# Good carpet plants for low light?



## m4gichat (May 22, 2012)

I have 1.5 watts per gallon, c02, and exel. What carpet plant would you recommend?
I've tried
-dwarf hair grass (lived but didn't spread)
-dwarf baby tear same
Alright thanx!


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

There's not a lot of need for CO2 supplementation in a setup with 1.5 wpg (except _maybe_ in a particularly shallow nano tank). Without much light, the plants just don't grow quickly enough to use it. That's probably the source of your living-but-not-spreading issue; the plants just don't get enough energy from low light to put out lush carpet growth.

That said, good candidates for low-light carpets would be species like Marsilea minuta (or similar) and Lilaeopsis brasiliensis. Sagittaria subulata is an excellent low-light foreground in a taller tank, or a midground filler in a small setup. But, like most low-light species, they won't fill in terribly quickly in those conditions. You have to either put a lot in to start with, or be very patient.


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## _chicken_ (Oct 7, 2007)

Hemianthus glomeratus (I'm told that is the correct name for what we have been calling H. micranthemoides) grows well in low light even without co2. It formed a nice carpet in my daughter's 5.5 gallon shrimp tank under 10 watts of cfl lighting.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

I think the easiest would be without a doubt Hydrocotyle sp. ''Japan'', it even grows relatively fast in low light and non co2 tanks Another easy but slow grower is Staurogyne repens.


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## m4gichat (May 22, 2012)

Thanx a ton guys this really helped


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Another vote for _Hemianthus glomeratus, Marsilea_, and _Sagittaria subulata_. Also, _Helanthium tenellum _will work. Both the _Sagittaria_ and the _Helanthium_ may need an ocasional "mowing".


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