What Goes With Cabomba?

[Iron Man]

Just wondering what others opinions would be as to what to put with a thick lush forest of dark green cabomba in the right-hand corner of a 55 gallon tank. It has playsand, two granite rocks in each corner (medium-small) and a huge piece of towering Maylasia driftwood in the middle, just to the left.

I don't want a complicated tank with 50 different plants in there...just a lush tank full of about 6 species at the most. I like cabomba because of its delicate fine leaves and bushiness, and also its dark green color. I don't like big bulky leaves or drab looking light green plants. I do like red, really green, and dark green.

One more thing...I want a nice portion of the substrate covered in a fine moss or short grass. Any suggestions on that?

Suggestions/opinions are welcome.

David

 

[Discomafia]

sorry, double post...

 

[Discomafia]

Get some fast growing stem plants, that don't require much light or CO2.

I'd go for some pennywort, as when it grows out, it creates a nice floating effect. What I did was plant it in the left background of my tank, and it grew very nicely to fill out the foreground of my tank. Only get pennywort if you don't mind pruning it regularly, and would like the floating cover.

Rotala Indica has always been another favourite for me, always seems to do well in my tanks. Easy to propagate as well. If you have good lighting, the leaves at the top will turn red.

Water sprite is another good choice, and is especially good for sucking up excess nutrients in the water. You might like the colour as well.

As for a carpet plant, have you thought about riccia? Dwarf sag is another very good choice, and has less requirements as well.

Tiger lotus is a very nice red plant, that I think every tank shouldn't go without, if you can handle it's big size that is... And have you thought of a sword plant? They can really catch your eye if you position them properly. And how about some java fern atatched to the driftwood?

HTH.

And it's spelt Malaysia.

 

[Iron Man]

Thanks for the post discomafia. The rotala indica and moneywort are considerable as well as the water sprite. I don't like the stories I've heard about riccia (too delicate/messy, high light and CO2 requirements) and I don't like dwarf sag at all.

I have however found the perfect carpet plant. Dwarf hairgrass isn't as finicky about light or CO2 and it stays short...and best of all its fine looking which looks GREAT to me!

I'm glad you mentioned Tiger Lotus because its the only large leaf plant that is really appealing to me!

I may need a large leaf plant to balance with my large piece of driftwood a little bit anyway...the jury is still out on that.

Thanks for the suggestions....will have a little to "chew on".

PS - I saw that I misspelled Malaysian but I'm tired of every post I make having "this post edited by Ironman" LOL

 

[Discomafia]

It's understandable that you don't want to get riccia. There's another thread on the first page of this Plants forum where someone has explained his problems in keeping the riccia growing together.

And excellent choice for the tiger lotus, and dwarf sag as well. I've seen quite a few members post pics of their tanks with dwarf sag in them, and I absolutely love it. Would have tried to get some if not for the fact that I have no space in my tank for that.

Have you thought of giving one of the Echinodorus species a shot? I've been trying to get Echinodorus bleheri and 'Ozelot' for some time now, just can't seem to find any in my area. Doesn't require much light either.

Instead of doing the same old thing and tying java fern to your driftwood, why not try some crypts? I've two Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' I think is the exact species, and I really like the brownish green colour of the leaves. Didn't tie it to any driftwood though, my java fern has already taken all the good spots.

BTW, Plantgeek's plant guide is an brilliant source for researching on plants, as they catergorise the plants by various categories. Lighting, difficulty, placement, region....

http/www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

HTH, and lookign foward to seeing some pics in the near future.

And don't worry about misspelling Malaysia, I saw you spell it correctly in another thread in Chit Chat I think it was... Only reason I was on your back is because I'm from there... Just wanted to make sure you knew the correct spelling.

 

[red-devil0602]

needle leaf ludwigia is a nice plant and the colour contrast is nice.
elodea densa looks nice
i still love corkscrew vallis