# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk >  Easiest Carpet Plant?!

## kingkew

Hi all,

I am setting up a new tank and would like to know which carpet plant is the most hardy, requires the least maintenance and light, and can thrive in Singapore room temperature. Please help me select the best carpet for my ultra low tech 2ft setup. I am planning to grow the carpet emersed/dry start for awhile before flooding. Thanks!

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## Urban Aquaria

For ultra low-tech tank.... go for moss carpet.

Just tie java moss or christmas moss to pieces of flat rocks or meshes, then lay them on the substrate, once they grow out you'll have a hardy moss carpet.

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## kingkew

> For ultra low-tech tank.... go for moss carpet.
> 
> Just tie java moss or christmas moss to pieces of flat rocks or meshes, then lay them on the substrate, once they grow out you'll have a hardy moss carpet.


Thanks, I am looking for a plant that will be rooted into the soil. I am considering HC or monte carlo as I do not know many other species of carpet plants. Which would be your recommendation besides java moss?

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## Urban Aquaria

> Thanks, I am looking for a plant that will be rooted into the soil. I am considering HC or monte carlo as I do not know many other species of carpet plants. Which would be your recommendation besides java moss?


For rooted carpet plants, can try glosso or monte carlo, they can grow without Co2 injection, though the growth rate will be very slow. If light or nutrients are not sufficient, they will still melt away over time.

HC is very tough to grow in low light conditions and without Co2 injection, usually they'll deteriorate rapidly or get taken over by algae.

Marseila hirsuta is another option (their submersed leaf form look like a larger version of glosso), they can tolerate low light with no Co2 injection conditions, but growth rate will be super slow too... can take months just to grow abit.

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## kingkew

> For rooted carpet plants, can try glosso or monte carlo, they can grow without Co2 injection, though the growth rate will be very slow. If light or nutrients are not sufficient, they will still melt away over time.
> 
> HC is very tough to grow in low light conditions and without Co2 injection, usually they'll deteriorate rapidly or get taken over by algae.
> 
> Marseila hirsuta is another option (their submersed leaf form look like a larger version of glosso), they can tolerate low light with no Co2 injection conditions, but growth rate will be super slow too... can take months just to grow abit.


What about *Dwarf Hairgrass - Eleocharis parvula?*

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## Urban Aquaria

> What about *Dwarf Hairgrass - Eleocharis parvula?*


You can plant those too. Hairgrass growth rate is also very slow without Co2 injection though, so just have to wait.

Do note that normal hairgrass will grow tall so you'll need to trim them to create a low carpet. The alternative is to use japanese hairgrass which curl and hence naturally stay shorter.

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## kingkew

> You can plant those too. Hairgrass growth rate is also very slow without Co2 injection though, so just have to wait.
> 
> Do note that normal hairgrass will grow tall so you'll need to trim them to create a low carpet. The alternative is to use japanese hairgrass which curl and hence naturally stay shorter.


Hardy and no temperature requirements for japaneses hairgrass? Thanks for the intro, I have not heard of jap hairgrass before. Where can I get some?

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## Urban Aquaria

> Hardy and no temperature requirements for japaneses hairgrass? Thanks for the intro, I have not heard of jap hairgrass before. Where can I get some?


Hairgrass is generally quite adaptable to temperature and water conditions (as long as not too extreme).

You can find japanese hairgrass at most LFS that sell plants, they are usually labelled.

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## AQMS

Try Echinodorus tenellus.

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## diazman

You can try Dwarf Sagittaria as well. Great in low lighting conditions.

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## Cmlee

Is there anyway to grow moss quicker without co2? Does turning on light for longer period makes it grow faster?

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## wongce

Try Brazilian Microswords....but they are slow grower without co2....

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## Urban Aquaria

> Is there anyway to grow moss quicker without co2? Does turning on light for longer period makes it grow faster?


If the light was a limitation (ie. existing light very dim or very short duration), increasing light intensity and the photoperiod could help improve moss growth rate, but the overall growth speed is still restricted by their naturally slow growing characteristics, along with limited carbon availability.

Just have to try and see. If additional light doesn't generate any improvement in growth speed (or helps algae grow instead), then thats the limit for the moss growth rate in your current tank conditions... only way to increase its growth speed further is to inject Co2.

