so my hairgrass is dieing a slow painful death

[Zebvance]

Im new to plants this is the first time I have attempted to mess with them. I planted some dwarf hair grass in the corners of my 240 about a month or so ago. I chose this plant because I knew it would be the one of the easiest to care for and hardy enough to stand up to the cichlids messing with it. Surprisingly though the fish haven't really mess with the plants so far. I planted it in pool filter sand. I then found out a week or so after I planted it that the pfs didn't provide the nutrients needed for the plants to thrive.And the tips of the grass were browning. So, I went and got some nutrient tabs (flourish brand I believe) and placed about 5 tabs a inch a part under each plant in the sand, and them trimmed the brown tips off. I also poured a bottle of the liquid nutrients in the tank to. The bottle was exactly enough for one treatment at 240 gallons. well the tips continued to brown. Then I thought that my lighting was not enough. I have two VHO t12 fixtures with 2 40 watt bulbs a piece. Weekend before last I added aluminum foil to the lights because they did not have reflectors and I also bought a new coralife light for my 46 gallon (got it for 42 dollars marked down from 180 at petco because they ended there contract with coralife!), so I took the old 40 watt t8 fixture from my 46 gallon and also put it on the 240. So total I have 200 watts on the 240. I plan to get better lights in the future but these will have to do for now.It has been 3 or so weeks and the tips are continuing to brown at the rate of about 1/8 of a inch a week. I also don't want to put plant substrate down if I can get around it. I think it will look horrible after its in there for a week and the cichlids have moved all the sand around. I also don't want to get into co2 in this tank because I have heard mixed things about it and I don't think it is necessary for this low tech set up. I just wanted to add a little bit of vibrant green to the tank, and I love how it looks how it it set up now. The only other think I plan on doing it adding some moss in the future to grow on the driftwood. But Im not going to try it until I stop killing plants. I will try to post some pics soon. sry for the lonnnnggggggggg story, but all suggestions are welcomed!

[ssrprelude]

Not even one watt per gallon is not sufficient enough to grow much, especially without substrate. To add more green, I would do Anubius nana, they are hardy and need zero substrate.

[Zebvance]

Pics

[Zebvance]

Not even one watt per gallon is not sufficient enough to grow much, especially without substrate. To add more green, I would do Anubius nana, they are hardy and need zero substrate.

I was told that the watt per gallon rule is not always true. But, I know I am underlighted but I was also told that these are very low light plants and should be fine.

[soymilk]

I think the problem is the sand. Aquasoil or something similar is granular and has space between each piece of dirt. It allows the roots to grow between the soil. Sand in the other hand is very conpact and very few plants can survive in sand. Basically their roots have to be crazy hard to make it thru sand. Basically your plants can't grow their roots out and is dying from malnutrition. If you really want to grow grass like that you need soil not sand. The lights should be ok at keeping the grass alive. I'm not sure they will thrive though.

In planted tanks we use sand as a barrier because we know the plants can't spread out through the sand. Creates a nice void.



Oh yea.... Drawf hairgrass is a common name for 3-4 species of different grass. You got the long kind. Not very drawfy.

[Zebvance]

thanks for the info. how do you suggest I put soil in with out making the tank a mess?

[soymilk]

First clear some space for the new soil. Remember plants have a pretty long root structure so it'll be better if you give it a decent amount or the roots to grow out.

Check the roots of the plants. If they are crushed and rotting you maybe be too late.

Get something like Ada aquasoil or that ecocomplete stuff. Rinse it out really really really good. And with a small cup slowly add it to the tank. The texture is like baked lil pieces of dirt so be careful not to crush too much of the aqua soil. If you do your tank will get tinted and clouldy. And replant gentlely. There's some Ada stuff that you can get to promote root growth but I wouldn't worry about it.

Run carbon if you see too much mud kicked up.

I gave like 10lbs of aquasoil away last week. You misses out lol.

[Mzungu]

The real "dwarf hairgrass" is actually a pretty high tech plant, and really needs high light and CO2 and ferts to grow. Your lighting wouldn't be enough. However, after looking at your pictures, it seems you don't have dwarf hairgrass, but another species. I'm not too versed in the taller species and whether they need as much light/CO2/ferts/etc. as the dwarf variant, but it's very possible, especially since you're noticing the tips browning.

I don't think cutting off the tips will really help, except to make the plant look greener.

Have you noticed any new leaves shoot up since you've had the plant?

For your setup, if the hairgrass continues to die, I suggest Vallisneria. It doesn't need much, and your setup should grow it well. It is native to some of the African Rift Lakes, and has been known to stand up to cichlids, as it's very hardy. It also grows pretty well in sand.

[wesleydnunder]

Your light is too low and sand is a poor transporter of nutrients to plant roots. I think the ADA soil is a good idea if you want to go that route. Honestly though, if it were me, I'd scrap the hair grass and go with some val or sagittaria subulata for a taller thin-leaved plant. I also really like crypt. spiralis as it can grow in sand and has long thin leaves.

Mark

[Zebvance]

The real "dwarf hairgrass" is actually a pretty high tech plant, and really needs high light and CO2 and ferts to grow. Your lighting wouldn't be enough. However, after looking at your pictures, it seems you don't have dwarf hairgrass, but another species. I'm not too versed in the taller species and whether they need as much light/CO2/ferts/etc. as the dwarf variant, but it's very possible, especially since you're noticing the tips browning.

I don't think cutting off the tips will really help, except to make the plant look greener.

Have you noticed any new leaves shoot up since you've had the plant?

For your setup, if the hairgrass continues to die, I suggest Vallisneria. It doesn't need much, and your setup should grow it well. It is native to some of the African Rift Lakes, and has been known to stand up to cichlids, as it's very hardy. It also grows pretty well in sand.

I will look into some of the vallisneria. and no there has been no new growth

[Zebvance]

Your light is too low and sand is a poor transporter of nutrients to plant roots. I think the ADA soil is a good idea if you want to go that route. Honestly though, if it were me, I'd scrap the hair grass and go with some val or sagittaria subulata for a taller thin-leaved plant. I also really like crypt. spiralis as it can grow in sand and has long thin leaves.

Mark

Thanks guys Ill look into it.

[Zebvance]

UPDATE!! I have not been able to get any soil or new lights but I have been looking in to it and I was cleaning the tank yesterday and I was looking at the plant on the left and there is NEW GROWTH!!!! There are still lots of browning tips but It looks like these are not dieing just the tips are dying. There is about 6 new pieces of grass ranging from 1 inch to 3 inches. I will try to post some pics

[Zebvance]

This is the left plant that is showing growth

Attached Thumbnails

[Zebvance]

This is the right pant and it does not show any new growth

Attached Thumbnails

[Mzungu]

Awesome!!

I think the right plant may not be showing any new growth because it seems to be sitting in the shadow of the driftwood a bit. Perhaps you could move it a little out of the shade? Or is it just how the pictures were taken that it appears to be in the shade?