# Ground cover plant for this aquarium?



## Akeath (Dec 28, 2009)

I'm trying to think of a short, dense ground cover for my 10 gallon aquarium: 








Try to ignore the yellow plants in the middle, they are actually green, the camera always wants to reflect the yellow from the caves onto things...
Since I already have plants with the elongated and slender leaf thing going on I'm trying to find a ground cover that is short, dense, and which has a leaf type that is dissimilar from the plants already in my aquarium. I'd prefer if it didn't take over my hardscape too. 
This is my first attempt at a planted aquarium, so it would be good if it wasn't a difficult plant to keep. The substrate is eco-complete, it does have Nutrafin plant gro fertilizer, but no CO2 injection. Lighting is a floraglo aquarium bulb - 20 watts

My ultimate vision is: The ground cover to form a short carpet that stays mostly just on the substrate. The wisteria that I have in the center back to form a tall wall back there, the Amazon Sword to be in the other corner looking lovely like it is now, the 3 Java Ferns to fill out and be trained so they become living cave walls to the ornament they are attached to, and that Pennywort I just planted I'll probably move to a corner in the aquarium and allow to grow from the bottom to the top and spread over some of the surface as a floating plant.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Marislea minuta would look good and be easy.


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

hairgrass? All other sort of low growing carpeting plants require Co2


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## Jadelin (Sep 30, 2009)

chad320 said:


> Marislea minuta would look good and be easy.


+1. That's what I was going to suggest.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Glosso or marsilea.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Is the substrate plain gravel? Because that simply won't work for any groundcover/carpet plants...


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

I believe he said that the substrate is eco complete.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Woops! I'm sorry!


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## Aquascapejackson (Feb 25, 2011)

I agree with Marislea minuta, I think it will fit the look of your tank well. Also are those caves fake because they look great for fake rocks.:red_mouth


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## Akeath (Dec 28, 2009)

Thank you for the replies! Those are lovely plants. I think I'll get the marsilea once the plants I have in there already have grown a bit more. 
The caves are indeed fake. They are "Topfin Rock Caves", Petsmart carries them pretty regularly. Topfin makes 3 different designs of them that all match, I only had room for 2.


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## Elliot (Oct 3, 2010)

Hc.


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## astrosag (Sep 3, 2010)

HC is not going to work well without CO2 and high light (something I sense the OP wants to avoid).

How about Lilaeopsis mauritiana...low light, no CO2 grass.


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## Blax (Feb 8, 2011)

i too am looking for a carpet plant for one of my 10 gallon tanks. But what i have so far microsword which looks nice but it grows incredibly slow


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