Low Tech Carpet Recommendation

I am planning to set up a 3rd tank, a Landen 30Q. It is 30cm cubed and holds approximately 7 gallons of water. My 2 gallon cube ended up being unfit for the Taiwan Bee shrimp I want to keep as they are incompatible with a high tech planted environment and using remineralized RO instead of my tap caused the pH to drop into the 4s.

So, in the new setup I want to keep everything lowtech, or at least "medium tech".

Lighting will be a Chihiros A301 on medium intensity.

My question is, with an aquasoil substrate and a good comprehensive fertilizer, would dwarf hairgrass (e. parvula) be possible without CO²? I would prefer not to use larger "carpets" such as sag or pearlweed, though I'm not opposed to microswords.

Recommendations please, this tank won't be set up for at least 2 months anyway so I have plenty of time.

 

DHG could probably slowly work with soil substrate and good light like the chihiros. Monte carlo is a classic, marsilea is also good for no CO2 but is slow growing.

Here's a guide by Dennis Wong on carpets without CO2
Carpeting plants without CO2

 

DHG could probably slowly work with soil substrate and good light like the chihiros. Monte carlo is a classic, marsilea is also good for no CO2 but is slow growing.

Here's a guide by Dennis Wong on carpets without CO2
Carpeting plants without CO2

Opinions on doing dry-start first? Not sure how it would fare since I won't be utilizing CO².

Thanks for the link btw!

 

Opinions on doing dry-start first? Not sure how it would fare since I won't be utilizing CO².

Thanks for the link btw!

Would Cryptocoryne parva work?
I don't know a ton about it but I've always been curious. From what I gather it needs medium light and a good substrate.
I've heard it grows very slowly though.

 

Would Cryptocoryne parva work?
I don't know a ton about it but I've always been curious. From what I gather it needs medium light and a good substrate.
I've heard it grows very slowly though.

I have a few sprigs in my high tech 2 gallon and even with high light, daily fertilizers and 35ppm CO² it is a slow grower. It is also prone to algae because of it's slow rate of growth. With shrimp in the tank that's not as much of an issue but I let my shrimp tanks mature for an additional month or so after cycling before adding livestock.

 

does anybody know a good place to get DHG ?
That would be helpful to me, thanks

 

does anybody know a good place to get DHG ?
That would be helpful to me, thanks

Usually I get my stuff from Buceplant.com, but after their big sale they are currently out of a LOT of popular plants and CO² accessories.

 

I have a few sprigs in my high tech 2 gallon and even with high light, daily fertilizers and 35ppm CO² it is a slow grower. It is also prone to algae because of it's slow rate of growth. With shrimp in the tank that's not as much of an issue but I let my shrimp tanks mature for an additional month or so after cycling before adding livestock.

Yeah the slow growth algae issue makes sense. All well, just a thought.

 

I’m growing DHG in low tech, high light. I dose 2 pumps of easy green a week, it’s a lot but it helps, and I don’t really get algae(besides green hair algae). Tank is also dirted capped with sand. It grows really slow.

I can post a picture if you want

 

I’m growing DHG in low tech, high light. I dose 2 pumps of easy green a week, it’s a lot but it helps, and I don’t really get algae(besides green hair algae). Tank is also dirted capped with sand. It grows really slow.

I can post a picture if you want

Actually yeah, that would be great.

My substrate will be Controsoil. I like the idea of a dirted tank but you can't do any really dynamic aquascapes like you can with commercial substrates.

 

Actually yeah, that would be great.

My substrate will be Controsoil. I like the idea of a dirted tank but you can't do any really dynamic aquascapes like you can with commercial substrates.

Second picture shows the light I use..A dome fixture with a 24W 6500k CFL bulb.

 

View attachment 517658
Second picture shows the light I use..A dome fixture with a 24W 6500k CFL bulb.
View attachment 517659

Looks really good! Dirt can grow carpets well because organics break down and release available carbon. Not sure if a commercial soil substrate can provide the same "umph" as garden soil.

 

Looks really good! Dirt can grow carpets well because organics break down and release available carbon. Not sure if a commercial soil substrate can provide the same "umph" as garden soil.

Maybe go for a slight layer of soil then cap with the controsoil? In the link Mak posted, there’s a picture of DHG that is grown that way(top soil capped with aquarium soil).

 

Opinions on doing dry-start first? Not sure how it would fare since I won't be utilizing CO².

Thanks for the link btw!

A lot of melt probably, alternatively you could flood, inject CO2, and slowly wean them off of it.

 

A lot of melt probably, alternatively you could flood, inject CO2, and slowly wean them off of it.

The latter would entail having to purchase a new regulator, diffuser, etc.

Which, if I'm going to be honest, sounds like the more attractive option at this point. It sucks that a lot of the nice looking Caridina varieties just don't handle the conditions that create nice looking carpets.

 

The latter would entail having to purchase a new regulator, diffuser, etc.

Which, if I'm going to be honest, sounds like the more attractive option at this point. It sucks that a lot of the nice looking Caridina varieties just don't handle the conditions that create nice looking carpets.

Running into this with the shrimp tank my girlfriend is setting up. She wants CO2 not sure how well they are going to handle it.
She wants Neo's.
Maybe the answer is just not punching the throttle. Not full on 30ppm CO2. Run lights modestly, half E.I., and set for 15ppm CO2 or so. Compromise between low tech and high tech.
As a thought, maybe instead of a conventional carpeting plant scale down? TrI'm some stainless mesh in to the shape of carpet that you want and grow fissidens or minI pellia or some other moss as your carpet? Giant fissidens?

 

Running into this with the shrimp tank my girlfriend is setting up. She wants CO2 not sure how well they are going to handle it.
She wants Neo's.
Maybe the answer is just not punching the throttle. Not full on 30ppm CO2. Run lights modestly, half E.I., and set for 15ppm CO2 or so. Compromise between low tech and high tech.
As a thought, maybe instead of a conventional carpeting plant scale down? TrI'm some stainless mesh in to the shape of carpet that you want and grow fissidens or minI pellia or some other moss as your carpet? Giant fissidens?

Running full CO² on my 2 gallon growing HC with Neos. They're seemingly healthy but no babies yet (a molt appeared to reveal dropped eggs as well).

My only concern with low CO² is that inadequate CO² will lead to algae problems. But a less demanding plant like Monte Carlo probably would do just fine compared to something like DHG or glosso.

 

Running full CO² on my 2 gallon growing HC with Neos. They're seemingly healthy but no babies yet (a molt appeared to reveal dropped eggs as well).

My only concern with low CO² is that inadequate CO² will lead to algae problems. But a less demanding plant like Monte Carlo probably would do just fine compared to something like DHG or glosso.

Good to know on the neo's. Maybe she'll be fine.
Monte may be a safe bet. I had luck with it when I was working my way up to full blast on my lights. Eventually I swapped it out to make room for some other stuff but it seemed like it was doing well.

 

Good to know on the neo's. Maybe she'll be fine.
Monte may be a safe bet. I had luck with it when I was working my way up to full blast on my lights. Eventually I swapped it out to make room for some other stuff but it seemed like it was doing well.

Just keep in mind CO² may negatively impact breeding.

I'll do some more research on the carpets.