Help. What have I gotten myself into?

My plants came in today and I was a bit surprised. Many are like the large version I see at the aquarium shop. Although they do not have the variety.
For instance, I watch the videos on YT and see guys taking their forceps and planting what they call hairgrass in individual pieces across the front of their tanks for a carpeting effect. The plants are maybe an inch high sticking out of the substrate. A few months later and things are filling in.

I ordered what is called dwarf hairgrass and got a clump (which looks nice BTW) maybe 4-5" tall like a big bushy shrub. It would look awesome stuck in the substrate as is. But that's not going to give me a carpet.
Do I trim it down into small pieces? I don't want to kill it.

I also got some plants labeled background that are held together with a rubberband Am I supposed to plant them that way, or separate them into individual stalks?

Sorry I am not good with names. I knew there was no way I would remember them once out of the bags, and many were in a "kit" so were not labeled anyway.

I simply trying to get a carpet up front in the tank and am at a bit of a less how to do that with what I received.
Also, I'm assuming the lead weight on a couple will not hurt the water/fish?

PADogman said:

I ordered what is called dwarf hairgrass and got a clump (which looks nice BTW) maybe 4-5" tall like a big bushy shrub. It would look awesome stuck in the substrate as is. But that's not going to give me a carpet.
Do I trim it down into small pieces? I don't want to kill it.

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I have never bothered with carpet plants like this one, but I gather you can plant it in small clumps for a bushier effect, or separate it and plant individually. I would certainly not "trim" it. Either way, it spreads via runners once it is established.

PADogman said:

I also got some plants labeled background that are held together with a rubberband Am I supposed to plant them that way, or separate them into individual stalks?

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These will be stem plants. You can separate the stems and plant them individually, or leave them in groups (maybe 3 stems per group?). The latter will likely give you a better cover. Remove (before planting) any elastic bands or metal binding strips or whatever is used. Stem plants are fast growers, and will naturally divert the nutrients into the growing tips/ends, which will grow toward the light. Depending upon the light intensity, the lower leaves may yellow and drop off (with insufficient light for the plant's needs), and if this occurs, you can periodically pull the stems up, cut off the leafless parts, and replant the cut ends of the upper stems.

PADogman said:

Also, I'm assuming the lead weight on a couple will not hurt the water/fish?

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Remove any lead weights; these may or may not cause a problem, but lead is a heavy metal and is toxic to all life forms. Plant sufficient lengths of the cut ends to anchor the stems, and you can use small pebbles around the base especially if digging fish are in the tank.

Byron said:

I have never bothered with carpet plants like this one, but I gather you can plant it in small clumps for a bushier effect, or separate it and plant individually. I would certainly not "trim" it. Either way, it spreads via runners once it is established.



These will be stem plants. You can separate the stems and plant them individually, or leave them in groups (maybe 3 stems per group?). The latter will likely give you a better cover. Remove (before planting) any elastic bands or metal binding strips or whatever is used. Stem plants are fast growers, and will naturally divert the nutrients into the growing tips/ends, which will grow toward the light. Depending upon the light intensity, the lower leaves may yellow and drop off (with insufficient light for the plant's needs), and if this occurs, you can periodically pull the stems up, cut off the leafless parts, and replant the cut ends of the upper stems.



Remove any lead weights; these may or may not cause a problem, but lead is a heavy metal and is toxic to all life forms. Plant sufficient lengths of the cut ends to anchor the stems, and you can use small pebbles around the base especially if digging fish are in the tank.

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Great.
Thanks for the Plants 101 tutorial

PADogman said:

Great.
Thanks for the Plants 101 tutorial

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i love propogating stem plants...
so fun

Sgooosh said:

i love propogating stem plants...
so fun

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That was one of my questions that I forgot to ask.
I see guys in videos trimming plants and always wondered what they did with the clippings. If they could grow another plant from it.
So in the case of grasses, no. Bit if it has a stem/stalk, yes? Just wait for it to start growing roots?

PADogman said:

That was one of my questions that I forgot to ask.
I see guys in videos trimming plants and always wondered what they did with the clippings. If they could grow another plant from it.
So in the case of grasses, no. Bit if it has a stem/stalk, yes? Just wait for it to start growing roots?

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The physical structure of stem plants is very different from rosette plants. The latter include the Echinodorus swords, Sagittaria species, Vallisneria species, Eleocharis acicularis (dwarf hairgrass). Then there are the rhizome plants like Anubias, Java Fern, etc., which are similar to the stem plants in that the rhizome can be cut into sections to provide additional plants [see below].

Stem plants have nodes along the stem, from which leaves and/or roots grow. So cutting the stem and leaving a few nodes on the piece cut off will allow you to use that piece as a new "plant." This doesn't work with the other plants which use different means of reproduction.

Sometimes stem plants will develop quite substantial roots from the nodes in the water, i.e., not planted in the substrate. This is one reason many of them are good as floating plants.

