Question
I was sold these plants as Hemianthus callitrichoides. But I am now not so sure they are. I would like to know if they are or not. And if they are not, what they may be.
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Answer
It does look like Hemianthus but the plant is dying so it's hard to say, it could also be a monte carlo plant.
I recommend reading this guide
Substrate
Substrates such as Flourite and Eco-Complete provide a long lasting supply of Fe to the plants through the roots. While each of these products can be costly per bag to buy, it provides you the best start to growing nice plants. I personally have used both with great success. Plants "will" grow in your average aquarium gravel but the size of the gravel is very important. It needs to be a finer grain in size and it will also need to be fertilized to provide the nutrients to the plants.
Lighting:
There are a few ways to do this and the most common way is via "Compact Flourescent Lighting". They are available in many sizes and can be used in combination with each other to get the amount of watts needed to grow your planted aquarium.
What do they need?
Micronutrients: these are available to us through our tap water and commercially sold liquid fertilizers such as Flourish, Kent, Tropica MasterGro, etc. Start off by dosing per the bottle instructions. With time and plant growth you may find the need to up your dosages slightly. Excessive dosing will promote algae growth.
Macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium).
Nitrates supplied using potassium nitrate (KNO3). Target is 5 - 10 ppm.
Phosphates supplied using monopotassium sulfate or Fleet Enema. Target is 0.5 - 1 ppm.
Potassium supplied using potassium sulfate (K2SO4) or potassium chloride (salt substitute like No-Salt). Target is 20 ppm.
What about CO2?
The addition of CO2 is very important to achieve lush growth of your plants, especially when your tank lighting is anywhere above 2 1/2 WPG. In low light tanks where the demand is small for your plants CO2 addition is generally not needed, but as you increase the strength of your lights, you are in turn increasing the demand for more carbon to get the most out of your plants.
Answered By - Rebecca RVT