RonDutt

I'll be starting another tank shortly that I want to look as beautiful as possible (mom's letting me put one in the living room!). I was wondering if there are any plants that I can use in place (or on top) of gravel/sand? I want to cover the entire bottom of the tank (45g) in green! No fish will be in it for a while (letting it be a plant tank for a month or two), so I don't want to make a plant only tank and later find out I can't put any fish in it.

aquarist48

Hello RonDutt. Here is a link you may find helpful:
PlantGeek.net - Echinodorus amazonicus
Ken

RonDutt

Thanks for the link Ken! I'm looking for something more like grass or moss to just cover the entire bottom of the tank. The Amazon Sword would do but I would have to plant a lot of them and make sure they essentially suffocate so they stay small.

aquarist48

Ron check out the entire site at Plant Geek. You can do a search for the type of plant you're looking for there as well
Ken

Beth1965

Another good place to look is at aquabid.com
do a search under plants and then take a look at mosses, you'll find something there.
Can't wait to see pics.
Welcome to Fishlore!

MissMTS

Sounds like a fun tank Carpet plants (which is what you are talking about) require about 3WPG minimum. If you get the correct lighting, HC (dwarf baby tears) and Dwarf Hair Grass should both work well depending on what look you are going for. I have two tanks set up right now with one in each, but they haven't grown in and covered the bottom yet. BTW, I agree, plant geek is a fantastic site

Nate McFin

I agree about lighting. It takes alot of light to grow a carpet.To grow things like dwarf hairgrass, hemianthus callitrichoides, and riccia you will need more light and as a result Co2 of some sort.
Some exceptions might be moss. You can use plastic crochet mats to attach the moss to and as it grows out it will spread across the mat. It makes for a neat carpet albeit not terribly grass like.
Another option is dwarf sag which grows well in low light and in a sand substrate.
I too love plantgeek!

eiginh

I like the look of glosso, it spreads faster than most carpet plants. Like the suggestions given you need high light and there fore you will also need co2 and other nutrients. Do you like tall or short carpet plants? For tall plants there are Blynx, Dwarf Sag, Dwarf Hair Grass. For short plants there are glosso, dwarf baby tears, riccia, HC/cuba, and more.

Here's a sample photo of glosso:
Glosso - http://www.aquabotanic.com/contest/2.../15/glosso.jpg
Dwarf hairgrass

Hi MissMTS - I haven't seen you on for awhile! Welcome Back.

mathas

Another plant to keep on the prospective carpet list is Marsilea minuta. It does not require high lighting and CO2, though it will grow faster in that type of environment. I had a small patch that grew just fine on 1.4 WPG and no CO2, until I got tired of my rams and cories uprooting it several times a week.

http://www.plantgeek.net/plant-287.htm

RonDutt

Thanks for all the great tips! I think I'll get a mash of a few low growing ones mixed with some colorful ones. I'm tempted to start a 3rd saltwater tank now (spent 3 hours at the LFS---MAJOR fish geeks--and they had some beautiful coral and floral saltwater setups, along with a tank full of beautiful sea horses!).