Small background plants for nano tank?

[Alice O]

Hello all!
My first post here (have been lurking for a couple of years, thanks for all the useful info so far!)
I won't bore everyone with my entire fishkeeping "journey" as it's irrelevant and fairly unremarkable.
I've been running a planted nano tank for about 3 years but it's fallen into disrepair and now looks pretty post-apocalyptic, thanks to a year of commuting and inadequate maintenance by me... never really got the tank back after that. Anyway, I'm now in a position where I have the time to re-do it and (excitingly) am also travelling to Japan in May so will hopefully be able to pick up some ADA/ other good aquarium stuff a bit cheaper in Tokyo?

Tank specs for anyone who's interested (this seems to be what people include in their posts but please skip to the end if you don't care)
Tank dimensions: L 56cm/ 22in x W 30cm/ 12in x D 27cm/ 10.5in (I can't remember how many litres this is with all the stuff in it)

What I had:
Iwagumi layout with rocks + a bit of driftwood, crypts at the back (can't remember what sort, they're a bit red/brown), Micranthemum tweediei "monte carlo" carpeting at the front, java moss on the driftwood. Sand in the foreground, ADA amazonia soil underneath at the back. I think power sand was also involved in the setup.
CO2 from cannister via diffuser placed under filter inlet (if the inlet is the bit where water comes into the tank?). ONF flat nano LED (60 units?) light on timer. Oase Filtosmart 60 with ceramic bits + sponge + carbon (not sure if these were ever in the correct order). Dennerle nano heater (might need replacing).
Livestock: amano shrimp + rummy-nosed tetras. These were the last of my worries.

Problems:
Crypts seem to be uncontrollable and have gradually taken over the whole tank. Roots are massive and cause chaos if I try to pull them up.
Monte Carlo was gradually consumed by the java moss. Trimming the moss was annoying as it sinks, making it impossible to stop it "seeding" itself everywhere.
Sand has all but disappeared and I now have a soil/gravel mixture across the whole tank (but stopped trying to do anything about this around a year ago!)
I'm not sure I ever really paid enough attention to light hours vs CO2.

Vision for this time:
Low-maintenance (within limits of being a planted tank!)
Similar layout again as the rocks are nice. Would probably aim to use some kind of mesh etc to limit soil/sand mixing.
Monte carlo again but NO java moss
Will definitely be doing a dry start again as I thought this was excellent last time.
Tempted to do single plant species for simplicity + have a really stripped-back look, but I think it's nice for the fish to have something to hide in.

So...
I'm looking for advice on slow-growing/ slow-replicating plants with a max height of 6in or under, to plant along the back of the tank, or just in a couple of clumps.
Open to the idea of grasses (but I imagine these are hard to prevent from spreading everywhere).
Also any tips on how to stop things spreading beyond their desired area... pull them out as soon as they appear? Plant them in a little pot? Does cutting them make the problem worse? (It definitely seems to with the crypts).

Thanks in advance to anyone who's read this far!

 

[Jorge O'Reilly]

You could replace the Java moss with Fissidens. I have personally done this swapping the IMMENSELY annoying Java with a native variety of what I believe to be fissidens. Beutiful, and I have not trimmed it in more than a year. As for plants, CO2 tanks are beyond my experience, sorry.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Welcome to UKAPS.

I'm looking for advice on slow-growing/ slow-replicating plants with a max height of 6in or under, to plant along the back of the tank, or just in a couple of clumps.

<"Cryptocoryne x willisii">? I really like <"Bolbitis heudelotii">, it will get big eventually, but only really slowly.

Over time I've got rid of all my stem plants, and I just use a floating plant <"What is the “Duckweed Index” all about?"> as my "stem" for <"nutrient reduction duties">.

For <"slow growing plants"> I mainly use epiphytes, so mosses, ferns and Aroids like <"Anubias barteri"> and <"Schismatoglottis prietoi">.

cheers Darrel

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Crypts seem to be uncontrollable and have gradually taken over the whole tank.

Not necessarily a bad thing. @ElleDee found similar while she did <"less tank maintenance than usual">.

Looking good!
I like that first tank so stuffed full of crypts.

I agree, but it's hard to see the livestock - there are shrimp and a couple chili rasbora in there.

Still, if there's anything I've learned over the last few years it's that crypts are my favorite. You've gotta wait for them to grow in, at least without supplementing CO2.

cheers Darrel

 

[MichaelJ]

Crypts seem to be uncontrollable

Depends on the species. I lost track of the names I keep, but I probably have about 5-6 different species... some grows very slowly some fast.

and have gradually taken over the whole tank. Roots are massive and cause chaos if I try to pull them up.

Yes, they tend to develop massive root systems - the best approach in order not to disturb the substrate is just to cut them down but leave a couple of leafs to avoid root rot ( if that even makes sense ?). I've done that on a couple of occasions.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[palcente]

Yes, they tend to develop massive root systems - the best approach in order not to disturb the substrate is just to cut them down but leave a couple of leafs to avoid root rot ( if that even makes sense ?). I've done that on a couple of occasions.

Cheers,
Michael

You probably don't even need to leave anything above the surface. They somehow always survive for me - a bit like like cockroaches 😂

 

[ElleDee]

How attached are you to injecting CO2? If low maintenance is really a goal, that's a really great way to slow things down. If you balance the tank well it can be very forgiving about water changes even. Monte Carlo might be tough, but people have done it before successfully and I would think a nano tank with a good light like you have would be an ideal situation to try. Perhaps you can get it established with CO2 and then remove it later?

That's my nano tank with all the crypts above and it's a UNS 5N - only 8.66" tall, so the "big" ones in this tank are about 6" - C. wendtii 'Green Gecko' in the back left, C. becketii is the bronze one in the center, C. x purpurea is the mottled one on the right. I kept the crypts in check for a long time, but I eventually removed almost everything else and let them go, but it took them years to get to this state without CO2.

Darrel has implicitly suggested this, but there are quite a few java ferns that top out around the height you are looking for. They are slow growing and easy to split if they get too big since they aren't buried in the soil.

 

[hydrophyte]

Crypts are the best of all aquarium plants IMO.

 

[erwin123]

Eriocaulon Vietnam Eriocaulon 'Vietnam' - good alternative to Helanthium Bolivianum 'Quadricostatus'
Eriocaulon Japan Eriocaulon 'Japan' / 'Polaris' - alternative to Vallisneria 'Nana'
Both max about at about 15-20cm.

I love Crypts too! I feel that the E. Japan with its Vallisneria-like leaves (but maxxing out at 15-20cm) would add a nice contrasting leaf shape to the crypts.