P-Daddy

In my original planning I had intended for dwarf hairgrass to nicely carpet the floor of my tank, yet while my grass is alive, it doesn't seem like it is growing/spreading as rapidly as it should. From what I have read about it, it seems that I lack the lighting to meet the demands of this plant, unfortunately it was the only ground covering available to me without mail ordering.

I have been doing quite a bit of research as to what the most prolific grower will be under my tank conditions, I truly want something thats going to spread like wildfire and don't mind the extra time spent pruning if need be.

I have not yet made up my mind as to whether or not I would like to include a groundcover plant and some type of moss that will cling to my driftwood and rocks or if I want to go with the groundcover and leave the rocks and wood bare. I have also seen some of these plants used in both capacities.

Here are the options I have been weighing:

Riccia Flutains - I understand this is a floating plant and must be tied down before it will take to rocks or substrate.

Vesicularia dubyana - Also known as Java Moss, this is the option I am leaning towards, but have read conflicting information on just how fast it grows.

"Four Leaf Clover" - I've seen three strains of this plant available, Marsilea hirsuta, Marsilea quadrifolia, and Marsilea drummondii. Different retailers all list this plant as "Four Leaf Clover" but sell different forms of th Marsilea family, I am a bit confused as to which one may best serve my purposes.

Currently I am at about 2 watts per gallon (60 watts on a 30 gallon tank, thus its a little more when one takes into account substrate and decorations) I do not have a CO2 system currently, and am pretty sure I have made up my mind to stay in "slow grow" mode, my current substrate is gravel supplimented with Seachem's plant pellets, (if I work up the courage I may change to Flourite before adding this plant) I dose daily with Flourish Excel to make up for the lack of CO2 fertilization, and I dose weekly with Seachem Flourish and Flourish Trace.

Jay

Hey P-Daddy

Nothing is going to grow "fast" in a low light tank. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

The Java Moss of the plants you have listed is probably the most suitable for your set up and conditions. You might also look at Anubius (sp). I have some Anubias (nana) in my low tech 20 gal guppy tank and for a slow grower it has done very well, has even put up a flower.

Jay

P-Daddy

Maybe I will give the Java Moss a shot, as it turns out I may be putting this whole project on hold for a bit since there is now a strong possibility that I will be moving.

Kuli_Loach

I think my java moss gets to much light. It doesn't grow any but it is still green, strange eh?

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