# What are good carpet plants?



## Drift Woody (Aug 21, 2013)

I'm starting an Iwagumi 20L tank, which basically means I want to arrange some seiryu stone and then have a carpet of moss or some very low-lying, vibrant plants on the ground between them. Should I use moss, or fissidens? Perhaps, even other low lying plants like e. belem?

I am wondering what the pros and cons would be between a moss versus something like a grass. I'm not planning on using CO2, but I do have amazonia soil and a fair LED light. 

I like the look of flame moss for my rock and dfriftwood, but not sure what I should plant on the ground.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Almost all of the plants that are called "carpet" plants need high light. Fissedens grow better/w that light but can grow without
high but only very slowly on low...med works much better next to high. I've had good results/w these Fissedens but they take
15-20 days in darkness(mail time) to get to Ar. so be ready to wait for them if you try them.
Fissidens Fontanus 8 8cm Pad Live Aquarium Plant Moss Fish Tank Water Plants | eBay
I have a few of these in my tank(s) but they don't have actual roots. You can push them down into the substrate and they
will cling after a while but since they have no actual roots they are easily dislodged by any fish. On wood works much better.
Check the thread from...well here it is...for "carpet" plants.
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/new-display-tank-progress-58874.html
And here are three other links you might use.
10" 25 5cm Aquarium Live Plant Tank Curve Scissors | eBay
Angled 10 5 inch Stainless Steel Aquarium Tweezer Forceps | eBay
Angled 15 inch Stainless Steel Aquarium Tweezer Forceps Shipped from USA | eBay


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## Drift Woody (Aug 21, 2013)

Thanks Ray. I have decided to go with either Dwarf Hairgrass, Dwarf Sag, or Hydrocolyte Japan for my 'carpet'.

Any tips or suggestions on which I should choose? I have a nice medium light and a 20L tank, with ada amazonia but NO CO2.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Drift Woody said:


> Thanks Ray. I have decided to go with either Dwarf Hairgrass, Dwarf Sag, or Hydrocolyte Japan for my 'carpet'.
> 
> Any tips or suggestions on which I should choose? I have a nice medium light and a 20L tank, with ada amazonia but NO CO2.


The hairgrass needs high lights. I am trying to grow some in a ten G which
has T5 lights and it is not enough/w two bulbs. The new leaves came in
less than half the length of the original ones which died off and they are
few and after a few came in they seemed to have stopped growing.
I also have a different ten G/w some Dwarf Sag and it is about 3.5" to 4"
tall when the plants mature. That might be a carpet in a 55 G.
You might try some of each(except for the hairgrass) in each end.
Then you could take out the one you didn't like if you wanted to.
Don't know about that Japan plant so you'd need to look it up
to find out about light requirements.


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## jccaclimber2 (May 6, 2012)

Dwarf sag is hands down the easiest carpet plant I've ever grown. As long as you don't mind the height I highly recommend it. Grasses in general get to be a real pain over time. Peacock and christmas moss also work well if you put down a mesh to keep them in place.

Here is a somewhat overgrown christmas moss carpet I set up at a friend's house:


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## Drift Woody (Aug 21, 2013)

Raymond S. said:


> The hairgrass needs high lights. I am trying to grow some in a ten G which
> has T5 lights and it is not enough/w two bulbs. The new leaves came in
> less than half the length of the original ones which died off and they are
> few and after a few came in they seemed to have stopped growing.
> ...



Ok, so hairgrass is a no-go, it seems. This is good to know Ray.








jccaclimber2 said:


> Dwarf sag is hands down the easiest carpet plant I've ever grown. As long as you don't mind the height I highly recommend it. Grasses in general get to be a real pain over time. Peacock and christmas moss also work well if you put down a mesh to keep them in place.
> 
> Here is a somewhat overgrown christmas moss carpet I set up at a friend's house:



Hmn, X-mas moss eh? How slow does that grow Climber? It looks very nice, maybe I will grow a mix of grass and x-mass moss. Do you think it would grow well under a medium LED with amazonia, but no CO2?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Marsilea may work well for you. Don't think it needs too high of light. You can find it on planted sites for sell all the time. 

I would consider DIY CO2. Generally, CO2 will allow you to get away with a lower light level and still have the plant do fairly well. It may not grow as fast, but can survive. Although everyone thinks they want high lights on those sites, in general it is not needed at all if supplementing with CO2. I have seen people break the mold with med light levels from shop lights and growing plants that if you read about it, it would say high light. They usually use some level of ferts with them as well. The plant needs light, CO2, and nutrients....all plants. If two of those areas are pretty good you can sometimes get away with growing the plant if the third area isn't exactly where it needs to be. Can't be too far off, but it doesn't have to spot on either.

You may only be able to do mosses or grass and that is it. Just depends on the PAR at the substrate level.


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## jccaclimber2 (May 6, 2012)

The christmas moss in that photo was somewhere between 3 and 6 months growth (I really don't remember). The substrate in there is gravel, so amazonia should do just fine. That tank is a 29 with 2x T5HO, but I suspect 2x T8 bulbs would grow it just fine (but slower). It is fertilized with dry ferts, but not CO2. That particular tank may also be a bit less algae prone since it is a shrimp tank.


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