# Ground-cover plants



## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Anyone care to share any photos or descriptions of their ground-cover plants? For me the most striking photos in Amano's books are the ones with vast glossostigma carpets.

I'll share photos of my 2 Walstad-style tanks:
10-gallon, Echinodorus tenellus ground cover:

















55-gallon, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis ground cover:

















Anyone use any other plants as ground cover (eg. dwarf hairgrass or glossostigma...)?


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Marsilea sp. makes an attractive, glosso like cover with way less maintenance. Marsilea carenta is about the same size as glosso but it is well suited for low light, low tech tanks. It will not grow vertical and is a true runner plant, unlike glosso which will grow both ways.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

I have dwarf hairgrass in my 80 Gal NPT


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## whitetiger61 (Aug 12, 2006)

bpimm

do you trim your hairgrass at the substrate
im trying that with mine..when it gtows in i will post some pics


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

whitetiger61 said:


> bpimm
> 
> do you trim your hairgrass at the substrate
> im trying that with mine..when it gtows in i will post some pics


When I first planted it I trimmed it to about 1/4" then let it go and fill in. since that I have cut the grass twice, and I cut it down to about 1". I may try a little shorter next time but will probably wait till I get the grass catcher built for the mower.


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## Neptun (Dec 18, 2004)

dennis said:


> Marsilea sp. makes an attractive, glosso like cover with way less maintenance. Marsilea carenta is about the same size as glosso but it is well suited for low light, low tech tanks. It will not grow vertical and is a true runner plant, unlike glosso which will grow both ways.


I tried to find more information regarding Marsilea carenta but without any success. Maybe you meant Marsilea Crenata?


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## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Both of your tanks look gorgeous!

Marsilea sounds (and looks) like a robust glossostigma. From dennis's photo it looks like you can plant it, let it spread, and leave it alone 

I don't know why you trim the hairgrass bpimm; wild growth looks so much better than a neatly trimmed lawn, imho.


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## Satirica (Feb 13, 2005)

bpimm said:


> I have dwarf hairgrass in my 80 Gal NPT


bpimm, what are the plants in the left foreground of your tank? That is a very nice effect!


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

sb483, I trim the hairgrass to try and get it to spread more, That is the usual result from pruning plants, I thought it may work with the Hairgrass also. and it gets almost 4" tall and hides what is behind it.

Satirica, Left front is Eichhornia azurea, behind that is a Spider Onion, to the right of the rock is Downoi and behind the Downoi is a Java fern, Anubias Nana, and a couple Crypts.

Brian


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## Satirica (Feb 13, 2005)

bpimm, do you do anything special to keep the eichhornia azurea healthy? I have never tried growing it but understand it is difficult to grow well. Yours looks beuatiful!


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Satirica said:


> bpimm, do you do anything special to keep the eichhornia azurea healthy? I have never tried growing it but understand it is difficult to grow well. Yours looks beuatiful!


As of three weeks ago I didn't even know what that plant was. It came in with a plant package I bough from a fellow hobbyist. I wanted to see if some of the "Difficult" plants would grow in a soil substrate tank without ferts. after reading the plantfinder about this plant I figured it was a goner, but as you can see it seems to like the soil. it has doubled in size since that picture was taken. That is the pruned tip from the original plant which now has two nice new shoots.

for the anything special, I stuck it in dirt. 

Brian


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## gpimm (Sep 17, 2006)

*How about the uncontrolled jungle approach?*

In my 10 gallon tank the foreground has been pretty much a free for all... We stuck in plants that were prunings from Brian's tank and watched what happened.

As far as I can tell there is dwarf Sagataria, Marsilea Minutia, HC, a plant I can't remember the name of... There is a Danoi in the middle trying to grow it's way out.

After the tank was planted the Marsiela ran all over the tank. It seems to like the lower light areas. Next the Sagataria started running. A few weeks later the HC started to spread. I think the HC was a single stem. We did not even know it was there.

Here are some pics...

The front view.










The front close up.










View from the end of the tank.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

gpimm said:


> a plant I can't remember the name of...


RANUNCULUS INUNDATUS


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## BiscayneBoulevard (Nov 18, 2006)

Ranunculus? As in the bulbous plant/flowers ranunculas? I didn't know they were aquatic!


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