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Mixed species carpet??

aquascape1987

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2014
Messages
368
Location
Leeds, West Yorkshire
I'm going to be planting my almost fully carpeted tank soon and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or experience/tips on growing a multi species carpet? I am currently thinking of glossostigma, Micranthemum, HC and also possibly Hydrocotyle Tripartita. Has anyone got any thoughts/ advice/pointers? Thanks in advance :)
 
Just go with it; let them fight it out and see what grows best...That said if you're aiming for a certain look you'll probably need to stay on top of trimming since certain species will inevitably do better than others i.e. H. tripartitia may have a tendency to dominate if left to its own devices - it's all just gardening.
 
Maybe throw in some dwarf hairgrass, imo hydrocotyle wouldn't work as it grows relatively large so it wouldn't really be a carpet any more. Unless trimmed every week or more it would smother the other plants.
 
Ye, I was thinking that about the hydrocotyle, and maybe thought I could use this further towards the back and higher up in the scape so as not to be part of the main carpet. Do you reckon that the hair grass would integrate well visually with the leaved carpet plants?
 
Hi
If your going to do a large carpet best if you grow them in a propagator first then lift the whole carpet and transfer it into a dry start tank for a few weeks to get the root systems to dig their heels in and attach to the aquarium substrate!
I have grown HC,Monte Carlo,Tom Barr mini hair grass & Hydrocotyle sp japan as a mixed carpet in a propagator on a window sill here in the UK....although this was a heated propagator!
ef05cb3a-7c33-4252-b7d9-d6b96f3bab5d_zps1a29cbfd.jpg
hoggie
 
Mixed carpet below left to its own devices for a month or so...E tenellus, Eleocharis acicularis 'mini', Glosso, Taxiphyllum barbieri, and H. tripartita. The H. tripartita has started to take over but I guess I'm lucky in that it tends to stay fairly close to the substrate. Both the T. barbieri and H. tripartita were given to me by George some years back now and have either been a constant in my scapes, both low and high energy or in wabi type things, so very enduring and versatile.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7528/16047542046_3ba66fa476_b.jpg
 
Marsilea hirsuta or Marsilea Crenata is a great one also to mix it up with your carpet. Crenata is a slow one, but looks beauty with it's tiny leaf.
If you use hydrocotile use the verticillata not the tripartita and you do not have to worry about runners

12702563145_6d70bc6055_b.jpg180L scape with background by viktorlantos, on Flickr

otherwise that is what will happen with Tripartita and your sweet carpet :) Here it is knocked out Elatine Hydropiper carpet :)

11105781403_d1a29a5f01_b.jpgGreen Aqua Showroom by viktorlantos, on Flickr

This is how it looked before we indroduced H. Tripartita :)

8288005309_def2b4b141_b.jpgGreen Aqua Showroom by viktorlantos, on Flickr
 
Wow, that H. Tripartita really took over!

My Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' (dwarf hairgrass) is starting to invade my Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo' carpet. So soon I will have my own mixed species carpet. Wether I want it or not :p

I hope it turns out nice :)
 
I'd recommend H. verticillata as well. About 10 years ago, I had a mixed carpet of glosso, H. verticillata and dwarf hair grass. Was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
I'm setting up a new scape at the end of this month that will include HV in a mixed carpet. It does put out runners though - Viktor, what did you mean by not having to worry about those? As always, great pics from you.
 
It does put out runners though - Viktor, what did you mean by not having to worry about those?

Yup sorry at least not as aggressive like H. Tripartita or Hydrocotyle Sibthorpioides. Easy to keep it under control
 
Always wanted to try something like this out! Be sure to keep us updated! Also the marsilea miss is a great idea!
 
Viktor - what size tanks are the last two pics? Looked amazing prior to the take over haha, really nice rooks and wood, which are they? Do you sell them?

Aquascape1987 - Hoggie and Troi both put great ideas forward and I have to 2nd there comments, plant it up and let the battle begin! As it grows if you like the particular shape, leaf size ect of a particular type allow that to dominate by cutting out its competition....Hoggies tip in particular will really help your wallet. Grow a fair size carpet then split into chunks and plant.

Mixed carpets with the odd bit of small twiggy wood poking out look really great, looking forward to see which route (no pun intended) you take :)
 
Wow. Some great feedback here guys,I really appreciate it. And I'm sure many others will too when they search a similar subject and come across this thread. Loads of great species suggestions.. Going to look into them all

Victor, your scape with the night sky background looks absolutely stunning. I'm currently scaping a juwel trigon and have had to resort to paying an acrylic manufacture company a fair bit of money to produce me a bespoke (made to my design) background that fits internally in order to cover the ugly corner joint at the back of the tank.
 
Will post a separate thread for the tank build. Won't be until 24th of Jan though as it goes into production tomorrow and won't be ready until 24th Jan. So I won't actually have it until then. But if u PM me ur email I can send you the sketch that I sent to the companies for an enquiry.
 
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