I have had plenty of nice looking non co2 tanks.
Hc carpet no co2.
Co2 is paramount to hc s success it is a relatively undemanding plant otherwise.
I have just bought a fluval spec iii 2 6 10l gallon for a few shrimp.
Hc cuba plant is tough to grow without co2 and should not be attempted unless you have spare time and plants to waste but this approach will.
Looking to hundreds of examples on forums with people having problems with the hc carpet a full 90 95 of them cannot grow hemianthus callitrichoides because of poor co2 control.
It s a lot cheaper and you c.
Co2 is definitely worth the investment.
This problem is exaggerated in warm tanks.
Glossostigma may require more light.
Other people have been successful with no co2 and no ferts just good substrate.
But there is nothing like having a thick carpet of grass and hc.
You actually don t but using it is easy once you get the hang of growing plants under water without it.
However i would like a hc carpet.
By following the guide below you should be able to grow dwarf hair grass carpet dhg monte carlo mc microsword and marsilea species without injected co2.
Noticeable improvement in the monte carlo carpet in my low tech no co2 tank.
It is one of the plants which is sensitive enough to co2 levels that i grow small patches of it in every tank as living co2 indicators.
Who says you can t grow a dbt carpet dwarf baby tears without c02.
And really aren t that much.
Case in point i grew hc cuba without co2 using strong lighting and soil in the tank below.
There is no chance i am getting co2 but maybe ferts if i knew.
The next factor for success with hc and also the most important one is good co2 control.
I do have a mini time lapse photo of the monte carlo before and after the difference is quite noticeable.
Hopefully it continues to improve and spread out even more.