# Low light carpet plants?



## JMN16150 (Jul 21, 2012)

echinodorus tenellus and hydrocotyle tripartia


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

JMN16150 said:


> echinodorus tenellus and hydrocotyle tripartia


The 1st seems good, but the 2nd seems to require high light and CO2.

I like the pygmy chain sword and it's easy to find.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

DHG is easy but slow.


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## Colorful (May 14, 2012)

psalm18.2 said:


> The 1st seems good, but the 2nd seems to require high light and CO2.
> 
> I like the pygmy chain sword and it's easy to find.


I'm growing hydrocotyle japan in low light and it seems to be carpeting pretty well. You just have to keep trimming it.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Lilaeopsis Chinensis


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

h4n said:


> Lilaeopsis Chinensis


I like the looks of this one a lot.


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

Colorful said:


> I'm growing hydrocotyle japan in low light and it seems to be carpeting pretty well. You just have to keep trimming it.


What happens if not trimmed regularly?


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## JMN16150 (Jul 21, 2012)

It grows into a clump or mini mountain


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## Tmuck44 (Mar 17, 2013)

dwarf sag usually works


_Posted from Plantedtank.net App for Android_


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## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

Pearlweed in decent light fills in fast and is pretty pretty... Brb with a pic.. gotta disturb some shrimp..


Soooooo, two one inch stems planted a month apart. Just because it doesn't kiss the ground does not disqualify it from being ground cover. I had read about the plant and its cousins long before acquiring them... I suggest you do the same for any plant... Ps... Lilaeopsis is a butt.... Trust me...










Here's my lilaeopsis "foreground" in another tank after a year, neither have been co2 injected or supplemented.


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## Chronados (Jan 28, 2013)

Marsilea species (like minuta or hirsuta)
Belem hairgrass (grows a bit slow without medium light/rich substrate though)


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

Carpet plants aren't overly picky about their light levels. They care more about having the nutrients and CO2 required to meet their needs at the given light level. I'm growing the living daylights out of HU Monte Carlo at ~40 PAR with good CO2 and ferts. Balance that and you can grow pretty much anything. If you're referring to what carpet plants do good in lower CO2 levels, then things mentioned above will fit your bill. Crypt parva is a good one as well.


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

I don't want to use CO2 in a mini tank, 2.50g.


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## SunDevil76 (Jul 24, 2013)

Like mentioned before, Echinodorus Tenellus or Pygmy Chain Sword should look nice. I have some in my 25gal. It's going crazy in my tank under high-light with Excel dosing (DIY CO2 coming soon) but when I had low-light it still grew just not as rapid.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I find Hydrocotyle to carpet easily. Belem hair grass will grow slowly but stay much lower than Dwarf Hairgrass. 

I find Glosso does OK but here is the caveat. It may not actually carpet under low light but if you trim it, replant, then just repeat the process, it will look good, stay compact enough for a long time, and is easy. You will need to trim it to keep it low but in low light, it tends to slow enough to not be a headache for me.


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

freph said:


> Carpet plants aren't overly picky about their light levels. They care more about having the nutrients and CO2 required to meet their needs at the given light level. I'm growing the living daylights out of HU Monte Carlo at ~40 PAR with good CO2 and ferts. Balance that and you can grow pretty much anything. If you're referring to what carpet plants do good in lower CO2 levels, then things mentioned above will fit your bill. Crypt parva is a good one as well.


I've got some Monte Carlo in my 10g shrimp tank with DIY C02 and it seems to be doing OK. Anyone try growing it with Metricide? 
It's either that or Hydrocotyle Japan. I'm thinking of planting both a seein which one does best. 
Anyone grow a tight carpet with either with no C02 injection??


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## Subtletanks91 (May 29, 2013)

How tall does crypt parva get? I'm thinking about doing this in my 55 with co2 two 6500k t5no and weekly flourish and iron and lef zone dosing. I desperately need a carpeting plant.


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## Orangespotted (Oct 14, 2013)

If you feel like it, certain mosses can grow in lower light. You might want a grid of some sort to get the carpet cling started if your substrate doesn't lend much to rhizome attachment. The low light also discourages algae from overtaking the mosses.


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