Best substrate for carpet plants

[Friendly]

In your opinion, what would be the best substrate for carpet plants like glosso and clover?

 

[czcz]

The best I've used for carpets is ADA Aquasoil, but my only other experience in with Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil/Profile. Schultz worked fine, but is too lightweight.

Eco-Complete's different grain sizes and nutrients makes me think it is the best. Logically, the slightly larger grained top layer will allow the runners to creep while giving the effect of leaves hugging the substrate. I recall reading of some aquarists who felt medium-small grained substrate helped with low grown glosso. (Thoughts?)

IME the secret to nice glosso is more N, micros, light and CO2 than substrate, for whatever it's worth.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I second Eco Complete.... I use it myself.

 

[malkore]

my plants definitely seem to root easier in Eco than flourite. took several tries to get glosso to take hold in the flourite.

 

[Glenc]

I have a carpet of hemianthus callitrichoides "cuba" in my tank 24" long X6" wide. It grew in like this in 6 months. High light and CO2 helped to! As per advice from this forum, It is grown in eco-complete. Don't think you can beat it, especialy for carpet plants.

 

[czcz]

Fantastic picture! You gotta start posting these in the gallery, man.

 

[Friendly]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like Eco Complete is the way to go.

I really wish I had started out with eco but unfortunately I barely knew anything about planted tanks back then. Like Malkore, I'm having a hard time getting my glosso to root in my larger sized regular gravel/flourite substrate. I got some of it to root and it did spread nicely, but there is still a bunch not planted properly. When I do get the individual pieces of glosso in the substrate, my larger amano shrimps will uproot them because the large substrate doesn’t hold the glosso very well.

What I want to do is get some eco and add a layer of it where I want my glosso to grow. I would remove some substrate first so that when I add in the eco it will all be leveled out.

Btw, Glen your carpet looks really nice!

 

[SkullJug]

I use a layered substrate of gravel then loam/vermiculite topped with sand. My Glosso has grown really well. That being said I think Glosso is more about waterborn nutrient and lighting then good substrate. This is the best substrate I've ever used but it can be a real pain in the arse. Only use it if you are growing low bushy plants. If you are constantly having to trim and replant cuttings from plants that are hitting the top of the tank it will mess it up pretty badly.

Light is the real key - Lots and lots of light!