S. Repens Or Marsilea Crenata (or Other)

I'm looking for some new foreground plants for a rescape of my 10 gallon and have been considering either S. Repens or Marsilea Crenata (because that's what my LFS has). I am wondering if you guys have a preference between the two, or if you have some other low foreground plant you prefer. My tank is low-tech, low light, and currently just has kuhlI loaches. I want to attempt to add some cherry shrimp soon, so I want something that would be good for them. I'm also planning to add java moss this week. Thanks!

 

Crenata will fare better than repens. Repens is usually grown under high light with the addition of CO2. Without these factors it grows tall and leggy and will require frequent trimming to stay low. Under the aforementioned ideal conditions it grows more compact and bushy.

I have grown crenata in a low tech environment. It is a s l o w growing plant and will take a while to carpet. Nutrient-rich substrate will help it grow and establish itself better than sand and you may as well forget about trying to grow it in gravel.

Noticed you have kuhlis, keep in mind they may constantly uproot any plant you try to establish as they burrow.

 

Crenata will fare better than repens. Repens is usually grown under high light with the addition of CO2. Without these factors it grows tall and leggy and will require frequent trimming to stay low. Under the aforementioned ideal conditions it grows more compact and bushy.

I have grown crenata in a low tech environment. It is a s l o w growing plant and will take a while to carpet. Nutrient-rich substrate will help it grow and establish itself better than sand and you may as well forget about trying to grow it in gravel.

Noticed you have kuhlis, keep in mind they may constantly uproot any plant you try to establish as they burrow.

Thanks. Mine don't burrow much, but they could after the rescape since I am going to remove the fake house they currently use. I have sand and I'm not interested in changing that. I'm open to other suggestions for sand friendly foreground plants. Or maybe I should just use a ton of moss. Hmm.

 

Thanks. Mine don't burrow much, but they could after the rescape since I am going to remove the fake house they currently use. I have sand and I'm not interested in changing that. I'm open to other suggestions for sand friendly foreground plants. Or maybe I should just use a ton of moss. Hmm.

By far the easiest foreground plant will be dwarf sag. Does well in low light, and in sand you could just supplement it with root tabs and a comprehensive fertilizer once a week. Keep in mind that the lower the lighting, the taller it grows... in my 29 gallon some of it was over a foot tall.

What is your lighting?

 

By far the easiest foreground plant will be dwarf sag. Does well in low light, and in sand you could just supplement it with root tabs and a comprehensive fertilizer once a week. Keep in mind that the lower the lighting, the taller it grows... in my 29 gallon some of it was over a foot tall.

What is your lighting?

I have a Nicrew LED light. It's 11W and 7500K. I'm beginning to wonder if it's not the best for my setup. Just read in the Low Light Planted Tank article on here that lights with blue light might not be good for freshwater planted tanks. I'm admittedly a little lost on light. I don't want to use CO2 and I don't want something that's blindingly bright, since my Kuhli's aren't fans of bright lights, but I want to support some basic plant growth without spending a fortune. This also makes me wonder if I should just use Java Moss in the foreground, since it's supposedly invincible.

 

... you could just supplement it with root tabs and a comprehensive fertilizer once a week. ...

Forgot to mention that I use root tabs and some fert as well.

 

Crenata is easy I had it covering about half if my 110 but it got rot and I lost the lot of it.