# Carpet for a non co2 tank?



## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Im looking for something I dont need co2 and a lot of light for. I nice low carpet for an iwagumi.


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## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

Not too many options, you could try riccia with some sort of plant net or ss mesh. 


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Hairgrass will work.
Riccia will too, but requires a lot more maintenance (I got sick of it quick).


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

simple and low maintenance sounds awesome how short is hairgrass?


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## ony (Apr 1, 2011)

Dwarf sag is great or a marsilea


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

cjj said:


> simple and low maintenance sounds awesome how short is hairgrass?


Oops, I meant dwarf hairgrass. It's about 1-3 inches tall. 
Regular hairgrass gets over 2 feet tall. Go for dwarf hairgrass.


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

Hydrocotle tripartita is pretty cool, if the tank is not already set up, I would suggest you dry start the tank.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Will the dwarf hairgrass etc do well and spread in low light? And how full does pennywort get?


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Dwarf hairgrass will grow, though slowly. It will still need some good substrate ferts and some excel/CO2 though.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

I got a large bag of miracle gro organic potting soil and a 50 lb bag of play sand I would rather not invest in any more substrate or co2 if possible


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

cjj said:


> I got a large bag of miracle gro organic potting soil and a 50 lb bag of play sand I would rather not invest in any more substrate or co2 if possible


If you want to give the grass a head start, go with a dry start.


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

Soil topped with sand is not the ideal substrate for growing carpets, hate to break it to you. Best case, even if you manage to fill the area you're carpeting, it won't be nice and dense.

Here is some H. tripartita, personally my favorite carpet plant. As always, best results are with plenty of fertilization.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Is there a cheap substrate that I can use in lieu of the sand readily available?


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

No, unfortunately there isn't anything cheap...


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

any inexpensive resolution?


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## babydragons (Mar 14, 2012)

What about s. repens? I have been thinking about using this as a carpet and I dont have co2 either.


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

How big is this tank?


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

babydragons said:


> What about s. repens? I have been thinking about using this as a carpet and I dont have co2 either.


I don't think S. repens would work, OP said they would like a low carpet.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Gnomecatcher said:


> How big is this tank?


55g

I like the dwarf hairgrass and the one that looks like a 4 leaf clover but its probably not gonna wanna spread over the sand? Its fine play sand I read on another forum the play sand was the easiest to spread through of inexpensive top substrates that will hold down the miracle gro maybe I misread.


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## Borikuan (Jun 4, 2012)

Go with the sand capped dirt, it will spread. Make sure your sand cap is not more than half an inch deep. Grab has many DHG pots has you can afford and start planting. Take alook at my 20L dirt tank in my sig. I started with 1 pot and did not spread it properly, it took over the left side of my tank already.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

I think im gonna try the dwarf hairgrass I dont see it on ebay wheres a good place to acquire some?


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

cjj said:


> I think im gonna try the dwarf hairgrass I dont see it on ebay wheres a good place to acquire some?


Post a thread in the WTB section.


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## Gnomecatcher (Sep 8, 2011)

Or try Bob's Tropical Plants

Bobstropicalplants.com


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## Dany08fa (Jul 3, 2012)

Moss carpet?


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## Zap brannigan (Sep 14, 2012)

I got hc sending out tons of runners in non co2 tank will be putting in st.repens in this weekend.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

IME most Lilaeopsis (microsword) and Eleocharis sp. poop out without CO2. L. mauritiana being the only one I've ever had do well in a non-CO2 tank.

Sagittaria, Helanthium (Echinodorus), and Marseila minuta are the others I've personally had do well in low light w/out CO2.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Anyone ever try elocharis sp?


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

cjj said:


> Anyone ever try elocharis sp?


Yeah, I have. I used the dry start method to grow mine. Helps it get established and spread quicker. Also plant each node separately in a checkerboard pattern to get the most spread.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Would that be feasible for what im trying to do?


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Gonna need your specs to figure that out. Light, tank size, ferts, and substrate.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

55g 2 cheap 200w hoods that came with the tank and miracle gro organic potting soil topped with some sand. Everything I can find seems to point towards it being the most tolerant of low light/co2.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

And as a side note finding any of these plants online is rather difficult in the US.


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## lpsouth1978 (Jun 22, 2012)

Try aquariumplants.com


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

Stock lighting on a 55gal? That's going to put you in the low Par range if I'm correct. Most iwagumi setups I've seen require medium to high lighting with pressurized CO2. That's especially true for larger, deeper tanks like the 55 gallon. I was able to get away with growing Eleocharis acicularis without CO2 in my 5 gallon because I did a dry start for a while. This was with a 27watt CFL bulb. Afterwards, CO2 was a must to get the growth to resume. To get that short, neat look, you're going to have to do some trimming. You you want to go with the non-CO2 route, look into dosing Excel/Metricide-14. It might help, though your lights are going to be a limiting factor on how much growth you get.

Post a thread in the WTB section.


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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Ok so far from the information ive gathered these would be my best bets for look/lower light/co2. 55 gallon, 34w of lights (wow thats terrible) gets a fair amount of window light however.

1. Elocharis parvula
2. Java moss
3. Riccia fluitens
4. P. Helferi
5. HC (risky)


Those are the ones im ok with the looks of so far it seems like the java moss has the highest % of people using it for this kind of thing. Sorry for the huge amount of questions and indecisiveness I like to make sure I know exactly what im gonna do and im trying to squeeze all the knowledge out of you guys possible as im new to this.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Out of that list, I think only the java moss is likely to do well under that light level.


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## Shrimpaholic (Jul 7, 2012)

Java Moss is cheap, grows fast, doesn't need any special substrate, or Co2. (grows fine in sand.) And grows under low lighting. I have medium low to low light in my 20g and it grows super fast. I have it covering my driftwood and rocks. And I have a little patch of a carpet in the corner of my tank. All I do is dose Aqueon Plant Food once a week. I have to cut my Java Moss every week to keep it low and nice like a carpet though.


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## Shrimpaholic (Jul 7, 2012)

Zap brannigan said:


> I got hc sending out tons of runners in non co2 tank will be putting in st.repens in this weekend.


What kind of lighting do you have?

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## cjj (Sep 11, 2012)

Two cheap 17w stock hoods that came with the tank. I think flame moss actually might be a bit more visually appealing than the java.


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