# Questions about gravel and carpet plants



## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I have two questions for everyone.

1. Will gravel that's 3-8mm in size be acceptable for a NPT? I can no longer find the fine gravel I have in my betta's tank and I can get some light grey to off white colored gravel that's used for unpaved roads and parking lots for a cheap price. Would it be too large of a gravel and would the color be acceptable for a tank?

2. Out of Dwarf Sagittaria, Micro Sword and Dwarf Baby Tears, which plant would be the best choice as a carpet plant? I want to create the carpet effect in my new tank and I would like some input as to which one would be the better choice in the long run.

Thanks!


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I hope someone can help me out with this soon. I will be getting my new tank this weekend!


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

I think the smaller substrate would be better, but I have a NPT with larger substrate that grows many plants.

As for the carpet plants, my dwarf sag grows pretty tall (10+cm) so that may be too tall if you have a small tank. I have found micro sword and dwarf baby tears more difficult to grow. Dwarf hairgrass forms a nice short carpet of thin blades. I had a carpet in my 75 gallon of hair grass that I changed to dwarf sag because I thought the hairgrass was too short.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

geeks_15 said:


> I think the smaller substrate would be better, but I have a NPT with larger substrate that grows many plants.
> 
> As for the carpet plants, my dwarf sag grows pretty tall (10+cm) so that may be too tall if you have a small tank. I have found micro sword and dwarf baby tears more difficult to grow. Dwarf hairgrass forms a nice short carpet of thin blades. I had a carpet in my 75 gallon of hair grass that I changed to dwarf sag because I thought the hairgrass was too short.


What do you mean by smaller? The gravel I found at a landscaping store is all mixed in together so it would be quite difficult to pick out the bits that range from 3-5mm in size from the ones that are closer to 7-8mm.

I'll be setting up a 20 gallon long and I wasn't sure which plant would be best to grow. Does the Dwarf Hairgrass grow well in hard, alkaline water or does it need softer, more acidic water? The Dwarf Sag sounds like it would get to a decent height without getting too tall.


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

I mean smaller than 3 to 8mm would be better. Think ecocomplete. I'm not really a fan of sand, so I think smaller than the smallest common aquarium gravel but bigger than sand is best. That said, I think what you describe will probably work just fine. 

Another thing to consider is the type of rock. You probably don't want something that will add hardness to your water.

I have found dwarf hairgrass to be quite adaptable and I have mostly grown it in hard water (but with CO2 addition so the pH is acidic at about 6.5)


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

My dwarf sagitaria/sagitaria subulata grows beyond 12 inches in height in my NPT with 55 watt light in a 15 gallon tank. I was told in high light condition, it will grow shorter. In my opinion, it may be suitable as a carpet plant/mid ground plant in a large tank. For a small tank such as 15-20 gallon or below, it's not suitable as carpet plants. Try hair grass, pygmy chain sword/Echinodorus tenellus or marsilea (note: some varieties of Marsilea grow tall too)


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