Groundcover Options?

[welchrock]

Looked around her on FF quite a bit but couldn't find much on this topic:

Wondering what would be some good, moderate-light groundcover plants? I am soon upgrading to a 2.1 gpw setup, with the goal of having moss successfully attach to my driftwood and groundcover plants covering what now is my pea-sized gravel.

As a guide I'm using images like this:



Probably unrealistic short of making a part-time job of it, but what would be some good plants to try such a look with? I plan to go CO2 injection at some point but not in the near future.

All help is appreciated.

[JustOneMore20]

Most ground covers (like the one in the pic) need high light and co2....or atleast moderate light and co2.

You could try Marsilea minuta, which looks similar to the one in the picture, but grows slower and tolerates lower light and no co2. Other options would be Dwarf Sagittaria and Echinodorus tenellus, although they are grassy looking and not low to the ground. E. tenellus 'micro' is a smaller version of the other, but still grassy like.

You won't have many options until you get co2...and even then your light may hold you back.

[welchrock]

Checked out Marsilea minuta online and it looks awesome! Thanks for the suggestion.

Maybe with it growing so slowly, I'll just have to buy more initially to satisfy my impatience.

As long as it grows at a rate faster than it rots/my fish eat it, I'll probably be happy. Anything is better than the submerged desert look I got going now.

[pokefan]

I've got MM planted in my tank now and it started with about 2wpg it showed a couple of sprouts but was indeed VERY slow. I can tell you though that when you buy it you'll need a lot to cover if you want it right away. I bought 80 nodes thinking that was a good amount it was only about 1"x3" patch, just to give you an idea of what your looking at when you buy. That's quite a bit to get a starter going planted about 1-2" apart with 2-3 nodes each but not much for thick cover.

[welchrock]

Are nodes essentially the same as stems? The only place I've found MM online thus far is here:

http://www.floridadriftwood.com/product.asp?3=850

$3.95 per...but I don't know 'per what'. I'll have to find out. I'm patient but not that patient, I'll pay for up to 10 if it covers a decent sized area.

Are the 80 nodes shown in your 10g planted (in your signature)? If so, I can barely see the little guys!

And more of a general question for you Pokefan or anyone else monitoring this thread - once your groundcover is planted, how do you siphon and vacuum it? Do you just avoid the planted area and let it get filthy? What I do now is straight vacuuming with my siphon, which would certainly put an end to any rooting of live plants.

[pokefan]

Yes, 1 node is a stem or leaf. they sprout up on leaf per. Your best bet to find it is head over to plantedtank.net and sign up and post in the swap n shop there.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/

That's where I got mine and you'll get much better prices and they're good people.

Yep those are them. Click on the picture and find the last images in the thread and you can see them a little better but like I said 80 nodes wasn't much it's just enough to get a start on it. They're starting to grow in though.

To clean it you'll just have to hover over and pick up what you can. get some bottom feeders and they'll pick through it as well.