# Newbie foreground: HC vs lilaeopsis maurituis



## cholly (Jun 12, 2007)

So I've been accumulating the gear I need to start up the 15 or 20g tank I'm looking to do, but I've reached a point where I could really use some plant selection guidance. A great deal of the tank will be devoted to a foreground carpet, and I had been planning to use HC. I love the look of it, but the more I'm reading about it the more it seems like on-going maintenance with HC can be a real pain. Does keeping an HC carpet long-term really come down to regularly having to replant after it overgrows itself, kills the lower growth and floats off?

In my research I've seen a bit of info about lilaeopsis maurituis, and I gather it would be a lot less pruning/replanting chores then HC would be. Is this in fact the case? 

Another issue is that I've never seen a tank photo with a carpet of lilaeopsis maurituis. Anyone have any they can point me to?

(for reference, the tank will will have 48w of T5 lighting with an additional 48w of T5 available for a noon burst; pressurized CO2; ADA aquasoil, powersand and Tourmaline for substrate; ADA ferts)


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

as far as my experience goes, HC grows quite slowly, unless you are planning to use those additional T5 as well and pump in a whole lot of CO2. besides, LM and HC gives off 2 very different looks to your tank. and I would say that LM will grow faster thn HC. LM will be great if you are going for a taller, messy foreground look. lilaeopsis brasiliensis grows shorter and slower as compared to its cousin.


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