# grass botton



## driftwood (Feb 13, 2011)

I would like to have a grassy looking botton in my 55 gal. tank, would Java moss work for this, or would it be too wild growing?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

With some creativity it could work. It grows in all directions...up, down, left, right...would be a pain.


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## Kibblemania1414 (Feb 13, 2011)

i say dwarf hairgrass. the stuff is really nice. i don't know if it will grow out that fast, but you can easily trim it when you want.

and java moss is really nice, just really hard to trim and jrman83 is right it will grow in all directions


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## danilykins (Dec 22, 2010)

I was just gonna mention the dwarf hairgrass.. I believe it only grows about an 1-2inches tall.


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## driftwood (Feb 13, 2011)

thanks for the input, think I'll try the hair grass


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

What lighting do you have? I think it's hard to get dwarf hair grass to carpet unless you have fairly high light and CO2. Check out flame moss for a lower tech tank, it is similar to java moss but has more upward growth.


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## driftwood (Feb 13, 2011)

Yeah, thats another question I had. If Im gona try to grow some live plants, whats a good light system. All I have now is the cheap lights that come will most all aquariums


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## balutpenoy2oy (Dec 17, 2010)

driftwood said:


> I would like to have a grassy looking botton in my 55 gal. tank, would Java moss work for this, or would it be too wild growing?




Choose with these two; pygmy chain sword and micro chain sword


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

fake, or live. cause there is plant mats at petsmart for 12 dollars 2 per package. linden or springeri/boxwood


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## saltydad (Jun 27, 2008)

Dwarf hairgrass requires high light levels, so at the very least a HO system would be required.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

T5HO setups are by far the best you can do, IMO. Other lights will work, but for it to reach the depth you want adequately (grass carpeting), the light needs to be pretty good. Other lights will grow plants great, but not all will give you what you need at the bottom of the tank. Those plants are also higher in the difficulty range as well and can be a big pain in the a$$ to get them to propagate the way you want them to - spread thoughout an area. Trust me - been struggling with dwarf baby tears for a couple of months now. Anyway, you can do other plants like the last ones mentioned with a somewhat less expensive T8/T12 setup and get what you want. When you start getting into higher light areas you also potentially drive the need for things like fertilizers or CO2. Up to you on which way you go.


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## driftwood (Feb 13, 2011)

LOL, sounds like a big pain in the butt,. think I'll scrap that idea. thanks for the input, save me some hair pulling


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I just want to add,I have some microsword that is growing well in my 25.I have a total of 2 WPG and ferts when i remember.Its also shaded a little, and is growing nice.It will carpet and is much easier than the hairgrass,and less unruly than the java moss.


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