Byron said:

The physical structure of stem plants is very different from rosette plants. The latter include the Echinodorus swords, Sagittaria species, Vallisneria species, Eleocharis acicularis (dwarf hairgrass). Then there are the rhizome plants like Anubias, Java Fern, etc., which are similar to the stem plants in that the rhizome can be cut into sections to provide additional plants [see below].

Stem plants have nodes along the stem, from which leaves and/or roots grow. So cutting the stem and leaving a few nodes on the piece cut off will allow you to use that piece as a new "plant." This doesn't work with the other plants which use different means of reproduction.

Sometimes stem plants will develop quite substantial roots from the nodes in the water, i.e., not planted in the substrate. This is one reason many of them are good as floating plants.

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Thanks. Perfect explanation.

So I got something stuck into the substrate. And I was 80% sure I was sticking the right end into the gravel. What a tangled mess this stuff was. And no real roots. They looked like trimmings... and maybe they were.
Frankly, I'll be amazed if enough of them live that they do what I want.

(and yes, my water is still tinged Tomorrow I'm hoping that clears up with the new filter I have coming in.)

I'm not sure what these are. Two I ordered and two were in the 36 plant kit.
So one must be a Dwarf Sagitarria and the other a Micro Sword Broadleaf according to the "two of" packing list. I'm guessing the latter is on the left, but the pics I am finding are confusing me between them.



That carpeting is looking bare when I see a picture of it. I should add the other container, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow because the stuff frustrates me, lol.

A couple more planted in the corner


Man I sure hope this stuff lives... This is fun.
And it's amazing what moving a plant 1/4" either way will do.

Here's what I had left over, sitting under my new light.


I seem to be missing a couple items... the Tiger Lotus bulbs. No idea what I did with them. But this should be plenty to scape another tank. More than enough.

And I took off the Tidal 35 and put on a Fluval C3.
Initial thoughts are the Fluval is a lot more fiddly. But it has a downtube inlet and really moves the water compared to the 35. It is also rated to 50gal, so that explains that. I'm hoping the charcoal gives me a filter boost to help clean up the tannins. I also did about a 30% water change and finished planting when the water was low.

It's pushing around either Duckweed or Pennywort. I'm not sure a like a floating plant with a HOB filter, but I can only see it when I'm standing over the tank. I can see it being messy though.

PADogman said:

Here's what I had left over, sitting under my new light.
View attachment 140978

I seem to be missing a couple items... the Tiger Lotus bulbs. No idea what I did with them. But this should be plenty to scape another tank. More than enough.

And I took off the Tidal 35 and put on a Fluval C3.
Initial thoughts are the Fluval is a lot more fiddly. But it has a downtube inlet and really moves the water compared to the 35. It is also rated to 50gal, so that explains that. I'm hoping the charcoal gives me a filter boost to help clean up the tannins. I also did about a 30% water change and finished planting when the water was low.

It's pushing around either Duckweed or Pennywort. I'm not sure a like a floating plant with a HOB filter, but I can only see it when I'm standing over the tank. I can see it being messy though.
View attachment 140979

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You'll be able to see the roots of the floating plants from the front and the fish will get a perfect view.

NOTE that you can tidy up floating plants by encircling them in a hoop of air hose.

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

You'll be able to see the roots of the floating plants from the front and the fish will get a perfect view.

NOTE that you can tidy up floating plants by encircling them in a hoop of air hose.

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Good tip with the air hose. The surface agitation swirling them all over the place looks like heck.
I'm not sure these have roots. At least none that I saw. If you know what the pulp looks like from using a juicer, that is exactly what these looked like. Like the pulp from juicing something green and something red.

You’ve got what looks like one Tiger Lotus bulb planted in the 3rd photo (?) in front of a rock beside a tall piece of wood…you need to make sure that only about half of the bulb is “squashed“ into the substrate and not all of it or it will rot.
It looks like there is a second one in your ‘spares’ tank.

I found the Tiger Lotuses
They were in a separate bowl, underneath that floating pulp.

NannaLou said:

You’ve got what looks like one Tiger Lotus bulb planted in the 3rd photo (?) in front of a rock beside a tall piece of wood…you need to make sure that only about half of the bulb is “squashed“ into the substrate and not all of it or it will rot.
It looks like there is a second one in your ‘spares’ tank.

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That was not labeled, but on their website I think it is the Dwarf Aquarium Lily. And it does have a nut-like bulb on it. Just like the Tiger Lotuses.
I have two TL bulbs and two plants. I planted one of the plants this morning and had a heckuva time keeping it down, so it's stuck between two rocks.

So anything with a bulb is not supposed to be buried in the substrate?
Good info.
I read that about the onion plants they sent and wasn't even going to try planting those. I don't want everything with a bulb to have a rock on it.

It seems some bulbs sink, but the one this morning wanted nothing to do with staying on the bottom.

When the full lighting starts back up I'll check those plants out and see if I can expose part of the bulb. And take a pic of the current tank.

Thanks for bringing that up