It develops tiny, bright green leaves in an remarkable speed, since the tank floor with a lush valley carpet.
The Dwarf Baby Tears naturally does occur in Cuba, but it's spread through planted tanks worldwide. They're usually sold separately in tiny pots or, for even less patient aquarists that need an instant carpet, they come already optimized and grown in coco fiber mats.
They can also be utilized rooted in driftwood pieces for aquascaping purposes.
Tank Requirements
Being small, this plant is also ideal even for Nano tanks, provided they have been well-lit.
Light as strong as 2 g per gallon minimum should really be available to hold the plant growing near the floor. Less light can make it to grow up to the water surface, where it lives in the open.
Planting your Dwarf Baby Tears
Dwarf Baby Tears usually are found rooting on porous stones or driftwood pieces. They can be implanted in the substrate for a foreground plant, however the effect is significantly stronger and more natural when attached to other tank items.
You're able to tie little sections of Hemianthus into a rock or wooden bit of your choice and then leave it to develop its own origins around the item. Most aquarists prefer using cotton thread rather than rubber bands or fishing line, since it's hardly noticeable and it melts with time, leaving the origins attached.
Yet another way of preventing them out of floating around would be to pay the Dwarf Baby Tears' roots together with moss that will add some weight into the plant.
All these mosses will provide additional nourishment, along with a good hiding ground for newly hatched fry.
For planting in the substrate, then you can plant a whole kettle in 1 place and wait for it to disperse, or you could separate small stems and plant them around one inch apart for faster policy.
This is a timeconsuming procedure, though, so allow a few aquascaping hours. Plant the stalks employing a long pair of tweezers and make sure the roots are well embedded into the ground.
Care
Dwarf Baby Tears want a high-value substrate full of minerals and nutrients, especially iron. The plant is sensitive to iron deficiency and will display yellowish leaves if there's insufficient iron at the tank.
They'll do well with CO2 supplementation and constant fertilization to help accelerate growth rate.
Always prune this plant, as while growing, new stems are certain to reach top of older types and suffocate themDwarf Baby Tears literally kills itself if left unattended.
Reproduction
The Hemianthus has pretty slow growth and development pace, but may spread across the substrate after settling on your tank. Roots will branch off and produce an intricate network, resulting in a carpet-like appearance, but only in the event you make sure to trim the plant to keep it low.
Another popular method of propagating the Dwarf Baby Tears is to cut off smaller sections of plants and replanting those at the substrate.
In this manner they will cover up the tank floor faster, as propagation is made from many points.
Tank Mates
The Dwarf Baby Tears may be planted alongside other short foreground plants in contrasting colors. The dense carpet enables spawning fish to lay their eggs as well as the young fry to hide from harassing adults.
There is no worry if plant-nipping fish spilled over the Hemianthus Callitrichoides, even as it's going to begin to recover and grow again, specially if it has recently covered a considerable surface.
Try not to include ravaging fish, for example as for example Oscars or even Jack Dempseys, to a tank planted with Hemianthus Callitrichoides, as they are going to attempt to uproot poorer stalks when"rescaping" the tank.
Gold fish are not a good idea as a result of the different ecological requirements and because they will stubbornly try to eat just as much of the plant as possible.
Be creative and use your own imagination and also try some aquascaping tricks with this particular tiny versatile plant. You can put it to use in several tanks, from the smallest to the greatest, in an assortment of ways.
hemianthus callitrichoides semi