It develops tiny, bright green leaves in an incredible rate, covering the container floor having a lush emerald rug.
The Dwarf Baby Tears naturally occurs in Cuba, but it's spread through planted tanks worldwide. They're usually sold separately in little pots or, for just less patient aquarists that need an instant carpet, they are already optimized and grown in coco fiber mats.
They can also be seen rooted in driftwood bits for aquascaping purposes.
Tank Requirements
Being small, this plant is also ideal even for Nano tanks, provided they have been well-lit.
Lighting as strong as 2 drops per gallon minimum needs to really be available to keep the plant growing close to the floor. Less light can make it to grow up to the water's surface, where it lives in the open.
Dwarf Baby Tears usually are found rooting on porous rocks or driftwood pieces. They can be planted within the substrate for a foreground plant, however the effect is much stronger and more natural when attached with additional tank objects.
You're able to tie tiny segments of Hemianthus to a rock or wooden piece of your own choice and then leave it to produce its roots around the thing. Most aquarists prefer using cotton ribbon rather than rubberbands or fishing line, even as it is hardly noticeable and it dissolves over time, leaving only the origins attached.
Yet another manner of preventing them out of drifting around is to cover the Dwarf Baby Tears' roots with moss that will add some weight to the plant.
For planting at the substrate, then you are able to plant an entire kettle in 1 place and wait patiently for this to disperse, or you can separate small stems and plant them about one inch apart for faster coverage.
This is a timeconsuming process, though, so allow some aquascaping hours. Plant the stems using a long pair of tweezers and make sure the roots are well inserted in the ground.
Care
Dwarf Baby Tears require a high-value substrate rich in nutrients and minerals, especially iron. The plant is sensitive to iron deficiency and can display yellow leaves if there's insufficient iron at the tank.
They'll do best with CO2 supplementation and constant fertilization to help accelerate growth speed.
Always prune this plant, even as while growingnew stems will reach top of older types and suffocate them; Dwarf Baby Tears literally kills itself if left unattended.
Trim the stalks with a rather sharp pair of scissors or a razor blade to keep them in place when trimming.
Reproduction
Even the Hemianthus has pretty slow rise and development pace, but will still spread upon the substrate after settling on your tank. Roots will branch off and develop an intricate network, leading to a carpet-like look, but only in the event you remember to constantly trim the plant to continue to keep it really low.
Still another popular method of propagating the Dwarf Baby Tears will be always to cut off smaller pieces of plants and replanting them from the substrate.
In this manner they will cover up the tank floor faster, as propagation is manufactured out of several points.
Tank Mates
The Dwarf Baby Tears can be implanted along side other short foreground plants in contrasting colors. The dense carpet allows spawning fish to lay their eggs as well as the young fry to cover up from harassing adults.
There's no worry when plant-nipping fish spilled on the Hemianthus Callitrichoides, as it's going to quickly recover and grow again, particularly if it has recently covered a considerable surface.
Do your best not to add ravaging fish, for example as Oscars or Jack Dempseysinto a tank planted with Hemianthus Callitrichoides, since they will try to uproot poorer stalks when"rescaping" the tank.
Goldfish are perhaps not just a good idea as a result of these different ecological conditions and because they are going to try to eat just as much of the plant as you possibly can.
Be creative and use your imagination and also try some aquascaping tricks for this specific small plant that is versatile. You can put it to use in many tanks, even from the smallest to the greatest, in a variety of means.
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