It grows miniature, bright green leaves at an incredible rate, within the container floor using a lush valley carpeting.
The Dwarf Baby Tears naturally does occur in Cuba, but it's spread through implanted tanks worldwide. They are typically sold individually in little pots or, for just less patient aquarists that want an immediate carpeting, they come already optimized and grown in coco fiber mats.
They are also able to be seen rooted in driftwood bits for aquascaping purposes.
Tank Requirements
Being so small, this plant is ideal even for Nano tanks, so provided they are well-lit.
Lighting as strong as 2 drops per gallon minimum needs to be available to maintain the plant growing close to the floor. Less light can cause it to grow upto the water's surface, where it lives from the open.
Planting your Dwarf Baby Tears
Dwarf Baby Tears usually are found rooting on porous rocks or driftwood pieces. They may be implanted in the substrate as a foreground plant, however the effect is a lot more resilient and natural when attached to additional tank items.
You're able to tie little sections of Hemianthus to some stone or wooden piece of your own choice and then leave it to develop its origins across the object. Most aquarists prefer using cotton ribbon rather than rubber bands or fishing line, because it's barely noticeable and it melts over time, leaving the roots attached.
Still another manner of preventing them from floating around would be to pay for the Dwarf Baby Tears' roots together with moss that will then add weight into the plant.
All these mosses will provide extra nutrients, together with a fantastic hiding ground for newly hatched fry.
For planting at the substrate, you can plant a whole kettle in 1 place and wait patiently for this to spread, or you are able to separate little stalks and plant them around one inch apart for faster policy.
This can be a time-consuming process, though, so allow a few aquascaping hours. Plant the stalks employing a very long set of tweezers and make certain that the roots are well inserted in the soil.
Care
Dwarf Baby Tears desire a high-value substrate full of nutrients and minerals, especially iron. The plant is sensitive to iron deficiency and will display yellowish leaves if there is not enough iron in the tank.
They will do best with CO2 supplementation and constant fertilization to help accelerate growth rate.
Always prune this plant, as while growing, new stems will 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 may spread across the substrate after settling on your tank. Roots will branch away and produce an intricate network, resulting in a carpet-like appearance, but only in the event that you remember to constantly trim the plant to keep it low.
Yet another popular way of dispersing the Dwarf Baby Tears will be always to cut off smaller sections of plants and replanting these at the substrate.
This way, they are going to cover the tank up floor faster, as propagation is manufactured out of several points.
Tank Mates
The Dwarf Baby Tears could be planted alongside other short foreground plants from contrasting colors. The dense rug allows spawning fish to lay their eggs as well as the young fry to hide from harassing adults.
There is not any worry when plant-nipping fish graze on the Hemianthus Callitrichoides, as it's going to begin to recover and grow again, especially if it has already covered a significant surface.
Do your best never to incorporate ravaging fish, such as for example Oscars or even Jack Dempseys, to a tank planted with Hemianthus Callitrichoides, since they will endeavour to uproot weaker stems when"rescaping" the tank.
Gold fish are not a fantastic idea as a result of their different environmental conditions and simply because they will stubbornly attempt to eat just as much of this plant as you possibly can.
Be creative and use your imagination and take to some aquascaping tricks with this tiny versatile plant. You are able to put it to use in several tanks, from the tiniest to the biggest, in a variety of means.
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