Short grassy stuff

[Helium_Junkie]

What kind of plants are very short and grass like? as in 2 inches max height.

Thanks all

 

[nightlife20]

theres tenellus

Echinodorus tenellus
Height 5-10cm

Width 5-8+cm

Light requirements med-very high

Temperature 19-30°C

Hardness tolerance very soft- medium

pH tolerance 5.5-8

Demands medium

Echinodorus tenellus is one of the best small foreground plants for aquariums. The runners spread round the aquarium. For best results plant individual plants a couple of centimetres apart.



thats the only one i can think of atm...

 

[endparenthesis]

Micro swords (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis). Might be a little more than 2" tall... but most plants are.

 

[konrad05]

my tenellus started slow but now it has gone crazy. New shoots every other day, if you have the light and nutrients for it, I'd recommened.

 

[luxum]

I was actually quite surprised at how well tenellus is doing in my tank at just under 2 WPG. The clump i planted up front right under the lights moped for a few weeks, leaves turning brown, i thought i was going to have to pull it out and discard it. Then suddenly it started sending out runners and has almost fully carpeted the bottom, even in the lower light areas, it's incredible. I love it and so do the fish, especially my rams who seem to love swimming in the grassy leaves. In my tank, the longest leaves get around 4 inches, i have heard that you can trim the leaves like grass, without damage, but i haven't tried it yet. Even though they are a little taller than what you wanted, i think you'd be pleased with them. If you have really great lighting, then the Lilaeopsis that was also recommended would be a good choice. It has very fine leaves and stays short. I was able to keep a clump of it alive at my light levels but it never spread, i eventually removed it.

 

[sinistral]

Echinodorus tenellus as mentioned several times already.

Lilaeopsis brasilensis, as noted, and also lilaeopsis novae-zelandae.

You might also look at Sagittaria subulata (dwarf sag). Eleocharis acicularis is a slightly taller grass-like plant (more like 5cm as opposed to 2cm).

Other plants that are short, but not necessarily grass-like include java moss, riccia fluitans, glossostigma elantoides, and marsilea hirsuta (more clover like).

As a side note, I'm encouraged to hear about other people's experiences with echinodorus tenellus, as mine has not put out runners after several months with 4wpg, fluorite, and CO2. I'm still holding out hope (might get some dwarf sag in the meantime though ).

 

[yhbae]

Out of these, which would survive in a low light tank? This tank does no more than 1w/g.... Java moss and java ferns grow great in there, but I'm fed up with those - I want to get into other low-light plants...

 

[sinistral]

Out of these, which would survive in a low light tank? This tank does no more than 1w/g.... Java moss and java ferns grow great in there, but I'm fed up with those - I want to get into other low-light plants...

Ah, that's a different story. Most of the "lawn" plants tend to require at least medium light, with carpet effects only achieved at higher levels of light (making me doubly envious of luxum who is getting propagation with pygmy chains at 2wpg).

If you didn't mind experimenting, since you already have java moss, I'd reckon that you'd do the best with the Dwarf Sagittaria. I believe dwarf sag can tolerate low levels of light, but I am not sure if it will thrive and/or propagate. I am open to correction about this issue though.

What is your light setup and tank volume?

 

[luxum]

As sinistral said, your light levels are unfortunately too low for any of the grassy carpet type plants. If you are really sick of java moss and fern, maybe you should consider upgrading your lighting.

Most of the "lawn" plants tend to require at least medium light, with carpet effects only achieved at higher levels of light (making me doubly envious of luxum who is getting propagation with pygmy chains at 2wpg).

