiana with the longer shoots. I'm curious if the shoots in the first pciture are round or flat? :confused:
The best thing I've come up with for keeping either of them planted, is a shredded peat or coarse sand substrate, as they don't stay planted well in any sort of gravel. Higher light intensity will also help as the plant will grow shorter and thicker, staying more like "grass".
IME, in picture #2, you can prevent a lot of that algae from growing on the microswords by separating it into clusters of 3-5 shoots when planting. It tends to still the water movement when densely planted and creates an algae happy spot.
Robert H
12-15-2002, 4:51 AM
Looks like hairgrass to me. Java moss does not usually float. Mosses sink. Riccia is not a moss, it's a floating plant
The second pic is lilaeopsis, but the first pic doesn't look much like it.
I've found liliopsis rather slowgrowing and shallowrooted.
It's easier to grow in a finer sandy substrate however the problem is often that algae grows on it.
Once it gets rooted and established it sends out plenty of runners but when it gets algaegrowth on it it's impossible to clean off without uprooting.
I have to agree that the first picture looks like a different plant.