I know your pain. Growing Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC Cuba, Dwarf baby tears)

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chadders8903

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Sep 14, 2010
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Growing Hemianthus callitrichoides has been one of my hardest efforts in aquascaping. It seemed like sometimes I could grow it and other times I could not do it. I have had tanks where it seemed to just melt away and other times where it would survive in places, but the plant would never thrive. I never knew why it would do this; I have a 48” dual glo Hagen t5 light strip, fluorite black sand, I use dry ferts daily, and I even have injected CO2 but none of these seemed to stop my plants from dying. I did weekly water changes. I would check my water quality, I would come back with great numbers, and this is what confused me.
How could I plant this:








Then end up with this a few weeks later!






It just seemed so unfair! Why could everyone else grow the plant fine and I could only make it die. It was hard to take in. It was then that I decided that I would do some research online and see if I could find anything. The only thing I could ever find was that HC loves CO2 and high lighting. I knew that it loved CO2 and high lighting. I mean, this is why I have it set up on my aquarium! The whole reason for me going high tech was to have an amazing HC ground cover and yet this didn’t seem to help it.

I was at a loss. Why wouldn’t it grow!

I found an article (which I can’t seem to find anymore) which talked about needing to make sure CO2 was being evenly spread around the tank. I always assumed that since I was using a pump to put water into my C360 canister filter (that is also being run and pumping water) that there would be more than enough circulation.

I decided I would test to see if there was circulation by placing my hand down in the tank and felt for water movement by the HC. I was shocked.

I… was… wrong…

It takes guts to be able to say that. There was almost no movement, definitely not enough to bring the CO2 to the HC in sufficient levels to spur growth. In fact, it was hardly surviving.

Now, it is a completely different story. The HC is growing rapidly and I am thinking about pruning it soon.

In fact, it is working so much that I am thinking about new ways to promote circulation in my tank.

Here is a picture of it almost two weeks later:



This is what it looks like today, only three weeks after adding the pumps to move the water around.



I guess this is the main point of what I am trying to say; for all you people out there that are having troubles growing HC and you think you have everything it needs, check the water circulation. You want to make sure that the CO2 is traveling where you need it to go. This is especially true in a tall tank like mine.

Besides, improving circulation can reduce algae and also improve fish health. Now I am just waiting for it to all grow in before I do anything drastic.
 
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fishorama

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Jun 28, 2006
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What a neat experiment! Very dramatic! I love the look of HC but have never been committed to trying CO2...someday. I can't wait for updates on your pretty tank as your trial goes on. Good job!
 

dundadundun

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Jan 21, 2009
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:y220e: that is all.
 

plantbrain

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Apr 27, 2001
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Davis, CA
www.BarrReport.com
it is also MUCH better for the fish.............1/2 dead plants, low o2......not good for them.

Now here ois how to mow this weed so it does not get out of control :

Mowed to the bone:



after 2-3 weeks of good care:

 

ylssa26

Registered Member
Sep 6, 2012
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Pump

Hi! I realise that your post is nearly a year old but I came across it when facing problems with getting HC to grow in my 16gal tank as well. I went out and got a wavemaker (pump) and am now wondering where I should place it for optimum circulation of co2.

Where did you place yours?
 
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