Can Giant Hairgrass and Scarlet Temple Grow Together?

Giant Hairgrass and Scarlet Temple share a workable water window around 20 to 28 °C, pH 6 to 7.5, and 2 to 12 dGH.

Both plants are comfortable in freshwater, so salinity is not a meaningful obstacle.

Both prefer moderate flow, so circulation can be planned as one steady pattern.

Their light and CO2 needs are close enough for one routine: Giant Hairgrass does best with moderate light and optional added CO2, while Scarlet Temple does best with high light and recommended added CO2.

Both plants naturally lean toward the background, which is why spacing, pruning, and final mature size matter more than they do in a more staggered planting mix.

Giant Hairgrass reaches about 50 cm tall by 15 cm wide, while Scarlet Temple reaches about 45 cm tall by 15 cm wide. Use those mature sizes for the layout, not the small nursery portions you bring home.

Shade is worth watching, but it is usually manageable through trimming and a little spatial separation.

Giant Hairgrass is typically rooted in substrate with nutrient-rich substrate preferred and feeds mainly as a root feeder. Scarlet Temple is typically rooted in substrate with nutrient-rich substrate preferred and feeds mainly as a mixed feeder. That difference can make the pairing easier to arrange than two plants fighting for the exact same root or attachment zone.

They can share the space, but the scape will stay cleaner if you leave more room than the labels alone might suggest.

Both plants have moderate growth, moderate maintenance, and intermediate difficulty. That makes the maintenance rhythm predictable: watch for crowding, remove old leaves, and avoid letting one clump shade the other for weeks at a time.

The practical watch-outs are that both plants tend to work in the background, so spacing matters more than usual; and that you will want to leave more room than usual for mature spread and routine thinning; and that the layout needs a little thought so one plant does not slowly dim the other.

The strongest reasons to try the mix are that they share a workable temperature window around 20 to 28 °C; and that their flow preferences sit close enough to tune one layout around both plants.

Use this pairing when you are willing to manage the scape, not when you want a plant-and-forget combination. Start with more spacing than you think you need, then adjust once both plants show their real growth pace.

The simple success test is whether both plants still look healthy after the faster grower has been trimmed several times. If one keeps declining after routine care, the layout is probably asking too much of it.