# Low light foreground/carpeting plants?



## StygianSteel (Apr 2, 2010)

Ok so I'm pretty new at this and basically have one of those starter kit kinda setups (my first tank). 20 gallon, standard 15 watt flourescent sort of hood, etc. Currently housing Amanos, Otos, a Dwarf Gourami, and numerous guppy fry. Currently it's planted with a couple Java ferns, a couple Anubias Nana, a Green Wendtii, and some dwarf sagittaria. The Java Ferns & Anubias have done great, little melt and slow grow on the Wendtii, not much out of the Sag.

I was looking for a plant to add that could have a carpeting effect/provide some good ground cover. Any suggestions? The Dwarf Sag hasn't really provided the sort of thick growth I mean. I've looked at Micro Swords (Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae), Dwarf Baby Tears (Hemianthus callitrichoides), and Dwarf Hair Grass (Eleocharis acicularis). In googling about some places say these require higher light while others say they've had success in lower light. The varied opinions have left me a little lost on what might do well and what would not.

Basically, I'm wondering what you guys might think is the best option for a beginner looking for a carpet in low light? Any success with these plants in low light setups?


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## fischman (Feb 22, 2010)

Marsilea Minuta was what I ended up getting to work. I believe the HC would have been fine, but I think you'd be best getting it started in a tank without fish. In my tank the fish bumped it and it'd float up. Even the current sometimes would cause it to float away. I was replacing nearly half of it every other day. Marsilea Minuta on the other hand seems to work very well.

Josh


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

A single T8/T12 bulb sitting right at the top of a 20 gallon tank doesn't give enough light to grow much of anything. Two bulbs might barely give you enough low light to grow the least demanding plants. But, I doubt a carpet plant growing with either one or two bulbs.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

You could try growing a Java Moss carpet, sandwiching the moss between 2 mesh plates.


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## Tenzo (Mar 10, 2010)

Some people have been growing glosso in low-tech tanks, I myself am going to try that soon, so I'll give you a heads up.


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## StygianSteel (Apr 2, 2010)

Hoppy said:


> A single T8/T12 bulb sitting right at the top of a 20 gallon tank doesn't give enough light to grow much of anything. Two bulbs might barely give you enough low light to grow the least demanding plants. But, I doubt a carpet plant growing with either one or two bulbs.


Well thanks for the negativity? It is two. Basically the 'standard' hood. I think you might be stretching it a little in terms of barely enough light for the least demanding low light plants. At least from what I've seen of some other nice low light/low tech setups. Not looking for extremely demanding plants... just a little additional planting. It is what it is... a starter setup for me trying out my first planted tank.



fischman said:


> Marsilea Minuta was what I ended up getting to work. I believe the HC would have been fine, but I think you'd be best getting it started in a tank without fish. In my tank the fish bumped it and it'd float up. Even the current sometimes would cause it to float away. I was replacing nearly half of it every other day. Marsilea Minuta on the other hand seems to work very well.
> 
> Josh


Thanks for the tip on Marsilea Minuta. Hadn't looked at or thought about that one. Might be the winner.



ZooTycoonMaster said:


> You could try growing a Java Moss carpet, sandwiching the moss between 2 mesh plates.


I thought about Java Moss as well, but I've heard Amano Shrimp will much on it and I have the feeling I might just be buying them a snack.



Tenzo said:


> Some people have been growing glosso in low-tech tanks, I myself am going to try that soon, so I'll give you a heads up.


Cool. I'd be interested to know how that gos.


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## StygianSteel (Apr 2, 2010)

PS would it be worth upgrading perhaps to two 20 watts? I was looking at these to up it from 30 watt (what the aqueon hood came with basically) to these - http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753932


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Any lighting upgarde would be helpful. And if you put out a golfball of two of java youre going to need ALOT of shrimp to keep it down.


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## StygianSteel (Apr 2, 2010)

chad320 said:


> Any lighting upgarde would be helpful. And if you put out a golfball of two of java youre going to need ALOT of shrimp to keep it down.


Think so? I know it can take over, but I figured with the lower light it might be slower growing and the Amanos might go to town. I've never tried amanos with java moss so I can't say for certain. I'll keep it in mind. I do like java moss and I had thought about putting it in to make for a safe haven for some other shrimp (cherries maybe).


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Any java that ive had has been picked over by shrimp but never actually noticeably eaten and id say it will take a herd of shrimp to keep down a couple golfballs grown in low light good water parameter conditions.


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## justinq (Dec 6, 2006)

The most satisfying carpet plant I've grown is the one I'm using now in my 54 gallon tank, which is E. tenellus micro "pink" (it doesn't really get pink in low light). This is a pygmy chain sword, but smaller than the common variety. I've had it growing for 7 months now at 1.5 WPG, it was one of the fastest plants to grow in and it's never gotten so tall that I needed to "weed" the tall strands out (this is a problem with regular pygmy chain and dwarf sags). I tried marsilea minuta once and its growth was so slow that it basically did nothing but sprout maybe one or two extra leaves and grow a bunch of BBA, and this was in my old high tech tank. Others have had good success with it though, so don't take my word for it. Elatine triandra is another good one that doesn't take extreme light. It grew really well for me at first, but after it filled in enough for me to prune it, it mysteriously started to die back. I read it was a nitrate hog, so maybe that's why, but I'm not really sure since it coincided with the pruning.


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## DES (Apr 8, 2010)

i have the minuta and they fill in real nice.....once it settles in..they grow like crazy.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

I've grown java moss as a carpet for awhile. check out the link to my tank in my signature if you're curious. I haven't had any issue with the shrimp eating it. Here's a photo


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## PzykoSkillz (Jul 6, 2010)

Anybody have any results to talk about? I'm debating on a low light carpet for mine.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

All of my tanks are low light, no CO2, and I've got carpets with the following:

Lilaeopsis mauritiana (29gal)
E. tenellus (all varieties-90gal & 46gal)
Marselia minuta (90gal)
Dwarf Sagittaria (90gal)
HM (46gal)

You can see pics of the tanks in my Journals- links are in my sig.

IME Hairgrass and most other Lilaeopsis sp. do better with CO2 than without.

I think any of the plants I listed above will EVENTUALLY carpet in a 20gal under your current lighting, but you'll have much better coverage and they'll fill in more quickly if you can double your light.

I wouldn't upgrade your lighting too much, though, unless you also want to add CO2 and start dosing ferts on the tank.


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