Low Maintenance Carpetting Plant

[Joecoral]

is there such a thing? that doesnt require constant trimming/"mowing" ?

 

[Matt Holbrook-Bull]

some of the crypts are quite nice and dont require much maintenance.. just pulling it up where you dont want it.

Hemianthus C. not too bad either.

Glosso is a thug though and needs a firm hand to keep it in check... itll go nuts upwards, outwards anywaywards.. also needs replanting from time to time to prevent dead patches.

 

[ceg4048]

Actually I've found that HC require frequent trimming otherwise it tends to pull up in large mats.

Try either the new Tropica staurogyne, which in my tank grows a lot of aerial roots.

or a much lower maintenance ground cover plant Pogostemon helferi

Cheers,

 

[Ed Seeley]

Marsilea hirsuta looks like glosso and is much slower growing IME. It will also grow in lower light conditions too.

 

[Joecoral]

hmmm, i might just bite the bullet and go for glosso. will have ~2.2WPG and pressurised CO2 which should be sufficient
is weekly trimming enough for glosso, or even more frequently?

 

[Matt Holbrook-Bull]

hmmm, i might just bite the bullet and go for glosso. will have ~2.2WPG and pressurised CO2 which should be sufficient
is weekly trimming enough for glosso, or even more frequently?

should be fine.. its a nice easy plant provided it has enough ferts. Also easy to farm quite a quantity from not very much so its cheap as well. Weekly trimming is fine.. you could get away with less than that.

 

[Wilis]

Marsilea hirsuta looks like glosso and is much slower growing IME. It will also grow in lower light conditions too.

I agree with Ed here it's a lovely little plant a bit like four-leaf clover n definitely slower growing than glosso. Another alternative is Bacopa Australis.

Conversely if you wanted a more 'grasslike' carpet, provided light is of a sufficiently high intensity & it's not overshadowed by surrounding plants, Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis will give you a very nice slow growing foreground lawn

 

[JamesM]

Bacopa Australis is a mid to back ground stem plant, not seen that as a carpet plant before

 

[Wilis]

Hi James,

I've not personally had any experience with Bacopa Australis but came across it in my 2007/8 catalogue & was looking at it with interest possibly for my next tank? Here's a quote from Tropica:

"Bacopa australis was discovered in southern Brazil (australis = southern), and it does not come from Australia, as might otherwise be assumed from its name. Like the other Bacopa species, Bacopa australis is also easy to grow in an aquarium. Under certain conditions it creeps across the bottom to form an elegantly decorative light green cushion. When Bacopa australis grows in a good light, the leaves become reddish. It is easily propagated by taking side shoots and planting them in the substrate."

If anyone has been able to grow it like this I'd be interested to know the conditions?

 

[JamesM]

Thanks for that, would be interesting to know what conditions it needs for this behaviour as you say.

Mine grows tall, but I keep it trimmed to about 6".

This might help too: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2009&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=australis

 

[Wilis]

Shame about the rotala rotundifolia!lol but yeah that Oliver Knott link is interesting thanks, that bacopa looks how yours sounds if you catch my drift!?
Also that tank is deep at 70cm, maybe it needs very intense light to stop it reaching up & to carpet, sound plausible?
How deep is your tank from the substrate & how many wpg?

 

[JamesM]

12" deep and 2.7 w/g.