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## mongstrous

Thanks kingkew for this thread! I need to know as well. haha!

I'm currently building a low-tech shrimp 'Iwagumi' inspired with a 2ft tank.

I am interested in the HC (Hemianthus Callitrichoides - Dwarf baby tears) or the MC. I've researched and they need CO2 to rapidly spread and flourish. 
So I'm thinking, while cycling the tank, with good lighting, I plan to use Fluval's Cartridge CO2 and remove once finished and continue with Excel.

Or should I start with Excel straight and don't waste cash on the Fluval?

And will Excel affects the shrimps in the future?

Any advise?

TIA

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## Urban Aquaria

If you are not going to be using Co2 injection for long term and will eventually just be using Excel, then better to go for monte carlo.

No point growing out HC then later watch it slowly deteriorate due to lack of Co2, these plants do need continuous ideal conditions to maintain healthy growth, its not like they grow out and then remain the same forever.

Excel is generally "relatively" safe for most hardy livestock if the dosages are done in recommended amounts, just don't overdose it... though some sensitive fishes and shrimps (and even some plants) may not do so well with it, so either have to reduce dosage or not use it at all.

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## mongstrous

Thanks for the prompt reply UA! 

So guess I'll try cycling the tank of MCs with Excel then. 
Then add some commando shrimps after MC has carpeted fully! 

Can't wait! Haha!

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## aquaticstar

Good question asked by kingkew. This is the question that i should asked in the first case. Today, i just discard my soils and plants. If I never discard them, I had forget to come back to AQ forum and learnt new things.

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## 20Babies

Would Neo CO2 be a better alternative to Excel?
Planning to plant some MC.

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## Urban Aquaria

> Would Neo CO2 be a better alternative to Excel?
> Planning to plant some MC.


The Neo Co2 can be a good alternative to dosing Excel. Its a DIY system though, so just have to note that you have to refill it with the mixture every few weeks and the Neo Co2 system doesn't allow you to schedule the injection timing so it has to be run 24/7, therefore you have to monitor it more closely and adjust the injection rate if there are livestock in the tank.

If you have the budget, can consider a 2nd hand pressurized Co2 system with solenoid instead, occasionally there are good deals at the forum marketplace. Their overall cost could work out to just slightly more (or even the same) over the course of a year of usage.

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## Ryan Peh

Hi quick question, is it possible to grow monte carlo with only excel and shrimp soil? (No chiller) 

Or would it be better if I used ADA soil but still no chiller.

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## Urban Aquaria

> Hi quick question, is it possible to grow monte carlo with only excel and shrimp soil? (No chiller) 
> 
> Or would it be better if I used ADA soil but still no chiller.


Its possible... though growth may become stunted and much slower if there are nutrient deficiencies.

Chiller is a bonus, but not as essential to healthy plant growth as light, nutrients and Co2.

ADA Amazonia aquasoil would be ideal for supporting plant growth as it supplies lots of nutrients for the initial few weeks and months... though eventually the nutrient content will still be used up, so additional fertilizer dosing will still be required when that time comes. 

Its just a matter of either dosing more fertilizer now verses later.  :Smile:

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## Ryan Peh

How long is it before the nutrients in the ADA soil usually uses up? A year?

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## Urban Aquaria

> How long is it before the nutrients in the ADA soil usually uses up? A year?


That will depend on the density and speed of the plant growth (which will determine their nutrient uptake)... faster growth speed with ample lights and Co2 supply can use up most of the nutrients within just few weeks, on the otherhand slower growth speed with lower light and less or no Co2 supply can take months to use up the nutrients.

The volume of aquasoil used is also a factor, if more soil is used, there will naturally be more nutrient content/reserves.

You just have to monitor the plant growth and condition to see whether the nutrients are sufficient, if deficiencies are spotted, just dose the required fertilisers accordingly.

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## Ryan Peh

Hmm alright I'm thinking of getting a 1ft nano cube and carpet it with Monte Carlo using only seachem excel and Ada soil. No chiller no cooling fan. Would that work?

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## Urban Aquaria

> Hmm alright I'm thinking of getting a 1ft nano cube and carpet it with Monte Carlo using only seachem excel and Ada soil. No chiller no cooling fan. Would that work?


