# In the market for a great dense carpet plant, any ideas?



## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Eleocharis sp 'belem' grows extremely dense after a while.


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

UG would be a good choice. I had great success with ET. You can see it in my 120p journal. Look at the last set of pictures. It would fit your needs as well.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

antbug said:


> UG would be a good choice. I had great success with ET. You can see it in my 120p journal. Look at the last set of pictures. It would fit your needs as well.


Holy Cow, thats a beautiful tank! That would be a plant I am looking for. Whats the name of the plant, besides UG? lol


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Monster Fish said:


> Eleocharis sp 'belem' grows extremely dense after a while.


 
I should have mentioned that I have tried this as well. It does grow fairly dense, take a while, but it does...unfortunaly it grows to tall for the small 10 gallon that I plan on using.

I was think UG (whatever this is, lol) or baby tear/dwarf baby tears as the substrtate.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Heck, even glosso would be nice to have.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Cinbos said:


> I was wondering what would be a nice compact and dense carpet plant? I have had Hydro sp. Japan, but that wasnt too dense for me. Grew well, but didnt like the fact that I had to press down in order for it to grow tighter, and after all that it really didnt become compact and dense.
> 
> What carpet plants would you all suggest besides Riccia and Hydro sp. Japan?


Hi Cinbos,

I would recommend Marselea minutea which does well in most conditions. Just an FYI that offering to buy or sell outside the FST sub-forum is not condoned by our Mods.

M. minuta in 30 gallon









M. minutea as planted on 12/6









Same tank on 1/10


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Cinbos said:


> I should have mentioned that I have tried this as well. It does grow fairly dense, take a while, but it does...unfortunaly it grows to tall for the small 10 gallon that I plan on using.
> 
> I was think UG (whatever this is, lol) or baby tear/dwarf baby tears as the substrtate. I am in the market for either of these. If anyone has any leads or knows of anyone selling then I am definitly interested.


You should of clarified the tank size and max height of the carpet you want to achieve.

Anyways, here's my 5 gallon with Eleocharis belem, just because. And this was before I mowed it down.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Thanks for the reminder.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

e. belem. will grow VERY dense. and if you have enough substrate, it wont uproot, since it grows its roots very deep, unlike HC and UG which only really grow into the top .75". however, if you dont have enough substrate, it will grab all the substrate and eventually just float up with some of your substrate. only had that happen once though.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Hey antbug, was this the plant you were referring to as the UG...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=126184&page=30


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Monster Fish said:


> You should of clarified the tank size and max height of the carpet you want to achieve.
> 
> Anyways, here's my 5 gallon with Eleocharis belem, just because. And this was before I mowed it down.


Wait, is Belem not the same as dwarf hair grass?


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

@[email protected] said:


> e. belem. will grow VERY dense. and if you have enough substrate, it wont uproot, since it grows its roots very deep, unlike HC and UG which only really grow into the top .75". however, if you dont have enough substrate, it will grab all the substrate and eventually just float up with some of your substrate. only had that happen once though.


yeah I have a nice amount of substrate for the 10, andI am also looking for a nice cap for the 10 as well. So plenting of substrate.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

antbug said:


> UG would be a good choice. I had great success with ET. You can see it in my 120p journal. Look at the last set of pictures. It would fit your needs as well.


Hey Ant, got a off topic question. What is your background? I know you said vinyl, but how did you apply it? It looks really clean and nice! My background for my 125 gallon is no where near as nice.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Cinbos said:


> Wait, is Belem not the same as dwarf hair grass?


Two different variants. Eleocharis acicularis is the regular dwarf hairgrass, the one most common in the US. It grows to 6 inches tall and has straight blades. Eleocharis sp 'Belem' aka Japanese hairgrass only grows to a max height of 2.5 inches while having leaf blades that curve to the side in every direction. Both will grow dense over time with enough pruning. However, in your case, Eleocharis sp 'Belem' would be best for you. It grows like a weed if you use pressurized CO2 and fertilize regularly.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Monster Fish said:


> Two different variants. Eleocharis acicularis is the regular dwarf hairgrass, the one most common in the US. It grows to 6 inches tall and has straight blades. Eleocharis sp 'Belem' aka Japanese hairgrass only grows to a max height of 2.5 inches while having leaf blades that curve to the side in every direction. Both will grow dense over time with enough pruning. However, in your case, Eleocharis sp 'Belem' would be best for you. It grows like a weed if you use pressurized CO2 and fertilize regularly.


Ok good to hear. I have had dwarf hairgrass, wasnt pleased with it too much. I will dose ferts 2 times a week and run a 2 liter of DIY Co2. 

I will say when I was in the process of moving, I left the 10 at my old place for 2 weeks untouched. Never had livestock in it so I wasnt to worried about it. Water did evaporate, I did not dose any ferts, and the DIY Co2 had ran out. Surprisingly the Hydro sp. Japan grew out of control. I was almost certain it would die off or brown out. Because of that experience, I want to take it a notch up and get a plant a little more demanding and nicer/cleaner looking that japan.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

Cinbos said:


> Hey antbug, was this the plant you were referring to as the UG...
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=126184&page=30


UG = Utricularia Graminifolia

You need good CO2 and flow to grow well. Otherwise not too bad. It gets very dense as it piles ontop of itself. Literally looks like a lawn underwater.

Trimmed out front portion on my 10 gallon.


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

Cinbos said:


> Hey antbug, was this the plant you were referring to as the UG...
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=126184&page=30


No that's the ET (elatine triandra). Great carpet plant.



Cinbos said:


> Hey Ant, got a off topic question. What is your background? I know you said vinyl, but how did you apply it? It looks really clean and nice! My background for my 125 gallon is no where near as nice.


I went to a sign shop and purchased the size and color I needed. It has a sticky side that you apply to the glass. A little water and a scraping tool to get the bubble out and it was in the tank. You will see a solid black after it dries. I just pulled it off and no mess or damage to my 700 tank . Way better than paint.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

antbug said:


> No that's the ET (elatine triandra). Great carpet plant.
> 
> 
> 
> I went to a sign shop and purchased the size and color I needed. It has a sticky side that you apply to the glass. A little water and a scraping tool to get the bubble out and it was in the tank. You will see a solid black after it dries. I just pulled it off and no mess or damage to my 700 tank . Way better than paint.


Wait, you applied this inside your tank? Were you not concerned about the stickt residue or anything of that nature?


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

Sorry on my tank, not in it.


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

Window tint works great too.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

antbug said:


> Sorry on my tank, not in it.


So what was the material again, and roughly how much?


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

Vinyl. The shop had a $20 minimum so that was the cost.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

I have H. Japan and I've ever had to press it down. It's a nice bright light green plant. You need to plant it correctly right from the get go and it will fill in on its own. Then again, I also have high light and high co2.

This is 3 weeks after planting. I have so much that I need to get rid of some ASAP.


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## Cinbos (Dec 8, 2012)

Thanks for all the help and reminders guys.


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