DHG not carpeting, am I too impatient or doing something wrong?

[phuchuynh92]

Hello,

So right now I have a few different tanks set up with DHG in them that are supposed to be the carpeting plant, but none of them are carpeting.
For one tank, it is a 5G dirted base with gravel on top, and arguably my most successful tank at the moment. It has a lot of shrimps and a lot of babies in it, so the colony is thriving. It has all kind of tall plants in it along the side and the back, all of them are thriving also, I have to trim every few days. I put in some tissue cultured DHG for about 3 weeks now and it still looks pretty much the same. I know that DHG does not grow the best in gravel so that might be why. I typically use Flourish Comp almost every day, Advance, Excel, and Iron once in a while.

I also have 2 other tanks, pretty similar, with UNS Controsoil Black, like this: https://buceplant.com/products/uns-c...BoC5zoQAvD_BwE
I also use Flourish Comp, Advance, Excel and Iron at intervals, usually not all at the same time. The DHG isn't dying off, still looks green and healthy, just not carpeting out.

Where can I start looking for solutions? I can give more information if needed.

Thank you for reading.

[JavaJacketOC]

If you don't have Co2 it's going to take a long time to do anything.

Mine took off within a couple weeks of adding Co2

[BossLoRd]

I used to have DHG that melted in course substrate. They had a hard time sending out runners. So I scrapped the whole thing and switched to Controsoil. They are much happier now.

[Nick Shades]

Generally, the way to carpet dhg is simulation by multi point propogation. It grows with assistance, by observational documentation, via allelopathy.

When a single culture is fragmented and separated and planted close together but not touching, the multiple points of culture will propogatevmore readily. This is commonly called culture grafting.


Instead of just putting it in a single spot and waiting for it to grow out (itvwill eventually happen, albeit slowly) cut it into manageable sectioms, quartersz 8ths, or smaller if you can, and plant them all no greater a span than twice their width between them, and they will stimulate eachother to grow together.

The same reason that outting two cultures of DHG close but not touching eachother eventually grow together is the same concept. By cutting off a portion of them causes additional growth stimulation and allows it to propogate faster.

[phuchuynh92]

Generally, the way to carpet dhg is simulation by multi point propogation. It grows with assistance, by observational documentation, via allelopathy.

When a single culture is fragmented and separated and planted close together but not touching, the multiple points of culture will propogatevmore readily. This is commonly called culture grafting.


Instead of just putting it in a single spot and waiting for it to grow out (itvwill eventually happen, albeit slowly) cut it into manageable sectioms, quartersz 8ths, or smaller if you can, and plant them all no greater a span than twice their width between them, and they will stimulate eachother to grow together.

The same reason that outting two cultures of DHG close but not touching eachother eventually grow together is the same concept. By cutting off a portion of them causes additional growth stimulation and allows it to propogate faster.

Wow, thank you for the information! this is great information. I think I divided it too large in my gravel tank and makes it even harder to spread. I will doublecheck my setups, thank you!

Regarding CO2, I dont want to open that can of worm yet so I will be patient and stick with Excel for now and wait it out.
Thank you everyone.

[swoof]

Excel is no comparison to actual CO2, it isn't CO2 in any way. It won't help with something like dhg. Pictures of your setup and how you have the dhg spread would be helpful.

[oneforthebooks08]

I'd like to point out that if you do have shrimp in there getting the right balance with CO2 might be difficult. Just a suggestion to those pushing for the addition of a CO2 system.

[notg2009]

Fine substrate with small particle size is what makes the roots anchor and spread. It will carpet without CO2, it just takes time.

[SCas]

I'd like to point out that if you do have shrimp in there getting the right balance with CO2 might be difficult. Just a suggestion to those pushing for the addition of a CO2 system.

How would shrimp make balancing co2 hard?

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[felipe49]

If you have neos instead caridinas adding co2 wouldn't be a problem , I agree that co2 would make a diference in the dhg development and faster spreading

[oneforthebooks08]

How would shrimp make balancing co2 hard?

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I mean in terms of providing proper living conditions for the shrimp with the addition of CO2.