That can work... monte carlo can grow quite well in low tech setups (even without excel), so it should be able to grow in your configuration.

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## fireblade

I will recommend Monte Carlo...
I think highlight is a benefit to the plants including some liquid fertilizer...

for the tank below, I am using borneowild shrimp soil... with 50W LED flood light.. 
you can see the progress of the plants here...  :Smile: 
this tank does not have chiller but have CO2 injected... and I dose fertilizer irregularly ...

I have Monte Carlo and Marselia in this tank..

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...-Betta-Jacuzzi

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## p0ip0i

what fertilizer to use after the soil used up its nutrients?

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## Urban Aquaria

> what fertilizer to use after the soil used up its nutrients?


You can just dose more liquid fertilizers to compensate for the reduction in soil nutrients, aquarium soil with good cation exchange capacity (CEC) will absorb the nutrients and make it available to plant roots too. Most aquarium plants can also up take nutrients directly from the water column too.

The other method is to insert root tablets or sticks into the soil near the plant roots (there are many brands which can be purchased from LFS or you can DIY your own), these type of fertilizers will slowly release nutrients to the plant roots. One benefit of root tablets/sticks is the nutrients stay in the substrate and get used by the plants, rather than in the water column where algae may have access to it too.

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## happydanio123

I feel that Java moss is easy to grow. However making it carpet is very difficult! For starters, try Hairgrass aka HG. These cute looking plants grow rather slowly by based on my experiences, do not need Co2 and can survive on aquasoil alone. If you are more ambitious, try Pygmy sword chain They give a good "Grassy" effect but may need Co2. However, this plant is pretty hard to find.  :Opps:

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## w3iw3n

Just sharing my personal experience. I am a newbie and has failed in growing MC/glosso in both my 2feet tank once and 1feet tank twice. 
My main issue is, they keep floating up after flooding the tank. It seems like the roots nvr attached to my substrate properly. 
After a while, they just turn yellow and die away. 

Now, i have restarted my tank again and instead buy HC that is binded on the wire mess. though HC is more difficult to grow, at least i passed the first hurdle of them not floating up or dying even before the tank is cycled. 
Similar theory, if you can buy those wire mesh and tie your glosso or hc on the mess before u push it into your substrate, it makes your life easier.

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## Realcaster

> Just sharing my personal experience. I am a newbie and has failed in growing MC/glosso in both my 2feet tank once and 1feet tank twice. 
> My main issue is, they keep floating up after flooding the tank. It seems like the roots nvr attached to my substrate properly. 
> After a while, they just turn yellow and die away. 
> 
> Now, i have restarted my tank again and instead buy HC that is binded on the wire mess. though HC is more difficult to grow, at least i passed the first hurdle of them not floating up or dying even before the tank is cycled. 
> Similar theory, if you can buy those wire mesh and tie your glosso or hc on the mess before u push it into your substrate, it makes your life easier.


Most likely your MC or Glosso stems/roots have melted during transition that is why they floated. if you have issue with MC & Glosso which is much more easier to grow than HC, unless your tank condition changed, your HC will float up much faster  :Grin:  :Grin: 

I would suggest you find out what is wrong with your tank condition that stopped MC & Glosso from growing, resolve that and you will be able to grow carpet plant with confidence.

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## w3iw3n

Restarted the whole tank with filters changed. Now I bought a whole suite of API tester to monitor every two days. Hopefully this time round it works better. On the verge of giving up liao. 

Really need a lot of patience to do planted tanks. Haha.

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## fireblade

what light are you using?




> Restarted the whole tank with filters changed. Now I bought a whole suite of API tester to monitor every two days. Hopefully this time round it works better. On the verge of giving up liao. 
> 
> Really need a lot of patience to do planted tanks. Haha.

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## w3iw3n

Hi bro, on Chihiro 15watt (suitable for 1 feet tank). 

Just posted this morning on my painful journey. Lol. 
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...915#post842915

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## Cmlee

Has anyone tried those seeds for carpet? Can those plant survive for long?

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## fireblade

I will think 15 watt is not very sufficient for the plants




> Hi bro, on Chihiro 15watt (suitable for 1 feet tank). 
> 
> Just posted this morning on my painful journey. Lol. 
> http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...915#post842915

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