Good lowlight ground cover plants

[Fraser]

Hi all, I have a few low tech, fairly low light planted tanks. I was wondering if anyone can suggest some good ground cover plants that would be suitable in a low light tank?
Any input would be much appreciated

 

[mattcham]

I am also looking for low light plants to carpet the foreground. I know java moss is low light but its not exactly carpet-like. Does dwarf hair grass need lots of light? Also, can increasing the number of hours of light (eg 18 to 20 hours of light) make up for dim light?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

You can try dwarf sag. It's fairly low light friendly.

Another option would be to make a bunch of flame moss tiles with stainless steel mesh. Flame moss grows vertical and less sporadic than java moss (and other moss species). Once the flame moss grows some, the mesh should disappear under it. You can trim it like grass.

@Matt - DHG needs moderate to high light. Comprehensive fertilizer and carbon source like glut or CO2. While having low light does allow you to run your lights longer than normal, you would still need more intense lighting for DHG to thrive.

 

[schoeplein]

Longer light periods generally cannot make up for lack of sufficient lighting. A significant part of the growth cycle occurs during the lights out stage. A large quantity of short crypts could carpet a low light tank, but it will take quite a while.

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[mattcham]

Thanks Brian and Schoeplein. What is the full name of dwarf sag and crypt (just so I can look them up)? Thanks!!!

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[clarkm]

Dwarf sagataria is a good lowlight carpet plant. I have had mine two months and it's starting to spread.

 

[Fraser]

Thanks for the input!!

 

[Jev12]

Yes I agree dwarf saggitaria (saggitaria subulata) and crypt Parva could make nice little low light carpets...but as mentioned earlier the crypt Parva will definitely take quite a bit of time so you would need to start out with a large amount of it