Ground cover plant + distributors

[zenkatydid]

I currently have 1wpg, but will be upgrading to 2wpg + DIY CO2 within the next few months. When I do this, I want to have some sort of ground cover. It will need to be a pretty common plant, as we don't have a great deal of interesting species available around here. I would like something that is fairly fast-growing so that it will cover my tank in not-a-million-years, but I also don't really want to be doing trimming every other day. Suggestions?

On a similar note, does anyone know of any Australian online plant distributors?

 

[djlen3]

There are a few ground covers that would work for you based on your specs.
Eleocharis sp., also known as hair grass is a nice fined ground cover, and E. tenellus is also a nice cover. Both will spread and cover your substrate, but not be difficult to control.
You may have to go on line for them or ask fellow plant keepers for some as they are not usually available locally unless you have a really complete LFS.

Len

 

[Jchillin]

I don't know of any retailers in Australia but, you could check Aquabid.com and search for a local member.

In regard to your question, finding a ground cover that meets your specs may not be easy. Those that grow slow need more light than 2wpg and those that don't will need constant trimming. I have to clip my dwarf sag at least once a week or bi-weekly. Same thing with stargrass when I had that as well.

 

[zenkatydid]

i do like the look of the E. tenellus, thanks!

ok, well i am willing to do more maintenance if that's what it takes. i think i would prefer something with leaves, rather than something really fine like moss, if that helps at all.

would i be able to grow glosso in my tank?

 

[djlen3]

Difficult to say.....this is very close. Is the 2 wpg going to be CF? How far from the light will the glosso be? In a 5 or 10 or even a 20 long where it doesn't have too much water to penetrate you have a shot at it growing low for you. Glosso has a tendency to grow vertically unless it gets the light it needs.
I would try it if you've only got a short distance between light source and plant.

Len