I was quite surprised! I was hoping that best case, the clump would stay alive, but i never expected it to chain. I have a fairly shallow tank, so the light doesn't have to travel very far, and i placed the first clump right in the brightest spot in the tank. I have a fluorite substrate with sand topper (yeh i know it will sift down, oh well), i wonder if the flourite helps them grow in lower light than they would normally need? I also have a couple red melon swords (or that's what they were sold as anyway) which have retained their red coloration, much to my amazement. I don't think the chain sword runners will have enough light to make runners of their own, but as prolific as the mother plant is, pretty soon i'll be begging my LFS to take some off my hands lol. I also should note that i dose Seachem's Flourish Excel, and when i began using it, my red melon swords more than doubled in size and the color became even more red.

 

[yhbae]

Out of these, which would survive in a low light tank? This tank does no more than 1w/g.... Java moss and java ferns grow great in there, but I'm fed up with those - I want to get into other low-light plants...

Ah, that's a different story. Most of the "lawn" plants tend to require at least medium light, with carpet effects only achieved at higher levels of light (making me doubly envious of luxum who is getting propagation with pygmy chains at 2wpg).

If you didn't mind experimenting, since you already have java moss, I'd reckon that you'd do the best with the Dwarf Sagittaria. I believe dwarf sag can tolerate low levels of light, but I am not sure if it will thrive and/or propagate. I am open to correction about this issue though.

What is your light setup and tank volume?

I have an odd situation... I have two 3ft strip lights (each can handle two 30w bulbs) but I only have one 3ft and one 2.5ft community tanks. Currently, the 2.5ft tank is the one with lots of plants (but only with 20w) and 3ft one is the mbuna tank (currently with 60w), hence only java fern grows in that tank. (very alkaline). I am about to switch from two bulbs to one since that was too strong already in the mbuna tank, causing algae bloom.

So I currently have UNUSED 2x30w strip, which is too long to stay on top of 2.5ft tank... May be what I need to do is to get another 3ft tank with a lid, put that one on the mbuna tank, and use all strip lights on the new one - that will give me around 120w in total on 33g tank.... Mean while, I'm still looking to see if there's anything I can grow in a 2.5ft tank... I'll try that Dwarf Sagittaria as you have suggested.
Thanks!

 

[sinistral]

I have a fluorite substrate with sand topper (yeh i know it will sift down, oh well), i wonder if the flourite helps them grow in lower light than they would normally need?  I also have a couple red melon swords (or that's what they were sold as anyway) which have retained their red coloration, much to my amazement.  I don't think the chain sword runners will have enough light to make runners of their own, but as prolific as the mother plant is, pretty soon i'll be begging my LFS to take some off my hands lol.  I also should note that i dose Seachem's Flourish Excel, and when i began using it, my red melon swords more than doubled in size and the color became even more red.

You aren't helping with my intense feelings of envy for your success with the pygmy chains!

I have fluorite too, so I'm hopeful that from hearing about your experience the pygmy chains will still propagate. I am thinking maybe I need to nudge the tank one way or another in terms of nutrients, or possibly even upgrading the light to 6wpg. I'll have to try the Flourish Excel-- my bias is towards fertilizing quite sparsely.

So I currently have UNUSED 2x30w strip, which is too long to stay on top of 2.5ft tank... May be what I need to do is to get another 3ft tank with a lid, put that one on the mbuna tank, and use all strip lights on the new one - that will give me around 120w in total on 33g tank....

120w on a 33g would be nice In terms of other options, if you have good DIY skills, you might look into Colin_BC's innovative multiple compact fluorescent lighting system. He built a DIY canopy and rigged up 6 compact fluorescent bulbs (the spiral kind) horizontally. Here is a link to his thread, with pictures.

If you are an electrician, you could also check out this creative overdriven light solution that Mustang5L5 posted some time ago: here.

Finally, here is Silly_Me's awesome DIY canopy, complete with pictures.

On the other hand, if you are terrified (like me) that you'll electrocute yourself or drive a nail through your hand, you'll probably stick with your original idea and use the dual light strips

 

[yhbae]

I forgot to ask another question - how does dwarf sagittaria take the nutrients? Do I need to provide nutrients in the substrates or are they capable of taking nitrates from the water like java fern/moss do?

Thanks!