# Haircut for hairgrass?



## Bubblebower

Hi there
My nice short hairgrass has exploded in length in the past 3 weeks. It used to stay about 2.5" to 3" in hight. It is now more than double that in places. The grass is so high it is obscuring alot of the tank.
Is it OK to mow it, or will it get brown tips or even worse,,die?
Thanks


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## Scholz

It'll get brown tips... 

there is a hair grass like plant that takes to being trimmed really well....

lilaeopsis mauritiana


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## bigfry

I trimmed mine and it turned brown tips.

You can try trim just a little patch to see if it will turn brown...


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## Bien Lim

you can cut it no problem just make sure its really short and I mean short so u wont notice the old ones when they start dying and most of the time the new growth will start to sprout before u can see them turning brown....the thing is u got E. acicularis (hair grass) this is a good foreground for big tank but not for small ones....you could use E. Parvula it is a much shorter plant..thanks


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## CRS Fan

Scholz said:


> It'll get brown tips...
> 
> there is a hair grass like plant that takes to being trimmed really well....
> 
> lilaeopsis mauritiana


I've aided Alym in trimming his hairgrass in his 46 gallon bowfront once upon a time. It is a 2 person job.

1 person trims the grass (hopefully at an even height) and the other person nets or siphons the loose debris as it floats up.

An alternate method would be to replace the grass with the lower growing species - Eleocharis parvula. I have a starter culture if you are interested.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## nmullens

I used to have about 4 square feet of hair grass in my 120gal. When you trim it make sure you trim it short like 1" - 2". Some of the tips of the trimmed grass will go brown as stated above. As your hair grass grow back in the brown tipped cuttings will slowly die back and new grass will come in so you don't have to worry about the brown tips. I have found once hair grass has a thick root system it starts to grow so rapidly that it is to much of a pain to trim all the time. Its get thicker and grows quicker with every trimming in my experience anyways. If I was to do hair grass again I would make sure to use the lower growing species that Stuart/CRS Fan is talking about.


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## alym

CRS Fan said:


> I've aided Alym in trimming his hairgrass in his 46 gallon bowfront once upon a time. It is a 2 person job.
> 
> 1 person trims the grass (hopefully at an even height) and the other person nets or siphons the loose debris as it floats up.
> 
> An alternate method would be to replace the grass with the lower growing species - Eleocharis parvula. I have a starter culture if you are interested.
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Stuart


FYI: I trimmed my hairgrass last week and saw a LOT of brown afterwards. Keep this in mind because it is rather unsightly until it starts to grow back!


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## halonine

How long does it usually take for it to grow back and start looking good again?


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## Bubblebower

Hi there
Thanks for all the great info. I think I'll remove it and keep it for my new 90 gal tank, Then replace it with the shorter grass.
Thanks


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## cpool

Aquaflora has parvula for your FYI.


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## Bubblebower

Thanks...Actually, all my plants come from Tim at Aquaflora, he does a great job.


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