Ground Cover

[Satsumas]

Hi all,

I was set on Glossostigma for my 20gal long but now i am having second thoughts. I think i've gone off of it slightly and i'm leaning toward a grass plant to act as my ground cover. :?
At the moment i'm just browsing through websites, mainly the AGA Aquascaping competition and i'm looking for plants, ideas and inspiration.

The tank in question: It's a 20gal long, DIY CO2, 96W - around 4wpg.
(The light fixture is on it's way from the US, should be with me this week)
I should have enough light there for most ground covers but like i said i am leaning towards a grass but i'm still very much undecided.

Are there any reccomendations guys?

 

[GlitcH]

Stas..........that's 4.8 wpg.........plenty of light for any plant that I can think of.

If you can get your hands on it......Hemianthus callitrichoides is a very cool looking forground.

 

[Satsumas]

That looks really nice, i'll scout around for it. I still like glosso but i really want to have a good root around (no pun intended) for the ground cover's available to me. Yeah it is 4.8 wpg so i should be open to a wide range of plants. I was aiming for around 2.5/3 initially but then i came accross the 96W fixture on e-bay and it was within my price range so i thought why not.

I would really like a thick, lush green ground cover and with the right ferts glosso would give me that. I could also combine ground covers with regular pruning but i think i'll stick to one as i think it looks more natural. My problem is i keep changing my mind and opinions on things like the ground cover, lots of different plant species or lots of only 2-3 etc...

Thanks for the suggestion, i'll definately research that GlitcH!

 

[7Enigma]

Riccia is an absolutely gorgous plant that can be used for ground cover, however, I don't know how easy it would be to create a lawn from it (it does not root). I have seen people use a mesh covering to hold down plants like this which is then lightly covered with substrate. You get that lawn look without the fuss of trying to tie down plants. I recently recieved some glosso and riccia from GlitcH, and love both, but IF you could use the riccia for a lawn I personally think it looks better.

(I currently have the glosso as a lawn, and have a small piece of riccia held down by small rocks).

pic of the glosso:

pic of the riccia:

 

[Satsumas]

I did look at riccia but soon found out that it doesn't root which isn't too helpfull.
I was thinking about growing it on some wood but when i found out that it doesn't root that idea went out the window.

I've also seen the riccia mesh method but i'd prefer to plant into the substrate.
The riccia does look really quite good i think and as the sole ground cover in a tank it would really look good. I'm tempted to give the riccia a go!

 

[rkilling1]

you may also want to look into Elatine Tiandra.

 

[7Enigma]

I've seen it in pictures before, but you really need to see it in person to appreciate just how beautiful the riccia is. Like you, though, I wanted a truly "carpet-like" plant, so went with the glosso.

 

[Satsumas]

I can't seem to find much on the Elatine Tiandra but the pictures i've seen it looks really nice, i don't mean to sound like an old record but i do like everything suggested so far!
I'm not too good at making decisions either!

EDIT: I may be moving my BN pleco accross and was wandering if she'd uproot any groundcover?

 

[7Enigma]

I can't seem to find much on the Elatine Tiandra but the pictures i've seen it looks really nice, i don't mean to sound like an old record but i do like everything suggested so far!
I'm not too good at making decisions either!

EDIT: I may be moving my BN pleco accross and was wandering if she'd uproot any groundcover?

You might then want a bit of each and try your hand at growing them in separate patches. Depending on your tank conditions one might grow better than the other, and so you won't have to decide, your tank will decide for you!

Just don't let them touch since I hear its a PITA to get them untangled...

 

[Satsumas]

I suppose that is the best thing to do 7Enigma, then i can see which ones i prefer.
I doubt i'll be able to make a decision though!

At the moment i only seem to have the Hemianthus, Glossostigma and Riccia available to me so the Elatine Tiandra might escape me which is a shame. I'll keep looking as i have a few days and i might find a dealer somewhere.

Can Glosso or Hemianthus be tied to wood?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Here's some E. Tiandra....

 

[Zezmo]

Here is a repost of some info that I had put into another post which was asking about grasslike foreground plants:
In addition to those listed below, I have recently aquired some Utricularia graminifolia, which is a grasslike forground plant which is also carnivorous...soo cool

There are lots of choices for grasslike/lawnlike plants that stay under 3 inches.

Echinodorus tennelus:

Ranalisma rostratum:

Echinodorus tennelus "Red"

Blyxa japonica

Cryptocoryne parva

Eriocaulon sp "Guang Zhou"

Dwarf hairgrass

 

[Satsumas]

I really like the Tiandra LWB. Although it's in my top 4 which has no preferance!

I'm keen on the dwarf hair grass, i've been looking at that and i'm pretty certain i'll use some, or at least a similair plant. I read that you really need to seperate clumps as they are prone to rot if they are too close.

Eriocaulon sp "Guang Zhou" looks nice, i want to have a lush, dense ground cover but then also use slightly taller plants like these.

I think i've got some crypt parva in my established tank and it's on my list for the taller grass like plant.

That's a really nice picture with the Echinodorus tennelus "Red" in it.
A red ground cover! That's just showing off!