It grows tiny, bright green leaves in an amazing speed, since the container floor with a lush valley rug.
The Dwarf Baby Tears naturally occurs in Cuba, but it's spread throughout planted tanks worldwide. They are generally sold separately in small pots or, for just less patient aquarists that need an instant carpet, they come already grown and rooted in coco fiber mats.
They are also able to be utilized rooted in driftwood pieces for aquascaping purposes.
Tank Requirements
Being so small, this plant is also ideal even for Nano tanks, so given that they are well-lit.
Light as strong as 2 drops per gallon minimum needs to really be available to keep the plant growing close to the ground. Less light may make it to grow upto the water surface, where it naturally lives in the great outdoors.
Dwarf Baby Tears are usually found rooting on porous stones or driftwood pieces. They may be planted in the substrate for a foreground plant, but the effect is significantly more resilient and more natural when attached with additional tank objects.
You're able to tie modest segments of Hemianthus into some stone or wooden bit of one's own choice and then leave it to produce its own origins across the item. Many aquarists prefer using cotton ribbon rather than rubberbands or fishing line, even as it is hardly noticeable and it dissolves over time, leaving the origins attached.
Still another manner of preventing them out of drifting around is to pay the Dwarf Baby Tears' roots with moss that will add some weight to the plant.
These mosses will provide extra nutrients, as well as a good hiding ground for newly hatched fry.
For planting in the substrate, then you are able to plant an entire kettle in 1 place and wait patiently for it to spread, or you are able to separate small stems and plant them about one inch apart for faster policy.
This can be a time consuming procedure, however, so permit some aquascaping hours. Plant the stems using a very long pair of tweezers and make sure the roots are well fit into the ground.
Care
Dwarf Baby Tears desire a high-value substrate full of minerals and nutrients, especially iron. The plant is sensitive to iron deficiency and can display yellow leaves if there is not enough iron from the tank.
They'll do well with CO2 supplementation and also constant fertilization to help accelerate growth rate.
Always prune this plant, as while growingnew stems are certain to get on top of old types and suffocate themDwarf Baby Tears literally kills itself when left unattended.
Reproduction
The Hemianthus has pretty slow growth and development rate, but will spread upon the substrate after settling on your tank. Roots will branch off and produce an intricate network, leading to a carpet-like look, but only in the event that you remember to trim the plant to keep it low.
Yet another popular way of propagating the Dwarf Baby Tears will be always to cut off smaller pieces of plants and replanting those at the substrate.
In this manner they will cover the tank up floor faster, as propagation is manufactured out of a number of points.
Tank Mates
The Dwarf Baby Tears can be implanted along with other short foreground plants in contrasting colors. The dense carpeting enables spawning fish to lay their eggs along with the younger fry to hide from harassing adults.
There's no worry when plant-nipping fish spilled over the Hemianthus Callitrichoides, even as it's going to quickly recover and grow again, especially if it has covered a substantial surface.
Try not to incorporate ravaging fish, such as for example Oscars or even Jack Dempseysinto a tank planted with Hemianthus Callitrichoides, since they are going to make an effort to uproot weaker stems when"rescaping" the tank.
Goldfish are not really a good idea because of the different ecological requirements and because they are going to try to eat as a lot of their plant as possible.
Be creative and use your own imagination and try some aquascaping tricks for this specific small plant that is versatile. You are able to put it to use in many tanks, from the tiniest to the biggest, in an assortment of ways.
page