# Low Light Carpet Plant?



## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

You could try a plant like Mariselia quadrifoia or minuta.
They may work.


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## melauriga (Feb 19, 2009)

I use Marsilea and dwarf sagittaria for carpet plants in my low light tanks. However, some people have said dwarf sag grows taller than they expected in their tanks.


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## SvenBoogie (Jul 3, 2009)

melauriga said:


> I use Marsilea and dwarf sagittaria for carpet plants in my low light tanks. However, some people have said dwarf sag grows taller than they expected in their tanks.


Thanks, after looking into it, I really like the dwarf sagittaria idea...

Let me know if you ever have any extra! :red_mouth


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

for a ten gallon, Dwarf sag will look pretty 'big' in the forefront.....the Marsilea species seem to do the trick, under low light you'll need some patience for it to fill in....


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## skinz180189 (Jun 26, 2009)

How about a carpet of Java moss?


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## SvenBoogie (Jul 3, 2009)

LOL, this thread is severely tempting me to get some wattage over this 10g... hmm...


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Echinodorus tenellus (or Helanthium tenellum now, I guess) would probably be ok in low light too.


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## SvenBoogie (Jul 3, 2009)

I may just add some additional lighting, as it seems I could do it very very cheaply for this small a tank, anyone have any tips on setting that up? DIY or otherwise, really, cheap is always good...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I grew this E. tenellus 'narrow' carpet in exactly that setup:


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## roccov12345 (Apr 9, 2009)

dwarf sag carpet in 75g...


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

I use dwarf sagittaria for my groundcover and while it is with very different parameters than yours, it is a definite groundcover favorite of mine. It sets *great *roots, grows quickly and sends out runners very quickly to spread itself.

I'll try to post a picture of it within this thread soon. I swear I went from 3 plants to over 100 in 6 months or less. Pretty amazing but again, my parameters are very different than yours. Maybe someone with more experience with low-light setups can give you an idea of if it would flourish in your tank or not.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

SvenBoogie said:


> I may just add some additional lighting, as it seems I could do it very very cheaply for this small a tank, anyone have any tips on setting that up? DIY or otherwise, really, cheap is always good...


You can install an AHSupply 36w DIY PC kit in your stock fluorescent strip light. You will most likely need CO2 and ferts too. You can grow many more plants with this kit. I put a 36w kit in an Eclipse hood and had good success. AHSupply also offers canopies to put DIY kits in them. You can even build your own quite cheaply.

Some people like to get the two bulb incandescent strip lights or hoods and add screw in PC's. I've never done this, so I can't tell you all the specifics.


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

welchrock said:


> I use dwarf sagittaria for my groundcover and while it is with very different parameters than yours, it is a definite groundcover favorite of mine. It sets *great *roots, grows quickly and sends out runners very quickly to spread itself.
> 
> I'll try to post a picture of it within this thread soon. I swear I went from 3 plants to over 100 in 6 months or less. Pretty amazing but again, my parameters are very different than yours. Maybe someone with more experience with low-light setups can give you an idea of if it would flourish in your tank or not.



Here's a good shot of my dwarf sagittaria groundcover. It used to be a lot denser but only covered about 60% of the lefthand side, I have since thinned it out and hope to have the entire bottom covered in 3-6 months.


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## SvenBoogie (Jul 3, 2009)

I appreciate the replies, I am now officially at mid/high light (diy setup with 2 x 26w spiral CF bulbs), I'll be posting pics of the setup, but I'm waiting until the tank is in decent shape...


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