Experience with Eleocharis (hairgrass)?

[Captain Hook]

I am thinking about ordering some Eleocharis parvulus, which is the same plant I see in many AGA aquascapes. The tank is a 20 gallon, with probably about 15 gallons of water, and has 40 watts of normal fluorescents. The plants in there are doing really well but I'm not sure if I have enough light for hairgrass. Any opinions, experiences, or alternate suggestions?

[Leopardess]

I'm not sure if you've got enough light, but you can always try it. My hair grass grows wonderfully in high light (3.6wpg on the 10g and "6wpg" on the 5...but that's not entirely accurate) but hasn't fared too well in lower light conditions. I've also found CO2 to be very beneficial. I love the plant...sometimes it can be hard to work with, especially if it gets dug up. It sort of collapses on itself and the roots get all tangled up in the blades. And dont' even think about taking it out of water lol...I always make such a mess.

The good thing about hair grass is that it can be trimmed. You can cut it to whatever length you want - which can give you some cool aquascaping abilites. And, when you do that, itll pearl out of the ends where you cut; it looks pretty neat:)

So, I don't know, you'd have to try it - but I say go for it, its a cool plant!

[plantbrain]

Hairgrass did fine at 1.6-2.1 w/gal for myself and others.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Captain Hook]

Excellent, good to hear! Thanks Tom.

Leopardess thanks for the encouragement. I am definitely going to try it out and see what happens.

I've heard that hairgrass has shallow roots, anyone know if this is true? Does this make it hard to keep it down, or is it relatively easy to maintain?

[Leopardess]

It was tricky to keep mine down anytime I moved it...but it doesn't help that my frogs liked to bury themselves under it (strange little creatures). It's roots aren't that big but once it is rooted it tends to stay that way on its own. All of the runners intertwine and overlap and it makes a nice little mat.

Mine's easy to maintain.

[Captain Hook]

Thank you leopardess I am really looking forward to getting this plant now. As soon as I get my 55 watt power compact bulb for the 35 gallon I will be placing a big plant order.